The spice calendar
128 harvests, festivals, feasts and fasts of the year, with the spices each one calls for. Dates are worked out afresh every day; those marked "about" follow the moon or local calendars and can shift by a day.
Sponsored ClearTrust ClearTrust measures traffic quality for the advertising industry and publishes free guides like this one.
October 2026
11 to 19 Oct 2026Navratri fasting foodNine nights of fasting, when rock salt, cumin, green chilli and black pepper replace the usual spice box.
about 18 Oct 2026Senor de los MilagrosLima's purple month, when turron de Dona Pepa, with anise and clove syrup, and anticuchos with aji panca are sold in the streets.November 2026
1 to 2 Nov 2026Day of the DeadMexico's days of remembrance, with ofrendas of pan de muerto, mole and hot chocolate scented with cinnamon.
13 to 16 Nov 2026Chhath PujaThe four-day sun worship of Bihar, with thekua, fried in ghee and perfumed with fennel and cardamom, as the key offering.
24 Nov 2026Guru Nanak GurpurabThe birthday of the first Sikh Guru, with langar for thousands: dal, rice, kheer and sweet halwa.December 2026
5 to 12 Dec 2026HanukkahEight nights of lights and oil, with latkes, sufganiyot and spiced treats such as cinnamon doughnuts.
6 Dec 2026St Nicholas Day and speculaasThe Dutch and Belgian gift day, with speculaas biscuits spiced with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, white pepper and cardamom.
13 Dec 2026St Lucia DayThe Swedish festival of light, with lussekatter, golden saffron buns, and gingerbread and mulled wine.
16 to 24 Dec 2026Las PosadasNine nights of processions before Christmas, ending in warm ponche de frutas with cinnamon, tamarind and cane.
24 to 26 Dec 2026Christmas in the CaribbeanBlack cake soaked in rum, sorrel drink with ginger and clove, pastelles, ham glazed with allspice and a pot of pepperpot.
24 Dec 2026Christmas Eve feastsWigilia in Poland, Weihnachtsplatzchen in Germany and the Feast of the Seven Fishes in Italian-American homes.
25 Dec 2026Christmas in Kerala and GoaPlum cake soaked in rum with cloves and cinnamon, and a Goan bebinca layered with nutmeg and cardamom.
25 Dec 2026Christmas Day bakingPlum pudding, mince pies, gingerbread, eggnog and pumpkin pie: the Christmas table is built on the warm spices.
25 Dec 2026Christmas in Australia and New ZealandA summer Christmas, with spiced fruit mince, ham glazed with clove and a pavlova perfumed with vanilla.January 2027
1 Jan 2027Vasilopita and St Basil's DayThe Greek New Year's cake with a coin baked inside, scented with mastic and mahleb.
6 Jan 2027Epiphany and Three KingsThe twelfth day of Christmas, with roscon de reyes, galette des rois and the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
7 Jan 2027GennaEthiopian Christmas, after a 43-day fast, with a feast of doro wat, injera and tej.
about 15 Jan 2027Laba and laba congeeThe eighth day of the twelfth month, with a congee of grains, beans and dates and Laba garlic pickled green in vinegar.
19 to 21 Jan 2027TimkatThe Ethiopian Epiphany, with processions of the tabot and a festive meal of wat and bread.
22 Jan 2027ThaipusamThe Tamil festival of Murugan, with milk pots, vegetarian fasting and sweets scented with cardamom and rosewater.February 2027
March 2027
about 6 Mar 2027Laylat al-QadrThe Night of Power, spent in prayer, with a light meal of dates, sweet milk and rose or cardamom tea before dawn.
7 Mar 2027Mothering Sunday and simnel cakeThe fourth Sunday of Lent, once a break in the fast, with a spiced simnel cake topped with eleven marzipan balls.
23 Mar 2027PurimThe carnival of Esther, with filled three-cornered hamantaschen and, in Yemenite homes, a spiced meat soup.
26 Mar 2027Good Friday hot cross bunsThe spiced buns marked with a cross, with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and currants, baked on Good Friday.
28 Mar 2027EasterThe Western Easter, with lamb studded with garlic and rosemary, spiced breads and cakes in every country.
May 2027
2 May 2027Orthodox Easter and FasikaAfter Lent, tsiga, magiritsa, kulich and paska, with mahleb and mastic in Greek tsoureki and Ethiopian doro wat.
9 May 2027Akshaya TritiyaAn auspicious day for new beginnings, when kitchens prepare sweets and raw mango dishes with fresh spices.
about 20 May 2027VesakThe Buddhist full moon of birth, enlightenment and death, with free refreshment stalls (dansal) serving spiced drinks and rice.June 2027
11 to 12 Jun 2027ShavuotThe harvest and Torah festival, with dairy foods: cheesecake, blintzes and Yemenite jachnun, served with grated tomato and zhug.
about 15 Jun 2027Ashura and noah's puddingThe tenth of Muharram: in Turkey, aşure, a pudding of grains, beans and dried fruit scented with cinnamon and clove.August 2027
October 2027
2 to 3 Oct 2027Rosh HashanahThe Jewish new year, with apples and honey, honey cake spiced with cinnamon and clove, and Sephardic seven-symbol seder.
11 Oct 2027Yom Kippur break-fastAfter a day-long fast, a gentle meal of bagels, kugel, cake and coffee with cardamom in Israeli homes.
16 to 23 Oct 2027SukkotThe harvest festival of booths, with the four species including the fragrant myrtle and etrog, and stuffed vegetables.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Navratri Vrat Food: Mukerjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Akshaya Tritiya: Fgndgndgnr, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chhath Puja: Steffen Gauger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Guru Nanak Gurpurab: Giridhar Appaji Nag Y, CC BY 2.0, source
- Christmas Kerala Goa: Warren Noronha, CC BY 2.0, source
- Thaipusam: hams Nocete, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Vesak Sri Lanka: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ramadan Iftar: Gabby Canonizado, CC BY 2.0, source
- Laylat Al Qadr: M sh شراونة محمد, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mawlid An Nabi: Firdaus Latif, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ashura Pudding: Abbas Shariati, CC BY 4.0, source
- Rosh Hashanah: N100a . The original uploader was N100a at Hebrew Wikipedia ., Attribution, source
- Yom Kippur Break Fast: Maurycy Gottlieb, Public domain, source
- Sukkot: Zachi Evenor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Hanukkah: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
- Purim: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source
- Passover Seder: User:RadRafe~commonswiki, Public domain, source
- Shavuot: https://www.flickr.com/people/69061470@N05, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Meskel: DanielGirmaTsige, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Timkat: Jean Rebiffé, CC BY 4.0, source
- Fasika Orthodox Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
- Caribbean Christmas: Kent Wang, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Day Of The Dead: RubeHM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shrove Tuesday: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, source
- Good Friday Hot Cross Buns: Cjorsch, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mothering Sunday Simnel: No machine-readable author provided. Edward assumed (based on copyrigh, Public domain, source
- Epiphany Three Kings: Gentile da Fabriano, Public domain, source
- Vasilopita New Year: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
- St Nicholas Speculaas: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- St Lucia Saffron Buns: Fredrik Magnusson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Christmas Eve Wigilia: Carl Larsson, Public domain, source
- Christmas Day: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Public domain, source
- Australian Christmas Spice: Peripitus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source