Väike-Maarja parish was located in the central part of Virumaa. Its neighbors were Kadrina, Rakvere, Viru-Jaagup and Simuna parishes from Virumaa and Koeru, Järva-Jaani and Ambla parishes from Järvamaa. The parish was founded in the mid-14th century. Most of its areas previously belonged to Simuna parish.
Several antiquities collection trips were carried out in the parish of Väike-Maarja, during which a large number of historical objects were obtained, which can be used as examples in the production of folk costumes today. In 1910, Oskar Kuriks and Peeter Särg collected old objects in the parishes of Väike-Maarja, Simuna and Koeru. They are archived under the numbers ERM 1041-1102 and ERM 1108-1121. The following year, art teacher KA Krahe collected old objects, which are preserved under the numbers ERM 2265-2282. Johan Elken's collection, with the help of local school teachers and others, took place in 1912-1913. The large number of objects obtained are archived under the numbers ERM 12862-13269.
Aino Voolmaa has collected a lot of descriptive material from the Väike-Maarja parish in 1954. These are stored in the archival manuscript ERM EA 61.
The folk costumes of the Väike-Maarja parish belong to the North Estonian folk costume group.
