Folklore and belief
Legends, superstitions, charms and customs of luck.
Folklore and belief gather the legends, charms, superstitions and customs of luck that people live by: knocking on wood, the evil eye, the tooth fairy, the black dog on the moor, the fox spirit of Japan, the spirits of the forest. These are not formal religion but a living layer of stories and habits, told by grandparents and kept alive in jokes, rhymes and small rituals. EveryParampara describes them as folklore, in the way those who keep them describe them, and takes no position on whether they are true.
Tales and creatures
Every region has its stories of giants, fairies, trolls, tricksters, ghosts and talking animals, often explaining a hill, a river or a custom. They are told to entertain and to teach, and collectors such as the Brothers Grimm and local folklorists have written many down. The same tale types appear across continents, with local details, which scholars have long studied. Storytelling nights, festivals and schools keep them in circulation.
Luck and protection
Customs of luck and protection are the small daily rituals: spilling salt, a horseshoe over the door, a red thread, a coin in the fountain, a lucky number. They answer the wish for some control in an uncertain world and are often kept with a smile. Some have a practical origin, and others are echoes of older beliefs. EveryParampara notes traditional use as tradition and offers no medical or financial advice.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Folklore and belief (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇨🇲 Douala, CameroonNgondo
An annual coastal water festival celebrated by the Sawa people in CameroonFestival
🇮🇩 IndonesiaBau Nyale
An annual night-time gathering on Lombok to collect spawning sea worms from the shoreFestival
🇷🇴 RomaniaSorcova
Children tap people with a flowered twig on New Year's morning, wishing health and luckSeasonal
🇸🇩 SudanJirtigالجَرْتِقْ
A Sudanese wedding ritual of regal adornment, protection, and blessings of fertilityRite of passage
🇮🇸 IcelandYule LadsJólasveinarnir
Thirteen mischievous brothers who visit Icelandic homes in the nights leading to Yule.Folklore
🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesMardi Gras Indians
A New Orleans carnival tradition where Black revelers wear elaborate Native American-inspired suits to honor historical Festival
🇮🇪 Uisneach, Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine
A Gaelic first-of-summer festival of bonfires, May flowers and feasting on 1 MaySeasonal
🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary and 3 moreTáncház
A Hungarian folk dance gathering where anyone can learn the steps and dance to live musicPerformance
🇬🇧 Brockworth, United KingdomCooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
A round of cheese, a steep hill, and runners chasing it down for the prizeGame
🇧🇴 La Paz, Bolivia and 1 moreAlasitasFeria de la Alasita
A month-long Bolivian fair where people exchange miniatures to invite good fortuneFestival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 3 moreBanitsaБаница
A layered Bulgarian cheese pastry baked for morning meals and holiday fortunesTable custom · Breakfast
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 2 moreGerman CarnivalKarneval
Pre-Lenten street parades, costume balls and local revels across German-speaking lands.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaZiemassvētki
Latvia's midwinter festival of solstice customs, mumming and tree decorationSeasonal
🇱🇺 Luxembourg and 3 moreBuergbrennen
A bonfire festival marking the end of winter on the first Sunday of Lent in LuxembourgSeasonal
🇦🇱 Albania and 2 moreBesaBesë
A pledge of honour that an Albanian gives once and must never breakEtiquette
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 3 moreMalankaМаланка
A Ukrainian folk celebration of masked mummers, feasting and New Year blessingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals
Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage
🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean traditional funeral
A multi-day ritual blending Confucian rites and shamanic practices to guide the deceased to the afterlife.Rite of passage
🇬🇪 GeorgiaBerikaobaბერიკაობა
An improvised Georgian folk theatre and masquerade of fertility, satire and dramaPerformance · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇹 LithuaniaUžgavėnės
A Lithuanian winter-ending festival of masks, mock battles and pancakesFestival
🇱🇹 LithuaniaSaint Jonas's FestivalJoninės
A Lithuanian midsummer night of bonfires, wreaths, song and morning dewSeasonal
🇦🇷 ArgentinaDía de la Tradición
An annual Argentine day celebrating gaucho customs on poet José Hernández's birthdayCeremony
🇮🇪 Killorglin, IrelandPuck FairAonach an Phoic
An annual Kerry gathering centred on the crowning of a mountain goat.Festival
🇧🇪 Aalst, BelgiumAalst CarnivalAalst Carnaval
A three-day street carnival of satire, costumed parades and folk rituals in AalstFestival
🇲🇹 Nadur, MaltaNadur Carnival
An unscripted five-day costume festival filling the streets of Nadur before LentFestival
🇦🇱 Albania and 1 moreKanunKanû
Albanian customary law kept by word of mouth, centred on honour and the given wordEtiquette
🇸🇮 Ptuj, Slovenia and 1 moreKurentovanje
A rite of spring and carnival in Ptuj with masked bell-ringers chasing winter awayFestival
🇧🇪 Brussels, BelgiumMeyboomMaâbuum
An annual Brussels parade and ceremonial tree planting held every AugustFestival
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumCarnival of BincheCarnaval de Binche
A Belgian pre-Lenten festival known for masked dancers and orange tossingFestival
🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaYunnori윷놀이
A Korean board and stick-tossing game played with tokens during the Lunar New YearGame
