How does your country celebrate an “Independence Day”
December 19, 2025
Americans have fireworks, but what are some special things Europeans, and really any country do to celebrate the Independence day?
19 comments
No.
We have a _Day of German Unity_ to celebrate the reunification, but it’s not like your independence day celebrations.
Nah we do not celebrate our independence from Bavaria through an Imperial edict from 800 years ago. Wouldn’t make much sense for a Republic to.celebrate the granting of the title of Duke to a noble family that has long died out.
We don’t have Independence Day. The fireworks national day is 20 August, the feast day of king Saint Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state. The fireworks nowadays are a literal light show about the conquest of the Carpathian Basin, the founding of the state and the early history of the kingdom.
We have two additional national days remembering revolutions.
I wonder how many European countries have won their independence from a dominant power? Not many, though some Eastern European countries might celebrate their independence from Soviet Russia. Looking at the popular vote in countries like Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, I doubt that.
We don’t have a real independence day. The closest thing would be Liberation Day on 25th April during which we celebrate the general insurrection in all the territories still occupied by the Nazi-fascists.
In many cities marches are organized by anti-fascist groups while in Rome the President of the Republic and other high Italian officials from the government and parliament lay a laurel wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Altar of the Fatherland.
Literally, we do not know how to celebrate it. Maybe strawberry cake?
No one did really care about it, because it was 500 years ago.
It was made a holiday in 2005, only 20 years ago, so there are no real generational traditions around it.
Most people concider Midsummer to be our real “national day”.
The Netherlands does not have a single Independence Day like the US, because Dutch independence is centuries old. The country was formally recognised as independent in 1648, so independence is seen as a long-established fact rather than something to celebrate annually.
Instead, we focus on freedom (from tyranny). On 5 May, ‘Bevrijdingsdag’ marks liberation from Nazi occupation in 1945. It is not an independence day, but it is celebrated nationwide with festivals, concerts, and public events centred on freedom, democracy, and civil rights.
Denmark doesn’t really have an “Independence Day” in the same sense as the US, because we were never a colony that declared independence.
Instead, our big national celebration is Constitution Day (Grundlovsdag) on 5 June, which marks the signing of our first democratic constitution in 1849.
It’s a pretty low-key affair compared to American fireworks and parades. Traditionally, people attend political speeches, debates, and community gatherings, and some workplaces are closed. There’s no fireworks and no big parades, but it’s considered an important day for democracy and civil rights.
We have our Independence Day on 11 of November. Fascists march through the capital under the guise of patriotism and “promoting traditional values”, and everyone else has a day off but it’s one of the bleakest months of the year so there is not much to do except sit at home all day. It’s honestly one of my least favorite days of the year, despite being a holiday.
21 July. The day the first king set foot in Belgium. We don’t really celebrate or commemorate “Declaration of Independence” (which would be 4 October).
Official day off.
The royal family goes to church.
A Military parade in the afternoon and broadcast on TV. Watched by many to see what the queen and her entourage are wearing.
Some festivities in major cities. In Brussels, usually an open-air –free of charge– music festival featuring well-known and not so well-known Belgian artists.
And fireworks.
Our independence day was actually recently, on the 6th of January.
It’s not a joyous celebration with fireworks and partying, more of a calm and relaxed day. Probably since it’s in the winter, I imagine people would be more inclined to go out and party if it was in the summer.
In the evening the president has their Independence Day Reception, which is a big glamorous party in the Presidential Palace. Important and famous people are invited there, and the whole thing is televised. Watching the reception is probably the most common independence day tradition in Finland, a lot of people do that. There’s a huge line where all the guests shake hands with the president and on TV there are commentators who tell you who the people are and comment on how they’re dressed et cetera.
Basically, people watch TV here on independence day.
We celebrate the 1st of August as the day when the first proto-cantons formed an alliance in 1291 to preserve autonomy and defend each other’s old privileges within the Holy Roman Empire.
It’s a a day off (functionally a sunday), there are speeches from politicians, fireworks and barbecues, and bonfires on the mountains. It looks like Gondor calling for help, then.
