Games, sport and play
Traditional sport, children's games, martial arts and contests.
Games, sport and play include the traditional contests, children's games and martial arts that communities have played for centuries: kabaddi in India, sumo in Japan, buzkashi in Afghanistan, mancala across Africa, hopscotch and marbles everywhere. Some are tied to festivals, such as Naadam in Mongolia or Highland games in Scotland, while others are simple pastimes of the street and the playground. They teach skill, courage and fair play, and some, such as martial arts, carry a philosophy. EveryParampara follows them by country and occasion.
Contests with a festival
Many traditional sports belong to a festival day: horse racing and wrestling at Naadam, bull leaping in Minoan Crete, the cheese roll at Cooper's Hill, kite fighting on Makar Sankranti, dragon boat racing at Duanwu. They bring the whole community out to watch, and winners are celebrated, though taking part counts for as much as winning. Some have become international sports, while others stay local and are preserved by clubs and enthusiasts.
Children and play
Children's games pass from one generation to the next without any written rules, with rhymes, counting-out songs and skipping games that appear, with variations, around the world. Board games such as chess, go, pachisi and mancala are among the oldest known. Playing them is a way to learn a culture's patterns of thinking, and many are now played online as well as on the street. They are among the most democratic of traditions, requiring few tools.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Games, sport and play (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.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 morePub quiz
A weekly social trivia game played by teams at tables in pubs and barsGame
🇨🇭 Aproz, Switzerland and 2 moreCombat de Reines
An annual Swiss pushing contest where Hérens cows compete for herd dominanceGame
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSchwingen
A traditional Swiss folk wrestling style fought in sawdust ringsGame
🇪🇸 Ronda, Spain and 5 moreBullfightingCorrida de toros
A ritual contest between a bullfighter and a bull, kept in Spain and Latin AmericaGame
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreBasque rural sportsHerri kirolak
Stone lifting, wood chopping and oxen tests, born of Basque farm and fishing workGame
🇸🇪 Mora, SwedenVasaloppet
A 90 km cross-country ski race from Sälen to Mora, run every March since 1922Game
🇬🇷 Olympia, Greece and 1 moreOlympic torch relay
The ceremonial journey of the flame from Olympia to each host city of the Olympic GamesCeremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreApple bobbing
A Halloween game where players try to catch floating apples with their teeth.Game
🇮🇹 Naples, Italy and 5 moreGreasy pole
A slippery pole climbed, walked or crossed to win a prize at the top or the far endGame
🇳🇴 Oslo, NorwayHolmenkollen Ski FestivalHolmenkollen skifestival
An annual Nordic skiing festival at Holmenkollen in Oslo, held each March since 1892Game
🇪🇸 Pamplona, SpainFestival of San FermínSanfermines
An annual nine-day festival in Pamplona featuring bull runs, parades, and street music.Festival
🇬🇧 Dunoon, United Kingdom and 5 moreHighland gamesgeamannan Gàidhealach
A series of Scottish athletic and cultural competitions held in Scotland and across the diaspora.Festival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling
A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame
🇭🇷 Sinj, CroatiaSinjska Alka
An annual jousting tournament in Sinj where galloping riders strike a hanging ringGame
🇮🇹 Florence, ItalyCalcio storico fiorentino
A fierce Renaissance ball game played on sand between four Florentine districtsGame
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyPalio
Traditional Italian competitions where local districts race horses, donkeys, or boats to win prizes and pride.Festival
🇬🇧 Brockworth, United KingdomCooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake
A round of cheese, a steep hill, and runners chasing it down for the prizeGame
🇮🇹 Foligno, ItalyGiostra della Quintana
A June and September joust in Foligno, where ten knights spear ringsFestival
🇬🇷 Patras, GreecePatras CarnivalPatrino karnavali
A winter carnival of parades, street games and satirical floats in western GreeceFestival
🇬🇷 Olympia, GreeceAncient Olympic Gamesτὰ Ὀλύμπια
A quadrennial athletic festival held in ancient Greece to honor the god ZeusGame
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreKnucklebones
An ancient hand game of tossing, catching, and scooping small bones or stonesGame
🇬🇷 Olympia, GreeceHeraean Games
An ancient Greek festival of running races for unmarried young women at OlympiaGame
🇩🇪 Kiel, GermanyKiel WeekKieler Woche
A week of yacht racing, tall ships and waterfront music on the Kiel FjordGame
🇬🇧 Goodwood, United KingdomGoodwood Festival of Speed
A yearly British motorsport festival where cars and bikes race up a hill in West SussexFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreShoe throwing
The act of hurling footwear for sport, wedding luck, protest or overhead display.Folklore
🇫🇷 FranceLa soule
A rough medieval ball game from Normandy and Picardy played between parishes on religious holidays.Game
🇧🇦 Kupres, Bosnia and HerzegovinaMowing on KupresStrljanica
A July scythe-mowing contest on the Strljanica meadow at Kupres, kept since 1687Game
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaSpartakiad of the Peoples of the USSRСпартакиада народов СССР
A massive multi-sport festival that brought together Soviet republics every four yearsGame
🇬🇧 Ashbourne, United Kingdom and 1 moreRoyal Shrovetide Football
A medieval mob football game played in Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.Game
🇬🇧 Chipping Campden, United KingdomCotswold Olimpick Games
Races, wrestling and shin-kicking on a Cotswold hillside, held since about 1612Game
🇬🇧 Atherstone, United KingdomAtherstone Ball Game
An annual medieval football match played in Atherstone on Shrove Tuesday to honour a 12th-century victory.Game
🇮🇹 Montepulciano, ItalyBravio delle botti
An annual uphill wine barrel race between the eight historic districts of MontepulcianoGame
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Combat de Reines: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vasaloppet: Vasaloppet/Nisse Schmidt, CC BY 3.0, source
- Palio: faberh, Public domain, source
- Festival of San Fermín: SanchoPanzaXXI, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake: Dave Farrance, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egg rolling: White House/Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, source
- Sinjska Alka: L. Carević, CC0, source
- Highland games: marsupium photography, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Olympic torch relay: DieselCat, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Calcio storico fiorentino: Stradanus / After Giorgio Vasari, Public domain, source
- Greasy pole: Andrepoiy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Patras Carnival: www.infocenterpatras.gr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holmenkollen Ski Festival: Ahhh25, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pub quiz: JIP, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Royal Shrovetide Football: Adrian Roebuck, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Schwingen: Quejaytee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bullfighting: No machine-readable author provided. Manuel González Olaechea assumed, CC BY 3.0, source
- Basque rural sports: Javier Mediavilla Ezquibela, CC BY 2.5, source
- Apple bobbing: Caleb Zahnd, CC BY 2.0, source
- Giostra della Quintana: Alb.Maur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cotswold Olimpick Games: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kiel Week: Arne List, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Goodwood Festival of Speed: Bruno Postle, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Mowing on Kupres: PLATFORMA SARAJEVO, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ancient Olympic Games: Bgabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Knucklebones: Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, Public domain, source
- Heraean Games: Ingo Mehling, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shoe throwing: Zarateman, CC0, source
- La soule: Unknown author Unknown author illustrator (based on a sketch by M.J.L., Public domain, source
- Atherstone Ball Game: Adrian Roebuck, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR: Scanning Dmitry Makeev , scan date - 2020 year., Public domain, source