A free guide to the traditions of the world
Every tradition in the world, from every country and city.
How people marry, name a child, bury their dead, mark the new year, bring in the harvest, greet a guest and lay the table. Filed by country, city, meal, faith and spice, with the calendar for what is happening today.
- 969
- traditions so far
- 185
- countries
- 854
- cities and towns
- 315
- days on the calendar
Tradition of the day, Monday 5 OctoberPolonaiseA traditional Polish partner dance in triple metre, kept as a national custom and UNESCO heritage.🇵🇱 Poland and 2 more
Right nowMonday 5 October
Happening today
Around the world
- Breakfast in 🇩🇴 Santo Domingo, 🇬🇹 Guatemala City, 🇬🇾 Georgetown: Calgary Stampede
- Lunch in 🇹🇩 N'Djamena, 🇹🇬 Lomé, 🇬🇼 Bissau: Siesta
- Tea-time and snacking customs in 🇬🇷 Athens, 🇶🇦 Doha, 🇦🇲 Yerevan: Saffron bun
- Dinner in 🇹🇭 Bangkok, 🇰🇬 Bishkek, 🇰🇭 Phnom Penh: Naengmyeon
Customs of the table
How people open the day, share a meal, welcome a guest and break a fast: the customs, not the recipes. For the dishes themselves, see Thali.
BreakfastHow the day is opened: the first gathering, the blessing, the first drink for a guest.18LunchThe midday pause: the siesta, the shared table and the carried meal.21DinnerThe evening table: who sits where, who is served first, what is said.48SupperThe late, light meal: the last gathering of the day and the vigil meal.10Tea-time and snacking customsThe bite offered to a visitor, the market stop and the tea-time visit.37Tea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesThe rituals and rules of what is poured and how it is received.39Sweets given and sharedSweets handed out at a birth, a wedding or a festival, and offered at a shrine.49Feasts and festival mealsThe meal that marks a day, a rite or a season, and how it is kept.130Fasting and breaking the fastRamadan iftar, Lent, Ekadashi: the rules of the fast and how it ends.33
Live, Monday 5 October
On now and next
Festivals, holy days and seasonal customs, with this year's dates worked out.
On now, about 20 Sept to 19 Oct 2026RtveliThe Georgian grape harvest in Kakheti: whole families pick, press and ferment the wine in buried qvevri jars.
On now, 1 to 7 Oct 2026National Day of ChinaThe founding of the People's Republic in 1949, kept with a flag-raising and the week-long Golden Week holiday.
On now, about 1 to 7 Oct 2026OdwiraThe Akan festival of purification and thanksgiving, with a cleansing of stools and a durbar of chiefs, strongest at Akropong.
In 3 days, 8 Oct 2026MehreganThe ancient autumn festival of Mithra: harvest, friendship and love, kept by Zoroastrians and in Persian culture.
In 4 days, 9 Oct 2026Hangul DayThe proclamation of the Korean alphabet by King Sejong in 1446, with calligraphy shows and ceremonies in Seoul.
In 5 days, 10 to 18 Oct 2026BathukammaTelangana's flower festival: women stack seasonal flowers into a cone and sing around it for nine evenings.
On now, 1 to 7 Oct 2026National Day of ChinaThe founding of the People's Republic in 1949, kept with a flag-raising and the week-long Golden Week holiday.
On now, about 1 to 7 Oct 2026OdwiraThe Akan festival of purification and thanksgiving, with a cleansing of stools and a durbar of chiefs, strongest at Akropong.
In 3 days, 8 Oct 2026MehreganThe ancient autumn festival of Mithra: harvest, friendship and love, kept by Zoroastrians and in Persian culture.
In 4 days, 9 Oct 2026Hangul DayThe proclamation of the Korean alphabet by King Sejong in 1446, with calligraphy shows and ceremonies in Seoul.
