Traditions of Sub-Saharan Africa
Naming ceremonies, initiation, kente and the harvest yam, Timkat and Ethiopian coffee. 167 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇦🇴 Angola 6🇧🇯 Benin 8🇧🇼 Botswana 6🇧🇫 Burkina Faso 5🇧🇮 Burundi 2🇨🇲 Cameroon 7🇨🇻 Cape Verde 3🇨🇫 Central African Republic 0🇹🇩 Chad 0🇰🇲 Comoros 0🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo 5🇩🇯 Djibouti 1🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea 0🇪🇷 Eritrea 11🇸🇿 Eswatini 3🇪🇹 Ethiopia 34🇬🇦 Gabon 3🇬🇲 Gambia 5🇬🇭 Ghana 26🇬🇳 Guinea 2🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau 1🇨🇮 Ivory Coast 4🇰🇪 Kenya 15🇱🇸 Lesotho 4🇱🇷 Liberia 1🇲🇬 Madagascar 14🇲🇼 Malawi 7🇲🇱 Mali 9🇲🇺 Mauritius 15🇲🇿 Mozambique 4🇳🇦 Namibia 2🇳🇪 Niger 7🇳🇬 Nigeria 34🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo 2🇷🇼 Rwanda 3🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe 0🇸🇳 Senegal 10🇸🇨 Seychelles 2🇸🇱 Sierra Leone 1🇸🇴 Somalia 4🇿🇦 South Africa 30🇸🇸 South Sudan 1🇹🇿 Tanzania 13🇹🇬 Togo 8🇺🇬 Uganda 7🇿🇲 Zambia 9🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 8
On the calendar
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreBurial
Placing the dead in the ground or a structure to honor them and guide their journey.Rite of passage
🇲🇱 MaliWuduوضوء
The Islamic ritual washing with water before prayer and sacred actsSpiritual
🇲🇱 MaliTayammumتيمم
A dry ritual purification using clean earth or stone when water is unavailable or harmful.Spiritual
🇲🇱 Mali and 1 moreKhumsخُمْس
The Islamic practice of giving a one-fifth share of certain wealth to designated causesSpiritual
🇬🇭 Anloga, Ghana and 1 moreHogbetsotso festival
An Anlo Ewe festival in Anloga recalling an escape from NotsieFestival
🇳🇬 Kagoro, NigeriaAfan FestivalBwok Ǎfan
A New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇬🇭 Winneba, GhanaAboakyer festival
A deer hunt kept by the people of Winneba, Ghana, on the first Saturday in MayFestival
🇧🇼 BotswanaBogwera and bojale
Tswana coming-of-age initiation for boys and girls, held over several monthsRite of passage
🇨🇲 Bafoussam, CameroonNyang Nyang FestivalNyan-Nyang
A four-month Bamileke harvest festival and initiation rite in western CameroonFestival
🇲🇼 Rumphi, Malawi and 2 moreTumbuka dances and festivals
Dances for healing and celebration, and the yearly festivals that keep themPerformance
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFilsetaፍልሰታ
A fifteen-day fast and feast honouring the Dormition and Assumption of MarySpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇿🇲 Maala, ZambiaShimunenga
An annual Zambian celebration of cattle displays, dances, and ancestral memoryFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇨🇻 Cape Verde and 1 moreKola San Jon
A Cabo Verdean street festival of dance, drumming, and devotion to Saint JohnFestival
🇧🇼 D'Kar, BotswanaKuru Dance and Music Festival
A gathering of San communities in Botswana to share songs, stories and sacred dancesPerformance
🇳🇪 Niger and 1 moreSitta min Shawwalستة من شوال
A voluntary six-day Islamic fast observed during the month following RamadanSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South Africa and 5 moreTooth ablation
A global custom of deliberately removing healthy teeth for social, ritual, or aesthetic reasons.Rite of passage
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Aboakyer festival: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burial: Rama , commissioned by Wikimédia France, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
- Kola San Jon: Dvfernandes, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kuru Dance and Music Festival: SanDanceVR, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wudu: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY 4.0, source
- Tayammum: عامر شاہین, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tooth ablation: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Khums: 'Uthman ibn Husayn al-warraq (the copyist), Public domain, source
- Hogbetsotso festival: JY midey, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nyang Nyang Festival: Zacharie Ngnogue, CC BY-SA 4.0, source