Days of cheese
64 days across the year and the world when a cheese is made, sold, raced, blessed or eaten, grouped by kind. See the calendar for this year's dates.
Festivals and fairs
Diwali, paneer and chhena sweetsThe festival of lamps, when kalakand, ras malai and a festive paneer curry join the boxes of sweets that pass between homes.
Durga Puja and the Bengali sweet shopFour days of pandals in Bengal, when sandesh, rasgulla and other chhena sweets are bought by the box and offered as bhog.
Raksha Bandhan sweetsSisters tie a rakhi on their brothers' wrists and feed them a sweet, very often kalakand, ras malai or a chhena sweet.
Poila Baishakh, the Bengali New YearThe first day of the Bengali year, when traders open new account books and customers are given boxes of sandesh.
Jagaddhatri Puja in ChandannagarChandannagar's great puja of lights, in the town where the syrup-filled jolbhora sandesh was first made.
Losar and the Himalayan yak cheesesThe Tibetan and Bhutanese new year, when dried churpi, butter tea and datshi dishes are part of the household feast.
Nauryz in the steppeThe spring new year of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, with nauryz kozhe and bowls of salty dried qurut for guests.
Nowruz and nan-o-panirThe Persian new year at the spring equinox, with fresh herbs, flatbread and white cheese on every breakfast spread.
Maslenitsa, Butter WeekThe last week of dairy before Great Lent, when blini are filled with tvorog and syrniki are fried by the plateful.
Feria Nacional del Queso y el VinoTequisquiapan's spring fair of Mexican cheese and Querétaro wine, held in the town since the 1970s.
Cooper's Hill Cheese-RollingOn the spring bank holiday, runners chase a wheel of Double Gloucester down a near-vertical hill in Gloucestershire.
Basel Fasnacht and the cheese tartThree days of carnival from 4 a.m. on the Monday after Ash Wednesday, kept going by flour soup and cheese tart.
Foire aux Fromages de LivarotThe first weekend of August in the Pays d'Auge, a cheese fair in the home of Livarot, the cheese with five stripes.
Cheese, the Slow Food festival in BraEvery other September, the Piedmont town of Bra fills with raw-milk cheesemakers from around the world.
Fiera del Cacio in PienzaOn the first Sunday of September, the districts of Pienza roll whole pecorino cheeses at a wooden spindle.
Feria Nacional del Queso in TrujilloAround 1 May, the Plaza Mayor of Trujillo in Extremadura fills with Spanish, Portuguese and Italian cheesemakers.
Shrove Tuesday, the last cheese of CarnivalThe last day before Lent, when Naples bakes lasagne di Carnevale with ricotta and Sicily fills cannoli.
Green County Cheese DaysMonroe, Wisconsin's cheese festival since 1914, held on the third weekend of September in even-numbered years.
Pasture and transhumance
Désalpe, the cattle come downSwiss herders bring their flower-crowned cows down from the alpine pastures, with the summer's cheese following.
Almabtrieb in Austria and BavariaLate September to early October, decorated cattle return from the Alm to the valleys of Tyrol, Salzburg and Bavaria.
Redyk, the shepherds' season in PodhaleAround St Wojciech's day, Polish highland shepherds bless their flocks and lead them up to the summer pastures.
Sâmbra Oilor, the measuring of the milkIn Romania's Oaș country, flocks are milked and measured before the climb, to share out the summer's cheese.
Religious days
Navratri fasting and paneerNine nights of fasting, when many vrat kitchens that set aside grains still allow milk, curd and fresh paneer.
Rasagola DibasaOdisha's rasagola day, on Niladri Bije, when Jagannath offers rasagola to Lakshmi to be let back into the Puri temple.
Jamai SasthiBengal's day for sons-in-law, who are fed a long lunch that ends with rasgulla, sandesh and other chhena sweets.
Noche Buena and queso de bolaThe Filipino Christmas Eve feast after midnight Mass, with a red-waxed ball of Edam, the queso de bola, beside the ham.
Ramadan iftar and suhoorThe month of fasting, when white cheese anchors the pre-dawn meal and cheese-filled pastries come out at iftar.
Eid al-Fitr and kunafaThe feast at the end of Ramadan, when kunafa with melted Nabulsi cheese is cut from great round trays.
Shavuot, the dairy festivalThe festival of the giving of the Torah, when cheesecake, cheese blintzes and bourekas are the custom in many homes.
Hanukkah and the cheese of JudithEight nights of lights, when some families fry cheese latkes in memory of Judith, alongside the potato kind.
Yom Kippur break-fastAfter the Day of Atonement fast, many Ashkenazi families break the fast with bagels, cream cheese, lox and noodle kugel.