🇨🇳 ChinaTorch Festival火把节
A summer fire holiday celebrated by Yi and neighbouring communities in southwest ChinaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 SpainOlentzero
A Basque Christmas tradition of a charcoal burner bringing presents in midwinterFestival
🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain and 4 moreCaganerEl Caganer
A defecating figurine placed in Catalan nativity scenes to bring good luck and fertilize the earth.Festival
🇵🇱 Kraków, PolandLajkonikLajkoniki
An annual hobby-horse pageant through the streets of Kraków each JuneFestival
🇮🇱 Tel Aviv, Israel and 1 moreAdloyadaעדלאידע
A humorous Purim parade in Israel featuring giant puppets and satirical floats.Festival
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumGillesGille
Costumed carnival figures of Binche and surrounding Belgian townsFestival
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreTió de Nadal
A Catalan Christmas tradition where a decorated log is fed and beaten to produce small gifts for children.Festival
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreJumping the broom
A wedding ritual where newlyweds leap over a broom to mark their unionRite of passage
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreImmortal RegimentБессмертный полк (Bessmertnyy polk)
A civic procession where people carry portraits of relatives who served in the Second World War.Festival
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 moreMummering
A festive midwinter custom of disguised visits, music and playful guessing gamesFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreWren DayLá an Dreoilín
A Saint Stephen's Day custom where groups parade a stuffed wren on a decorated pole through their community.Festival
🇮🇪 Killorglin, Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa
A Gaelic festival marking the start of harvest with feasts, fairs and mountain walksSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇹 Salzburg, Austria and 5 morePerchta
A midwinter Alpine figure who checks spinning and tests good behaviourFolklore
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreBaul traditionবাউল
A Bengali devotional minstrel path uniting mystic poetry, music and dancePerformance
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreMaypole
A tall wooden pole, garlanded and danced around, raised at May Day, Whitsun or MidsummerFestival
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreMartenitsaмартеница
Red and white yarn dolls worn from 1 March until spring shows itselfFestival
🇵🇹 Barcelos, Portugal and 1 moreRooster of BarcelosGalo de Barcelos
A Portuguese tale of a roast rooster that crowed to clear an innocent manFolklore
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandShamrockseamróg
A small three-leaved clover, worn in Ireland on St Patrick's Day as a national emblemFolklore
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mardi Gras Indians: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beltane: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake: Dave Farrance, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ngondo: Photokadaffi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jirtig: Alzain Mohammed, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alasitas: Ener6, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Banitsa: Sheku80, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bau Nyale: Focusfeel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- German Carnival: Neva Micheva, CC BY 2.5, source
- Buergbrennen: luxpim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Malanka: Viktoriyasechkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese funeral rituals: Salzmann, E.v., CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Yule Lads: Lusinemarg, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Užgavėnės: Algirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia, GFDL, source
- Saint Jonas's Festival: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Día de la Tradición: GCBA, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Puck Fair: Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Aalst Carnival: Wikisid, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nadur Carnival: Thyes, Public domain, source
- Kanun: Lekë Dukagjini & Shtjefën Gjeçovi, Public domain, source
- Kurentovanje: Aleš Kravos, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meyboom: Henxter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Carnival of Binche: Marie-Claire, CC BY 3.0, source
- Yunnori: 국립국어원, CC BY-SA 2.0 kr, source
- Torch Festival: Zhangmoon618, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Olentzero: Josu Goñi Etxabe, Public domain, source
- Caganer: Roeland P., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lajkonik: Igor123121, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Adloyada: ד"ר אבישי טייכר, CC BY 2.5, source
- Tió de Nadal: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Jumping the broom: credited only as "Hipstamatic shots, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Immortal Regiment: Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0, source
- Mummering: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jerry_curtis/, CC0, source
- Wren Day: Manx James, CC0, source
- Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Perchta: Holger Uwe Schmitt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Baul tradition: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sorcova: The original uploader was Alex:D at Romanian Wikipedia ., Public domain, source
- Maypole: Uploaded by Mikael Häggström, CC0, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rooster of Barcelos: Adriculas, Public domain, source
- Shamrock: Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source