Traditions of North Africa
Mint tea, couscous Fridays, henna nights, moussems and Coptic feasts. 55 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreMawlidمولد (Mawlid)
An annual festival marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, marked by poetry, processions and feasts.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇳 Tunis, Tunisia and 2 moreBerber carpet
Hand-woven wool rugs crafted by Amazigh communities across North AfricaCraft
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreMizmarمزمار
A traditional double-reed instrument and drum ensemble for weddings and folk dancesPerformance
🇲🇦 Tan-Tan, MoroccoTan-Tan Moussem
An annual gathering of Saharan nomadic tribes with music, trading and equestrian artsFestival
🇪🇬 Luxor, EgyptTahtibتحطيب
An Egyptian stick dance and martial art kept by men and women in Upper Egypt.Performance
🇲🇦 Marrakesh, Morocco and 5 moreGnawa musicڭْناوة or كْناوة
A spiritual musical tradition of Morocco that blends West African rhythms with Islamic ritual to heal and connect communPerformance
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreHamadsha
A Moroccan possession rite kept by Muslim fraternities to cure affliction and restore social balance through music and dSpiritual
🇲🇦 Morocco and 5 moreAndalusi classical musicطرب أندلسي
A classical suite of vocal and instrumental music shared across North AfricaPerformance
🇩🇿 Algeria and 3 moreBerber calendarⵜⴰⵙⵡⴰⵙⵜ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ (taswast tamaziɣt)
An agricultural timekeeping system used by the Amazigh people of North Africa to mark seasons and farming cycles.Seasonal · Dinner
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreZaffaزفّة
A musical wedding procession common in Arab cultures, featuring music and dancing.Festival
🇲🇦 MoroccoAhidusaḥidous (ⴰⵃⵉⴷⵓⵙ)
A collective Berber dance and song tradition from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.Performance
🇲🇦 MoroccoChaabiشعبي
A North African music and dance tradition meaning 'of the people', played at weddings and festivals.Performance
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreTraditional tattooing
The ancient custom of marking the skin for protection, healing, status and sacred ritesDress
🇹🇳 Nabeul, Tunisia and 4 moreHarissaهريسة
A spicy chili pepper paste from Tunisia, used as a condiment and ingredient across North Africa.Table custom · Dinner
🇪🇬 Luxor, EgyptOpet Festivalḥb nfr n jpt
An ancient Egyptian festival in Thebes celebrating divine kingship and the Nile floodSpiritual
🇲🇦 Morocco and 4 moreMimounaמִימוּנָה
A Maghrebi Jewish celebration marking the end of Passover with sweets and open doorsFestival · Dinner
🇩🇿 Algeria and 4 moreYennayerⵢⵏⵏⴰⵢⵔ
The Amazigh New Year celebrated across North Africa with feasts and blessing ritesSeasonal · Dinner
🇪🇬 Cairo, EgyptSham Ennessimشم النسيم
An Egyptian spring festival of picnics, salted fish, green onions and painted eggsSeasonal
🇹🇳 Douz, TunisiaInternational Festival of the Sahara
A four-day gathering celebrating desert life, horse racing and poetry in Douz, TunisiaFestival
🇸🇩 SudanJirtigالجَرْتِقْ
A Sudanese wedding ritual of regal adornment, protection, and blessings of fertilityRite of passage
🇩🇿 AlgeriaMawlid in Algeriaيوم المولد النبوي
The Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration in Algeria with family feasts and prayersFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇾 LibyaLibyan tea
A strong boiled tea in small glasses, served in three foam-topped roundsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇲🇦 Rabat, Morocco and 5 moreFantasiaالفانتازيا
A North African equestrian display of synchronized charging and simultaneous rifle fireGame
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptBeautiful Festival of the Valleyhb nfr n jnt
An ancient Egyptian festival honouring the dead with river processions across ThebesSpiritual
🇲🇦 Tangier, MoroccoNegafaنڭافة (Arabic); ⵏⴳⴰⴼⴰ (Tamazight)
The woman who dresses a bride and guards the customs of a Moroccan weddingRite of passage
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptSed festivalḥb-sd
An ancient Egyptian royal jubilee marking thirty years of a pharaoh's ruleCeremony
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLentQuadragesima
Forty days of prayer, fasting and giving that lead Christians towards EasterSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇩🇿 Tiaret, Algeria and 1 moreMawsimموسم
An annual regional festival and pilgrimage across Northwest AfricaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇦 MoroccoThrone Dayعيد العرش
Morocco's annual national holiday marking the enthronement of the reigning kingCeremony
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreGreat LentΜεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή
The forty-day fast before Easter, kept by Eastern Christians as a season of prayerSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreDjellabaجلابة
A long, loose hooded robe worn by men and women across North AfricaDress
🇪🇬 Cairo, Egypt and 1 moreNayrouzالنيروز (Arabic); ⲡⲓⲭⲗⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉ ϯⲣⲟⲙⲡⲓ (Coptic)
A Coptic feast marking the new year and honoring martyrs, kept in Egypt and Ethiopia.Festival
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptAncient Egyptian funerary practices