In 5 days, 10 to 18 Oct 2026BathukammaTelangana's flower festival: women stack seasonal flowers into a cone and sing around it for nine evenings.Every kind of tradition
Thirteen ways of sorting what people do, each with its own colour.
Spiritual and religiousRites, prayers, pilgrimages, fasts and sacred days.416Festivals and celebrationsThe days a community stops, gathers and celebrates.669Life-cycle ritesBirth, naming, coming of age, marriage and death.55Customs of food and drinkThe customs around eating and drinking: feasts, fasts, hosting and ceremony. Not recipes.130Seasons, harvest and the calendarCustoms tied to a season, a harvest, a moon or a day of the week.279Dress and adornmentClothes, jewellery, henna, tattoo and hair.37Music, dance and storytellingSongs, dances, theatre, epic poetry and oral history.296Greetings, manners and hospitalityHow people greet, host, give gifts and behave at the table.32Crafts and makingWeaving, pottery, carving and other handed-down skills.82Games, sport and playTraditional sport, children's games, martial arts and contests.66Folklore and beliefLegends, superstitions, charms and customs of luck.162Home and family lifeThe house, the hearth, the family and the neighbourhood.57Royal, civic and national ceremonyCoronations, courts, parades, oaths and national days.166
Around the world
Eleven regions, about two hundred countries. Shaded by how many traditions each has so far.
South AsiaDiwali, Holi, Eid and Vesak, saptapadi and mehndi: the densest calendar of living traditions anywhere.160 traditionsSoutheast AsiaSongkran, Tet, Nyepi and Pchum Ben, rice rituals and temple offerings.73 traditionsEast AsiaLunar New Year, tea ceremony, hanami, chuseok and the ancestors.108 traditionsCentral Asia and the CaucasusNowruz, the yurt, felt and falconry, and the supra table of Georgia.20 traditionsMiddle EastRamadan, hospitality of coffee and dates, Shabbat, Nowruz and the hajj.55 traditionsNorth AfricaMint tea, couscous Fridays, henna nights, moussems and Coptic feasts.26 traditionsSub-Saharan AfricaNaming ceremonies, initiation, kente and the harvest yam, Timkat and Ethiopian coffee.83 traditionsEuropeCarnival, Midsummer, Christmas markets, Easter, the village fête and the long Sunday lunch.252 traditionsNorth AmericaThanksgiving, powwow, Dia de Muertos, the Fourth of July and the Canadian maple season.89 traditionsLatin America and the CaribbeanCarnaval, Inti Raymi, quinceañera, mate, asado and the Day of the Dead.64 traditionsOceaniaHaka and hangi, Dreamtime and corroboree, kava, tapa and the umu oven.39 traditions
One idea, many places
Weddings, birth, funerals, new year, harvest and more, compared across countries side by side.
WeddingsNo celebration is kept in more ways than the wedding.20 placesBirth and new babiesA birth is welcomed by every culture, and nearly all of them wrap the first days in special customs.18 placesNaming ceremoniesA name is a first gift, and many cultures mark it with a ceremony.20 placesComing of ageAround the world, a young person's step into adulthood is marked by a ceremony.19 placesDeath and mourningEvery culture has a way to say goodbye.18 placesNew YearThe new year is celebrated on more days than any other festival.20 placesHarvest and thanksgivingWhen the crop is in, people celebrate.18 placesHospitality and welcomeGuests are treated as a blessing in most of the world, and many cultures have elaborate rules for welcoming them.20 placesGreetings and farewellsHow people say hello and goodbye tells you a great deal about a culture.18 placesPilgrimageMillions of people travel every year to a place they hold sacred.20 placesFasting and feastingFasting and feasting belong together.19 placesNew homes and beginningsMoving into a new home is a threshold in life, and cultures all over the world mark it with a ritual.18 placesSpring and renewalWhen the days lengthen and the ground softens, people around the world celebrate.20 placesMidwinter and the longest nightIn the far north the year turns on its darkest day.20 placesRemembering the ancestorsAlmost every society keeps a way of staying in touch with those who came before.19 placesHealing, luck and protectionPeople everywhere have made charms, rites and habits to keep harm away and bring good fortune.18 placesRoyalty and coronationKings, queens, emperors and chiefs have been crowned, enthroned and anointed in ceremonies that are among the oldest in the world.20 placesTea, coffee and the drinking ceremonyA cup of tea or coffee is more than a drink.19 places
See a few
A different handful every few minutes.