An actual independence is hard to define, and the public doesn’t really know of any particular date. Leaving the HRE in 1648? Regaining political independence from France after 1815? And then again, Switzerland as a single political entity is only a thing after 1848, and they even fabricated the 1st August to act as if Switzerland had been a thing ever since 1291.
We don’t have one. Although, wait… 14 July *is* a big thing. We have a beautiful fireworks display at the river at midnight.
We have a holiday for the more recent restoration of independence (from Spain in 1640) but it’s not a big deal. The original independence dates from the 12th century and there are too many potential dates.
Countries celebrate independence Day because they got independent from us, and not the other way around.
The closest dates I can think of are the 2nd of January (conquest of Granada, ending 800ish years of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula) and 2nd of May (start of the war of independence against Napoleonic France, today it’s celebrated as Madrid Region’s Day)
Catalonia’s National Day is the 11th of september (yes, I know). It commemorates the Catalan last stand at the siege and fall of Barcelona at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the subsequent loss of Catalan institutions and legal system.
Traditionally there are floral offerings to the fallen that fought to maintain the Catalan institutions, and there are demonstrations in favour of greater autonomy (in the past) and independence (nowadays). It is usually quite centred around Barcelona (although there are events everywhere around the country), where thousands of people gather. The past decade had demonstrations with over a million people, but the last years these demonstrations have less people.
We don’t celebrate Independence Day, but rather Constitution Day to commemorate the signing of the first and present Constitution. The day could easily have become an Independence Day if the Swedes had been a bit more cooperative. We eat sausages, ice cream and creamy cakes. Many drink a lot or in fact too much. Children and their parents walk around in long queues we like to call a train (*tog*) or a parade if you want, marching bands required. Those who own a traditional dress (*bunad*) like to wear it.
Croatian Independence day is 25 June. We use the opportunity to bridge the days and excape to the seaside.
The closest we have would be July 14, we celebrate “La prise de la Bastille”, so basically the French Revolution. There are fireworks and not much else. It can happen on the 13th, 14th, or 15th, and the reason for that is that nearly every town will shoot their own fireworks and they’d rather not do it at the same time as their neighbors or else only the biggest town will have people attending.
19 comments
No.
We have a _Day of German Unity_ to celebrate the reunification, but it’s not like your independence day celebrations.
Nah we do not celebrate our independence from Bavaria through an Imperial edict from 800 years ago. Wouldn’t make much sense for a Republic to.celebrate the granting of the title of Duke to a noble family that has long died out.
We don’t have Independence Day. The fireworks national day is 20 August, the feast day of king Saint Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state. The fireworks nowadays are a literal light show about the conquest of the Carpathian Basin, the founding of the state and the early history of the kingdom.
We have two additional national days remembering revolutions.
I wonder how many European countries have won their independence from a dominant power? Not many, though some Eastern European countries might celebrate their independence from Soviet Russia. Looking at the popular vote in countries like Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia, I doubt that.
We don’t have a real independence day. The closest thing would be Liberation Day on 25th April during which we celebrate the general insurrection in all the territories still occupied by the Nazi-fascists.
In many cities marches are organized by anti-fascist groups while in Rome the President of the Republic and other high Italian officials from the government and parliament lay a laurel wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Altar of the Fatherland.
Literally, we do not know how to celebrate it. Maybe strawberry cake?
No one did really care about it, because it was 500 years ago.
It was made a holiday in 2005, only 20 years ago, so there are no real generational traditions around it.
Most people concider Midsummer to be our real “national day”.
The Netherlands does not have a single Independence Day like the US, because Dutch independence is centuries old. The country was formally recognised as independent in 1648, so independence is seen as a long-established fact rather than something to celebrate annually.
Instead, we focus on freedom (from tyranny). On 5 May, ‘Bevrijdingsdag’ marks liberation from Nazi occupation in 1945. It is not an independence day, but it is celebrated nationwide with festivals, concerts, and public events centred on freedom, democracy, and civil rights.
Denmark doesn’t really have an “Independence Day” in the same sense as the US, because we were never a colony that declared independence.
Instead, our big national celebration is Constitution Day (Grundlovsdag) on 5 June, which marks the signing of our first democratic constitution in 1849.
