The food calendar
145 days of the year that have food of their own: feasts, fasts, harvests and holidays, with what is eaten on each. Dates are worked out afresh every day.
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October 2026
On now, 19 Sept to 4 Oct 2026OktoberfestLitres of Munich festival beer with roast chicken, pork knuckle, sausages and giant pretzels.
4 Oct 2026Cinnamon Roll DaySweden gives a day to its favourite bun, eaten with coffee.
10 to 18 Oct 2026Nine Emperor Gods FestivalNine days of strict vegetarian eating among Chinese communities of Southeast Asia.
11 to 20 Oct 2026NavratriNine nights of the goddess: fasting food without grain, then halwa, puri and chana for young girls.
12 Oct 2026Thanksgiving (Canada)Roast turkey and pumpkin pie on the second Monday of October, at the end of the Canadian harvest.
16 to 21 Oct 2026Durga PujaBengal eats khichuri bhog at the pandal by day and street food by night.
18 Oct 2026Double Ninth FestivalOn the ninth day of the ninth month people climb a hill, drink chrysanthemum wine and eat layered cake.
25 Oct 2026World Pasta DayA day for pasta in every shape, kept since 1995.
29 Oct 2026Karva ChauthMarried women in north India fast from before sunrise until they see the moon.
31 Oct 2026HalloweenSweets for children at the door, and in Ireland a fruit loaf with a ring hidden inside.November 2026
1 to 2 Nov 2026Day of the DeadMexican families set out the favourite food of their dead, with sweet bread and sugar skulls.
1 to 2 Nov 2026All Saints' and All Souls' DaysSweets named for bones and beans of the dead in Europe, and a purple maize drink in Ecuador.
5 Nov 2026Bonfire NightFood to hold in a gloved hand by the fire: parkin, treacle toffee, baked potatoes and sausages.
6 to 10 Nov 2026DiwaliThe festival of lights is the festival of sweets: boxes of mithai are made, offered and given away.
11 Nov 2026St Martin's DayRoast goose and the first wine of the year, at the end of the farming season.
15 to 16 Nov 2026ChhathA strict fast for the sun, with offerings of thekua and fruit made standing in the river.
19 Nov 2026Beaujolais Nouveau DayThe first wine of the French harvest goes on sale at midnight on the third Thursday of November.
24 Nov 2026Guru Nanak GurpurabThe birthday of the first Sikh Guru, kept with karah prasad and a free meal for all.
26 Nov 2026Thanksgiving (United States)Roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie on the fourth Thursday of November.
29 Nov to 22 Dec 2026AdventFour weeks of waiting for Christmas, spent baking spiced biscuits and drinking mulled wine.December 2026
5 Dec 2026SinterklaasDutch children find their initial in chocolate, with spiced biscuits and marzipan.
5 to 12 Dec 2026HanukkahEight nights of food fried in oil, for the oil that burned eight days in the Temple.
6 Dec 2026St Nicholas DayChildren in central Europe wake to boots filled with nuts, mandarins, chocolate and gingerbread.
7 Dec 2026Day of the Little CandlesColombia lights candles for the Virgin Mary and opens Christmas with buñuelos and natilla.
13 Dec 2026St Lucy's DaySaffron buns at dawn in Sweden, and in Sicily a day of rice and wheat with no bread or pasta.
16 to 24 Dec 2026Simbang GabiNine dawn Masses before Christmas, each followed by warm rice cakes sold outside the church.
16 to 24 Dec 2026Las PosadasNine nights of processions in Mexico that end with hot fruit punch, tamales and a piñata.
21 Dec 2026Yalda NightOn the longest night Iranians stay up with pomegranates, watermelon, nuts and the poems of Hafez.
22 Dec 2026Dongzhi FestivalAt the winter solstice the north of China eats dumplings and the south eats sweet rice balls.
24 Dec 2026Christmas EveThe main Christmas meal in much of Europe: carp in the centre, a cold table in the north.
24 Dec 2026Feast of the Seven FishesItalian American families keep the Christmas Eve vigil with seven or more seafood dishes.
24 Dec 2026WigiliaThe Polish Christmas Eve supper: twelve meatless dishes that begin when the first star appears.
24 Dec 2026RéveillonThe long French Christmas Eve dinner: oysters, foie gras, a roast bird and a log-shaped cake.
24 Dec 2026NochebuenaThe Spanish-speaking world and the Philippines feast late on Christmas Eve, each with its own dishes.
