Harvest festival

A harvest festival is an annual celebration that happens around the main harvest of a region. Because climates and crops differ around the world, these festivals occur at different times in different places. They usually include feasts for families and the public, with foods from the fresh crops.

In Britain, people have thanked the earth for good harvests since pagan times. Today, these festivals happen in September or October. People sing hymns, pray, and decorate churches with baskets of fruit and food.

Many cultures have their own harvest festivals. The Oromos in Ethiopia celebrate Irreecha to mark the end of the rainy season and the start of harvesting. In Asia, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival is a popular harvest festival. Other countries, like India and Iran, also have special harvest celebrations with unique traditions.

For Jews, the harvest festival of Sukkot is a week-long event in autumn. During this time, people build a temporary hut called a sukkah and live inside it, remembering how farmers once lived in similar shelters during the harvest. They also bring part of their harvest to the Temple in Jerusalem as a thank you.

Customs and traditions in English-speaking world

An early harvest festival was celebrated on 1 August and was called Lammas, meaning 'loaf Mass'. Farmers made bread from new wheat and shared it with their local church to thank God for the harvest.

By the sixteenth century, people had many fun customs for the harvest. Farmers followed a cart full of crops, shouted "Hooky, hooky", and one farmer dressed up as the 'lord' of the harvest and asked for money from watchers. Early English settlers brought harvest thanksgiving to North America. The most famous event was the harvest Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims in 1621.

Today, the festival happens at the end of the harvest, which changes in different parts of Britain. Until the 20th century, farmers often had a big meal called the harvest supper to celebrate. Some churches and villages still have a Harvest Supper. The modern British tradition of celebrating Harvest Festival in churches started in 1843. As fewer people grow their own food, many Harvest Festivals now also help people in the developing world who have trouble growing enough crops.