It’s a pretty low-key affair compared to American fireworks and parades. Traditionally, people attend political speeches, debates, and community gatherings, and some workplaces are closed. There’s no fireworks and no big parades, but it’s considered an important day for democracy and civil rights.
We have our Independence Day on 11 of November. Fascists march through the capital under the guise of patriotism and “promoting traditional values”, and everyone else has a day off but it’s one of the bleakest months of the year so there is not much to do except sit at home all day. It’s honestly one of my least favorite days of the year, despite being a holiday.
21 July. The day the first king set foot in Belgium. We don’t really celebrate or commemorate “Declaration of Independence” (which would be 4 October).
Official day off.
The royal family goes to church.
A Military parade in the afternoon and broadcast on TV. Watched by many to see what the queen and her entourage are wearing.
Some festivities in major cities. In Brussels, usually an open-air –free of charge– music festival featuring well-known and not so well-known Belgian artists.
And fireworks.
Our independence day was actually recently, on the 6th of January.
It’s not a joyous celebration with fireworks and partying, more of a calm and relaxed day. Probably since it’s in the winter, I imagine people would be more inclined to go out and party if it was in the summer.
In the evening the president has their Independence Day Reception, which is a big glamorous party in the Presidential Palace. Important and famous people are invited there, and the whole thing is televised. Watching the reception is probably the most common independence day tradition in Finland, a lot of people do that. There’s a huge line where all the guests shake hands with the president and on TV there are commentators who tell you who the people are and comment on how they’re dressed et cetera.
Basically, people watch TV here on independence day.
We celebrate the 1st of August as the day when the first proto-cantons formed an alliance in 1291 to preserve autonomy and defend each other’s old privileges within the Holy Roman Empire.
It’s a a day off (functionally a sunday), there are speeches from politicians, fireworks and barbecues, and bonfires on the mountains. It looks like Gondor calling for help, then.
An actual independence is hard to define, and the public doesn’t really know of any particular date. Leaving the HRE in 1648? Regaining political independence from France after 1815? And then again, Switzerland as a single political entity is only a thing after 1848, and they even fabricated the 1st August to act as if Switzerland had been a thing ever since 1291.
We don’t have one. Although, wait… 14 July *is* a big thing. We have a beautiful fireworks display at the river at midnight.
We have a holiday for the more recent restoration of independence (from Spain in 1640) but it’s not a big deal. The original independence dates from the 12th century and there are too many potential dates.
Countries celebrate independence Day because they got independent from us, and not the other way around.
The closest dates I can think of are the 2nd of January (conquest of Granada, ending 800ish years of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula) and 2nd of May (start of the war of independence against Napoleonic France, today it’s celebrated as Madrid Region’s Day)
Catalonia’s National Day is the 11th of september (yes, I know). It commemorates the Catalan last stand at the siege and fall of Barcelona at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the subsequent loss of Catalan institutions and legal system.
Traditionally there are floral offerings to the fallen that fought to maintain the Catalan institutions, and there are demonstrations in favour of greater autonomy (in the past) and independence (nowadays). It is usually quite centred around Barcelona (although there are events everywhere around the country), where thousands of people gather. The past decade had demonstrations with over a million people, but the last years these demonstrations have less people.
We don’t celebrate Independence Day, but rather Constitution Day to commemorate the signing of the first and present Constitution. The day could easily have become an Independence Day if the Swedes had been a bit more cooperative. We eat sausages, ice cream and creamy cakes. Many drink a lot or in fact too much. Children and their parents walk around in long queues we like to call a train (*tog*) or a parade if you want, marching bands required. Those who own a traditional dress (*bunad*) like to wear it.
Croatian Independence day is 25 June. We use the opportunity to bridge the days and excape to the seaside.
The closest we have would be July 14, we celebrate “La prise de la Bastille”, so basically the French Revolution. There are fireworks and not much else. It can happen on the 13th, 14th, or 15th, and the reason for that is that nearly every town will shoot their own fireworks and they’d rather not do it at the same time as their neighbors or else only the biggest town will have people attending.