25 Dec 2026Christmas DayA roast and a rich fruit pudding in Britain, panettone in Italy, jollof rice in West Africa.
26 Dec to 1 Jan 2027KwanzaaSeven days honouring African American heritage, with a shared feast called Karamu on 31 December.
31 Dec 2026New Year's EveTwelve grapes at midnight in Spain, lentils in Italy, long buckwheat noodles in Japan.
31 Dec to 1 Jan 2027HogmanayThe Scottish New Year: the first visitor after midnight brings black bun, shortbread and whisky.January 2027
1 Jan 2027New Year's DayLucky food for the first day of the year: black-eyed peas and greens in the American South, a coin cake in Greece.
1 to 3 Jan 2027Japanese New YearOsechi boxes packed with small dishes, each one a wish, and a bowl of ozoni soup with mochi.
1 Jan 2027Haitian Independence DayHaitians eat soup joumou, the squash soup once kept from the enslaved, to mark freedom won in 1804.
6 Jan 2027Epiphany and Three Kings DayA ring or round cake with a figure hidden inside, shared on the day the Magi reached the child Jesus.
7 Jan 2027Orthodox ChristmasChurches on the Julian calendar end the Nativity fast with a meatless Holy Supper, then a feast.
7 Jan 2027Genna (Ethiopian Christmas)After a 43-day fast, Ethiopian Christians share doro wat and injera on Christmas morning.
12 to 14 Jan 2027YennayerThe Amazigh new year, kept with a large shared couscous and a table that must be full.
14 Jan 2027LohriPunjab lights bonfires in midwinter and throws sesame sweets, peanuts and popcorn into the flames.
15 Jan 2027Makar SankrantiSesame and jaggery sweets across India as the sun turns north and the winter harvest comes in.
15 to 18 Jan 2027PongalTamil families boil new rice with milk and jaggery until the pot overflows, as thanks to the sun.
15 Jan 2027Laba FestivalA porridge of many grains, beans, nuts and dried fruit on the eighth day of the last lunar month.
19 to 20 Jan 2027TimkatEthiopian Epiphany: after the blessing of the water, families feast on stews, injera and honey wine.
23 Jan 2027Tu BiShvatThe new year of the trees, kept by eating fruit and nuts, above all the fruits of the land of Israel.
25 Jan 2027Burns NightA supper of haggis, neeps and tatties with whisky, held on the birthday of the poet Robert Burns.
26 Jan 2027Australia DayA midsummer public holiday of barbecues, lamb, lamingtons and pavlova.
26 Jan 2027Republic Day (India)After the morning flag hoisting, schools and offices hand out laddus and jalebi.February 2027
2 Feb 2027CandlemasCrêpes in France and tamales in Mexico, forty days after Christmas.
3 Feb 2027SetsubunRoasted soybeans are thrown to drive out bad luck, and a whole sushi roll is eaten in silence.
4 Feb 2027Fat ThursdayPoland queues for jam-filled doughnuts on the last Thursday before Lent.
4 to 9 Feb 2027CarnevaleItaly fries its way to Lent with crisp ribbons of dough, fritters and, in Naples, a rich lasagne.
5 to 9 Feb 2027Carnival (Brazil)Five days of parades run on street food, cold beer and caipirinhas.
6 to 12 Feb 2027Chinese New YearDumplings in the north, rice cake in the south, a whole fish everywhere, and every dish a pun on luck.
6 to 8 Feb 2027TếtVietnamese New Year: sticky rice cakes wrapped in leaves, braised pork with eggs, and candied fruit.
7 to 9 Feb 2027SeollalKoreans eat a bowl of rice cake soup and count themselves a year older.
8 to 9 Feb 2027Trinidad and Tobago CarnivalTwo days on the road, fed by doubles, corn soup, pelau and roti.
8 Feb to 9 Mar 2027RamadanA month of fasting from dawn to sunset, broken each evening with dates, water and a shared meal.
9 Feb 2027Mardi GrasThe last day before Lent: king cake in New Orleans, with gumbo and jambalaya for the parades.
9 Feb 2027Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday)Britain and Ireland use up eggs, milk and butter in thin pancakes with lemon and sugar.
9 Feb 2027Fettisdagen (Semla Day)The Nordic countries mark Shrove Tuesday with cardamom buns full of almond paste and whipped cream.
10 Feb to 27 Mar 2027LentForty days of plainer eating before Easter: no meat on Fridays, and fish, pulses and bread in its place.