Tyrini, Cheesefare WeekThe Greek and Cypriot week of cheese before Lent, with tyropita, cheese pies and macaroni baked with cheese.
Orthodox Easter, paskha and flaounesEaster in the Orthodox churches, when the fast ends with tvorog paskha in Russia and cheese flaounes in Cyprus.
Fasika, Ethiopian EasterEthiopian Easter, when a fifty-five day fast without meat or dairy ends with doro wat, kitfo and fresh ayib cheese.
Fanesca for Holy WeekEcuador's Holy Week soup of twelve grains and salt cod, finished with crumbled fresh cheese.
Christmas and the Stilton boardThe British Christmas cheeseboard: Stilton with port, Cheddar, and in Yorkshire a slice of Wensleydale with Christmas cake.
St Joseph's Day and ricotta sfinceItaly's feast of St Joseph and Father's Day, with sfince and zeppole filled with sweet ricotta or custard.
St Lucy's Day and cuccìaOn 13 December, many Sicilians eat no bread or pasta, and instead eat cuccìa, boiled wheat with sweet ricotta.
Wigilia, the Polish Christmas EveThe meatless Polish Christmas Eve supper, with pierogi of potato and twaróg, and sernik baked for the holidays.
Ash Wednesday and the Lenten dairy ruleThe first day of Lent, which once banned cheese and butter, and now leans on cheese for its meatless meals.
Easter, pastiera and cheese breadsEaster in Italy and Poland, with ricotta pastiera from Naples, pecorino crescia from Umbria and twaróg sernik.
Seasonal
Christmas in Kolkata and Bandel cheeseKolkata's Christmas of lights and plum cake, when the cheese counters of New Market sell smoked Bandel and Kalimpong cheese.
Mont d'Or season opensThe spruce-boxed winter cheese of the Jura goes on sale in September, in time for the cold months and Christmas.
Kräftskiva and Västerbotten pieSwedish crayfish parties in August, where a savoury pie of sharp Västerbotten cheese is served beside the crayfish.
Markets
Alkmaar cheese market season opensThe first Friday of the Alkmaar cheese market, where guild porters carry wheels of Gouda on barrows to the weigh house.
Gouda cheese market season opensThursday mornings in Gouda, from April to August, when farmers' cheese is traded in front of the 1668 weigh house.
Edam cheese market season opensSummer Wednesdays in Edam, when the round cheeses are brought by boat and cart to the old cheese weigh house.
Serra da Estrela cheese fair in Celorico da BeiraIn February, Celorico da Beira opens Portugal's season of mountain cheese fairs with its Serra da Estrela market.
National and cheese days
National Milk Day in IndiaIndia's milk day, on the birthday of Verghese Kurien, whose cooperatives made fresh milk and paneer part of daily life.
Naadam and the white foodsMongolia's summer games of wrestling, archery and horse racing, in the season of fermented mare's milk and dried curd.
Cheese Day in JapanJapan's Cheese Day, chosen in 1992 to recall so, a milk product the imperial court ordered made around the year 700.
Thanksgiving and baked macaroni cheeseThe American harvest feast, where a baked dish of macaroni and Cheddar sits beside the turkey on many Southern tables.
National Cheese DayAn American food day for cheese, marked by cheesemakers, shops and restaurants each year on 4 June.
National Grilled Cheese DayAn American food day for the grilled cheese sandwich, buttered bread fried around melted cheese until golden.
Dia do Queijo in BrazilBrazil's cheese day on 20 January, shared with the American cheese lovers' day, celebrating Minas cheese and coalho.
St David's Day and CaerphillyWales's national day, with cawl, Welsh rarebit and Glamorgan sausages of Caerphilly cheese and leek.
St Patrick's Day and Irish farmhouse cheeseIreland's national day, a good time to taste the farmhouse cheeses that have grown up since the 1970s.
Swiss National Day farm brunchOn 1 August, farms across Switzerland open for a Buurezmorge, a farmers' breakfast of Zopf, Rösti and cheese.
Bastille Day picnic and cheese boardFrance's national day of parades, fireworks and long lunches, when a board of French cheeses is part of the picnic.
National Macaroni and Cheese DayAn American food day on 14 July for macaroni and cheese, a dish served at the White House as early as 1802.
Races and contests
Certamen del Queso de CabralesOn the last Sunday of August in Arenas de Cabrales, the best cave-ripened blue of the year is judged and auctioned.
Idiazabal cheese contest in OrdiziaOn the Wednesday of Ordizia's Basque Festival, shepherds' raw-milk Idiazabal is judged and the winner auctioned.
World Cheese AwardsThe annual world cheese competition, judged in a single day; in 2026 it is held in Córdoba in southern Spain.
U.S. Championship Cheese ContestAmerica's biggest cheese competition, held in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in odd-numbered years.