Rites for the dead in ancient Egypt: preserving the body, spells and grave goodsRite of passage
🇪🇬 Cairo, EgyptFanousفانوس
An Egyptian lantern of metal and glass, hung in streets and homes through RamadanFestival
🇹🇳 Tunis, TunisiaSafseriسفساري
A cream cloth wrapped around a woman's whole body, worn by Tunisian women for modestyDress
🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreOudعُود (ʿūd)
A fretless, pear-shaped Middle Eastern lute, plucked with a plectrum called a rishaPerformance
🇪🇬 Egypt and 5 moreLibation
The ceremonial gift of drink given to deities, ancestors, and the earthSpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇪🇬 Alexandria, Egypt and 5 moreCenobitic monasticism
A communal way of monastic life where monks live, pray, and follow a shared ruleSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇬 EgyptOpening of the mouth ceremony
An ancient Egyptian rite to awaken a spirit's senses for the afterlifeRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇦 MoroccoBujloodبوجلود
A masked carnival of animal skins held in Morocco just after Eid al-AdhaFestival
🇹🇳 Tunisia and 1 moreBsisaبسيسة
A North African grain and oil ritual to unlock blessings for the yearTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇪🇬 EgyptMin Festival
An ancient Egyptian royal rite for the god Min, staged by the king to renew his ruleSpiritual
🇪🇬 EgyptHermetic Qabalah
A Western esoteric tradition blending Kabbalah, astrology, tarot and classical mythSpiritual
🇲🇦 MoroccoMoroccan kaftan
A floor-length tunic worn by Moroccan women for weddings and celebrations, featuring heavy embroidery and rich textiles.Dress
🇪🇬 Luxor, Egypt and 1 moreFoundation deposit
A ritual burial of objects under building foundations to ensure structural stability and divine protection.Ceremony
🇩🇿 Tlemcen, AlgeriaAshura in Algeriaيوم عاشوراء
A day of fasting, almsgiving, evening feasting and regional folk masquerades.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreTweezaتويزة
A North African tradition of communal voluntary work, mutual aid and shared harvestsCeremony · Dinner
🇩🇿 Djanet, Algeria and 1 moreSebibaسبيبة (Arabic), ⵙⴱⵉⴱⴰ (Tifinagh)
A Tuareg festival and dance in the Algerian Sahara marking the Islamic New Year and Ashura.Festival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Zajal: 13th century artist, Public domain, source
- Mawlid: Firdaus Latif, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Opet Festival: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Libyan tea: Abdulgahniessadi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yennayer: Vermondo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sham Ennessim: Ikonact, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jirtig: Alzain Mohammed, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fantasia: Jfcapdet, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Beautiful Festival of the Valley: Norman de Garis Davies, Nina Davies (2-dimensional 1 to 1 Copy of an 1, Public domain, source
- Negafa: Amine.elbahij, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mawlid in Algeria: Hammiche Hakim, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sed festival: EbonyLabelOfDen-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg : CaptMondo, CC BY 2.5, source
- Lent: Manuela Paki-Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mawsim: Beghdadi Walid, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Traditional tattooing: Haa900, CC0, source
- Berber carpet: Quadell, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mizmar: dalbera, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tan-Tan Moussem: Максим Массалитин (Maxim Massalitin), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tahtib: Yasser Elrasoul, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Great Lent: Stalinsunnykvj, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Harissa: Ovva olfa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mimouna: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ahidus: Fotograaf / photographer: Drs. F.M. (Frits) Cowan (1931 - 2010), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Djellaba: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Nayrouz: Rafael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Ancient Egyptian funerary practices: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Fanous: Ibrahim.ID, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Safseri: Eleuuchi Mohamed, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Oud: Creator:Manol (Emmanuel Venios), CC0, source
- Bujlood: Hassan ahachi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Min Festival: NebMaatRa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ashura in Algeria: Jan Janssonius, Public domain, source
- Libation: Arkady Zarubin ( Аркадий Зарубин ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Opening of the mouth ceremony: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Bsisa: Kamelgazzah, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hermetic Qabalah: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Foundation deposit: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Tweeza: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sebiba: Abderrahmane boudjenane, CC BY-SA 4.0, source