14 Feb 2027Super Bowl SundayThe biggest snack day in America: chicken wings, nachos, dips, chili and pizza in front of the game.
20 Feb 2027Lantern FestivalSweet sticky rice balls in soup on the first full moon of the lunar year.
21 Feb 2027DaeboreumKoreans greet the first full moon with five-grain rice, dried vegetables and nuts cracked for luck.March 2027
1 Mar 2027St David's DayWales honours its patron saint with cawl, leeks, Welsh cakes and bara brith.
3 Mar 2027HinamatsuriGirls' Day in Japan: scattered sushi, clam soup, and sweets in pink, white and green.
4 Mar 2027TsiknopemptiSmoky Thursday in Greece: everyone grills meat in the street before the Lenten fast draws near.
6 Mar 2027Maha ShivaratriA day and night of fasting for Shiva, kept with fruit, milk and foods made without grain.
8 to 14 Mar 2027MaslenitsaButter week: a week of blini with sour cream, caviar and jam before Orthodox Lent.
9 to 11 Mar 2027Eid al-FitrThe feast that ends Ramadan begins with something sweet before the morning prayer.
9 to 11 Mar 2027Hari Raya and LebaranEid in Indonesia and Malaysia means ketupat rice cakes with rendang or chicken in coconut milk.
14 Mar 2027Pi DayThe date 3/14 matches the first digits of pi, so people eat pie.
15 Mar 2027Clean MondayThe first day of Orthodox Lent, kept in Greece with a picnic of flatbread, shellfish and tarama.
17 Mar 2027St Patrick's DayBacon and cabbage in Ireland, corned beef and cabbage in America, and stout in both.
19 Mar 2027St Joseph's DayCream-filled zeppole and a meatless table for the poor, kept by Italians on the saint's feast.
21 Mar to 2 Apr 2027NowruzPersian New Year at the spring equinox: herbed rice with fish, and a table of seven symbolic things.
22 Mar 2027HoliAfter the colours, north India eats gujiya and drinks thandai.
23 Mar 2027PurimThree-cornered filled pastries, gifts of food to friends and a festive meal with wine.
26 Mar 2027Good FridayA day of fasting and no meat: hot cross buns, fish, and meatless dishes handed down for the day.
28 to 29 Mar 2027EasterThe fast ends with roast lamb, eggs and rich sweet breads to mark the Resurrection.April 2027
5 Apr 2027Qingming FestivalFamilies sweep the ancestral graves, offer food there, and eat green rice dumplings.
7 Apr 2027Ugadi and Gudi PadwaNew Year in the Deccan starts with a taste of six flavours at once, bitter neem included.
13 to 15 Apr 2027SongkranThai New Year in the hottest month, with rice in iced jasmine water and ripe mango with sticky rice.
13 to 16 Apr 2027ThingyanBurmese New Year: neighbours gather to boil rice balls filled with palm sugar, one with a chilli inside.
13 to 14 Apr 2027Sinhala and Tamil New YearSri Lanka lights the hearth at the auspicious minute and cooks milk rice, then lays a table of sweets.
14 Apr 2027VaisakhiSikhs mark the founding of the Khalsa and the wheat harvest with langar open to all.
14 Apr 2027Pohela BoishakhBengali New Year, begun in Bangladesh with fermented rice, fried hilsa and mashed vegetables.
19 Apr 2027Mahavir JayantiJains mark the birth of Mahavira with simple vegetarian food, charity and feeding others.
22 to 29 Apr 2027PassoverA week without leavened bread, opened by the Seder, a meal that retells the Exodus through food.
25 Apr 2027Anzac DayOat and golden syrup biscuits, and coffee with rum after the dawn service.
29 Apr 2027MimounaMoroccan Jews welcome bread back after Passover with thin pancakes spread with butter and honey.
30 Apr to 1 May 2027Walpurgis Night and May DayFinland welcomes spring with home-brewed lemon mead, doughnuts and funnel cakes.May 2027
2 to 3 May 2027Orthodox EasterRed eggs, lamb on the spit and sweet braided bread after the midnight service.
2 May 2027FasikaEthiopian Easter ends 55 days without meat or dairy with doro wat, lamb and injera.
3 May 2027Sham El-NessimEgyptians of every faith picnic by the Nile with salted fish, spring onions and coloured eggs.
5 May 2027Cinco de MayoPuebla remembers its 1862 victory with mole poblano, while the United States eats tacos and guacamole.