🇻🇪 Venezuela and 1 moreColeo
A Venezuelan and Colombian sport where riders chase cattle to snatch tails and pull them down.Game
🇲🇦 MoroccoChaabiشعبي
A North African music and dance tradition meaning 'of the people', played at weddings and festivals.Performance
🇹🇷 Kayseri, Turkey and 4 moreHalay
A traditional line and circle folk dance kept across Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, and Syria.Performance
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreNakshi kanthaনকশি কাঁথা
A traditional embroidered quilt from Bengal, made by stitching layers of old cloth into colourful, patterned textiles.Craft
🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaYeondeunghoe연등회
A Korean lantern festival celebrating the Buddha's birthday with glowing lotus lightsSpiritual
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreArbor Day
An annual secular observance dedicated to planting and caring for trees around the worldCeremony
🇳🇬 Enugu, NigeriaAtilogwu
A high-energy Igbo youth dance featuring acrobatics, drum music and rhythmic jumps.Performance
🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline
A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore
By faith and belief
Hindu 130Buddhist 90Jain 11Muslim 55Jewish 26Christian 233Sikh 16Zoroastrian 14Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese 42Indigenous and traditional 149Pagan and ancient 42Secular and civic 225
By spice
Heritage news
- El Cajon Oktoberfest brings Bavarian tradition to San Diego amid triple-digit heat10News.com, Table
- Cambodian Lakhon Khol showcased at UNESCO Heritage Festival in South KoreaKhmer Times, Heritage
- Public invited to Community Fiesta at Nacho’s American GrillNorthwoods Star Journal, Arts
- "Lotus land" builds brand for traditional craftNhan Dan Online, Arts
- Lunar New Year: Galloping into the Year of the Fire HorseABC7 Los Angeles, Holy days
The words
219 terms in plain language.
Newly added
🇮🇪 Ros Muc, Ireland and 2 moreSean-nós dancedamhsa ar an sean nós
An improvised solo Irish dance: low footwork, free arms and a loud battering beatPerformance
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 1 moreBonsai盆栽
A Japanese craft of keeping small trees in shallow pots, shaped for contemplationCraft
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDreamcatcherᐊᓴᐱᑫᔒᓐᐦ (asabikeshiinh)
A hand-woven hoop from Anishinaabe tradition, hung above a cradle to protect a childCraft
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭᠠ (Traditional Mongol)
A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 1 moreBonsai盆栽
A Japanese craft of keeping small trees in shallow pots, shaped for contemplationCraft
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDreamcatcherᐊᓴᐱᑫᔒᓐᐦ (asabikeshiinh)
A hand-woven hoop from Anishinaabe tradition, hung above a cradle to protect a childCraft
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭᠠ (Traditional Mongol)
A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Halay: Post of Moldova, Public domain, source
- Mehregan: PersianDutchNetwork, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yeondeunghoe: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ovoo: Bouette ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dreamcatcher: Jorge Barrios, Public domain, source
- Bonsai: Ragesoss, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Odwira Festival: Duncanoff, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bathukamma: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Arbor Day: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Coleo: Alorenz, Public domain, source
- Atilogwu: Arch-Angel Raphael the Artist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nakshi kantha: A junaid alam khan ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Polonaise: Korneli Szlegel, Public domain, source
- National Day China: me ( w:User:pfctdayelise ), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Hangul Day: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0, source