5 May 2027Children's Day (Japan)Rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves and bamboo leaves, with carp streamers flying overhead.
16 to 19 May 2027Eid al-AdhaThe feast of sacrifice: an animal is offered and its meat shared in thirds with family and the poor.
17 May 2027Norwegian Constitution DayChildren parade, and the rule of the day is as many hot dogs and ice creams as you like.
20 May 2027VesakOn the full moon of the Buddha, people eat vegetarian food and give free meals to strangers.
25 May 2027May Revolution Day (Argentina)Argentines eat locro, a thick stew of maize, beans and squash, on the day the revolution began.June 2027
4 Jun 2027National Doughnut DayThe first Friday of June, when American shops give away doughnuts.
9 Jun 2027Dragon Boat FestivalSticky rice parcels wrapped in leaves, eaten in memory of the poet Qu Yuan.
11 to 12 Jun 2027ShavuotThe giving of the Torah is marked with dairy food: cheesecake, blintzes and cheese pastries.
13 to 29 Jun 2027Festa JuninaBrazil's June festivals: bonfires, country dances and a table of sweet and savoury maize dishes.
15 Jun 2027AshuraA day of fasting for many Sunnis and of mourning for Shia, when food is cooked to give away.
19 Jun 2027JuneteenthBarbecue and red food and drink mark the end of slavery in the United States.
23 to 24 Jun 2027São João (Porto)Porto spends the night of St John in the streets grilling sardines.
24 Jun 2027Inti RaymiThe Andean festival of the sun, with maize beer offered to the sun and the earth before anyone drinks.
25 to 26 Jun 2027Midsummer (Sweden)Pickled herring, new potatoes with dill, strawberries and cream, and schnapps with songs.
25 Jun 2027MatarikiThe Māori New Year: food from earth, water and sky is cooked so its steam can feed the stars.
9 Jun 2027Dragon Boat FestivalSticky rice parcels wrapped in leaves, eaten in memory of the poet Qu Yuan.
11 to 12 Jun 2027ShavuotThe giving of the Torah is marked with dairy food: cheesecake, blintzes and cheese pastries.
13 to 29 Jun 2027Festa JuninaBrazil's June festivals: bonfires, country dances and a table of sweet and savoury maize dishes.
15 Jun 2027AshuraA day of fasting for many Sunnis and of mourning for Shia, when food is cooked to give away.
19 Jun 2027JuneteenthBarbecue and red food and drink mark the end of slavery in the United States.
23 to 24 Jun 2027São João (Porto)Porto spends the night of St John in the streets grilling sardines.
24 Jun 2027Inti RaymiThe Andean festival of the sun, with maize beer offered to the sun and the earth before anyone drinks.
25 to 26 Jun 2027Midsummer (Sweden)Pickled herring, new potatoes with dill, strawberries and cream, and schnapps with songs.
25 Jun 2027MatarikiThe Māori New Year: food from earth, water and sky is cooked so its steam can feed the stars.July 2027
4 Jul 2027Independence Day (United States)The Fourth of July is a backyard cookout: hot dogs, burgers, corn, watermelon and pie.
7 Jul 2027World Chocolate DayA day to eat chocolate, in whatever form you like best.
7 Jul 2027TanabataThe star festival, when Japan eats cold thin somen noodles like threads of the Milky Way.
14 Jul 2027Bastille DayFrance has no set dish for 14 July, only picnics, a glass of champagne and dancing at the fire station.
28 to 29 Jul 2027Fiestas Patrias (Peru)Peru marks independence with its great dishes, from ceviche to anticuchos, and a pisco sour.August 2027
1 to 31 Aug 2027New Yam FestivalIgbo communities offer the first yams of the harvest before anyone eats them. Each town sets its own day.
1 to 31 Aug 2027HomowoThe Ga people of Accra hoot at hunger and sprinkle steamed maize meal for the ancestors.
4 Aug to 3 Sept 2027Crayfish party seasonSwedes spend August evenings eating cold crayfish boiled with dill, in paper hats, with schnapps.
13 to 16 Aug 2027ObonJapan welcomes the spirits of its ancestors home with vegetarian offerings, noodles and sweet rice cakes.
14 Aug 2027MawlidThe Prophet's birthday is marked in many Muslim countries with sweets given to children and neighbours.
15 Aug 2027Independence Day (India)Flag hoisting, kites, and sweets in saffron, white and green.
17 Aug 2027Raksha BandhanA sister ties a thread on her brother's wrist and puts a sweet in his mouth.
25 Aug 2027Krishna JanmashtamiA fast until midnight, then butter, milk sweets and everything the child Krishna loved.
27 Aug to 3 Sept 2027ParyushanaEight days of fasting and restraint for Jains: no green vegetables, no roots, nothing after sunset.September 2027
4 to 13 Sept 2027Ganesh ChaturthiGanesha is welcomed home with modak, the steamed sweet dumpling he loves best.
12 Sept 2027OnamKerala sits down to the sadya, more than twenty vegetarian dishes served on a banana leaf.
12 Sept 2027EnkutatashEthiopian New Year, at the end of the rains, with doro wat, fresh bread and the coffee ceremony.
15 to 16 Sept 2027Mexican Independence DayChiles en nogada in the green, white and red of the flag, and pozole on the night of the Grito.
15 Sept 2027Mid-Autumn FestivalMooncakes cut into wedges and shared under the fullest moon of the year.
15 to 17 Sept 2027ChuseokKorean harvest thanksgiving, with half-moon rice cakes steamed on pine needles.
18 to 19 Sept 2027Fiestas Patrias (Chile)Chile fills its fairgrounds with baked beef empanadas, grilled meat and sweet young wine.
24 Sept 2027Heritage Day (Braai Day)South Africans of every background light a fire and grill meat together.
28 Sept 2027MeskelThe finding of the True Cross, kept with a great bonfire and, among the Gurage, a feast of kitfo.October 2027
1 Oct 2027International Coffee DayA day to drink coffee and to think of the farmers who grow it.
2 to 3 Oct 2027Rosh HashanahThe Jewish New Year begins with apple dipped in honey, for a sweet year.
11 Oct 2027Yom KippurA fast of about 25 hours with no food or water, framed by a meal before and a gentle one after.
16 to 22 Oct 2027SukkotA week of meals eaten in a leaf-roofed hut, with stuffed vegetables for the harvest.Every week
Every SundaySunday roastRoast meat with potatoes, vegetables, gravy and Yorkshire pudding in the middle of Sunday.
Every SundaySunday asadoIn Argentina and Uruguay, Sunday is for a slow fire and the whole family.
Every SundaySunday ragùIn Naples, and in Italian American homes, a meat sauce simmers from early on Sunday morning.
Every SundaySunday yum chaCantonese families meet on Sunday morning to drink tea and share small steamed dishes.
Every SundaySunday rice and peasJamaican Sunday dinner is rice cooked with beans and coconut milk, with chicken or oxtail.
Every MondayRed beans and rice MondayNew Orleans eats red beans and rice on Mondays, once the dish that cooked itself on washday.Every MondayMonday fast for ShivaMany Hindus fast on Mondays for Shiva, taking fruit, milk and food made without grain.
Every TuesdayTaco TuesdayAmerican restaurants and homes make Tuesday the night for tacos.
Every WednesdayWednesday fastOrthodox Christians fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, eating no meat or dairy.
Every ThursdayPea soup ThursdaySweden and Finland eat yellow pea soup and pancakes every Thursday.Every ThursdayGnocchi ThursdayA Roman saying sets the menu: gnocchi on Thursday, fish on Friday, tripe on Saturday.
Every ThursdayPozole ThursdayIn the Mexican state of Guerrero, Thursday is the day for green pozole.
Every FridayFish on FridayCatholics have long kept Friday without meat, and fish took its place.
Every FridayFriday couscousIn Morocco and across the Maghreb, families share one large dish of couscous after Friday prayers.Every FridayShabbat dinnerJewish families welcome the Sabbath on Friday night with candles, wine, two loaves and a festive meal.
Every FridayFriday fast for Santoshi MataDevotees of Santoshi Mata fast on Fridays, offer jaggery and roasted chickpeas, and eat nothing sour.
Every SaturdayShabbat stewA stew put on the heat before the Sabbath and left overnight gives a hot Saturday lunch.
Every SaturdaySaturday feijoadaBrazilian restaurants serve feijoada, black beans stewed with pork, on Saturdays.
Every SaturdaySaturday soupJamaican households cook a big pot of soup on Saturday, thick with yam, dumplings and meat.
Every SaturdaySaturday night baked beansNew England once ate beans baked with molasses and salt pork every Saturday night.