Traditions of Sub-Saharan Africa
Naming ceremonies, initiation, kente and the harvest yam, Timkat and Ethiopian coffee. 163 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇦🇴 Angola 6🇧🇯 Benin 8🇧🇼 Botswana 6🇧🇫 Burkina Faso 5🇧🇮 Burundi 2🇨🇲 Cameroon 6🇨🇻 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 33🇬🇦 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 14🇲🇿 Mozambique 4🇳🇦 Namibia 2🇳🇪 Niger 7🇳🇬 Nigeria 33🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo 2🇷🇼 Rwanda 3🇸🇹 São Tomé and Príncipe 0🇸🇳 Senegal 10🇸🇨 Seychelles 2🇸🇱 Sierra Leone 1🇸🇴 Somalia 4🇿🇦 South Africa 28🇸🇸 South Sudan 1🇹🇿 Tanzania 12🇹🇬 Togo 8🇺🇬 Uganda 7🇿🇲 Zambia 9🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 8
On the calendar
🇲🇬 MadagascarFady
A system of cultural taboos in Madagascar that regulate daily life and spiritual practice.Spiritual
🇬🇲 Gambia and 4 moreKoraߞߐߙߊ
A 21-string West African harp-lute played by hereditary storytellers and bardsPerformance
🇲🇬 Antananarivo, MadagascarHiragasyHira gasy
A day-long Malagasy highland tradition of song, dance, and poetic speech competitionsPerformance
🇸🇴 Somalia and 1 moreDhaanto
A Somali folk dance and music style used for morale and celebration in the Horn of Africa.Performance
🇱🇸 LesothoMokorotlo
A conical straw hat that serves as the national symbol of Lesotho and a key element of Basotho traditional dress.Dress
🇳🇬 Calabar, NigeriaCalabar Carnival
An annual December street festival and cultural gathering held in Calabar, NigeriaFestival
🇲🇺 Mauritius and 3 moreSegaséga
A music and dance tradition from Mauritius and Réunion with Afro-Malagasy roots.Performance
🇹🇿 Zanzibar, TanzaniaSauti za Busara
A February meeting of musicians in Zanzibar's Old FortPerformance
🇿🇦 South AfricaHeritage DayErfenisdag
A nationwide South African public holiday honouring the country's diverse culturesCeremony
🇲🇬 MadagascarFamadihana
A Malagasy reburial custom where families gather to rewrap and honour their ancestorsRite of passage
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreGeledeGẹlẹdẹ
A Yoruba masked dance festival honoring the spiritual power of mothers and social harmony.Festival
🇪🇹 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and 1 moreMeskelመስቀል (Mesk'el)
A celebration in Ethiopia and Eritrea marking the discovery of the True Cross with a large bonfire.Spiritual
🇳🇬 Argungu, NigeriaArgungu Fishing Festival
A four-day gathering in Nigeria where thousands compete to land giant river fishFestival
🇹🇿 Zanzibar City, TanzaniaZanzibar International Film Festival
An annual ten-day arts, music and cinema gathering held across Zanzibar.Performance
🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo and 5 moreCongolese rumba
An African dance music and guitar tradition born along the Congo RiverPerformance
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 2 moreSigdስግድ
An Ethiopian Jewish holiday of covenant renewal, fasting, and longing for ZionSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇭 Ghana and 3 moreDamba festivalDamba chuɣu
A Ghanaian celebration of royal authority, ancestral memory, music and danceFestival
🇬🇭 Accra, GhanaHomowo
A harvest festival of the Ga people in Ghana to remember surviving famineFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreEnkutatashእንቁጣጣሽ
The Ethiopian New Year festival of song, yellow daisies and family feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaDurbar festival
An equestrian gathering marking Muslim holidays across northern Nigerian emiratesFestival
🇬🇭 Cape Coast, GhanaFetu Afahye
A harvest festival of cleansing, boat races and royal durbars in Cape Coast, GhanaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇿 Ludzidzini, EswatiniIncwala
The national kingship and first-fruits ritual of Eswatini, held at the summer solsticeCeremony · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 Lagos, NigeriaEyo FestivalAdamu Orisha Play
A Yoruba masquerade procession honouring departed leaders and royalty in LagosFestival
🇨🇲 Douala, CameroonNgondo
An annual coastal water festival celebrated by the Sawa people in CameroonFestival
🇬🇭 Kumasi, GhanaAkwasidae Festival
A Sunday gathering of the Ashanti people to honour ancestors and the kingSpiritual
🇳🇬 NigeriaIgbo New Yam FestivalIri ji
A harvest thanksgiving and feast marking the first yam crop among the Igbo of NigeriaSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 Oyo, Nigeria and 3 moreSango Festival
An annual Yoruba gathering in Nigeria honoring the deity of thunder and lightningFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇭 Akropong, GhanaOdwira Festival
An annual harvest and purification festival celebrated by the Akuapem in GhanaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇭 Odumase Krobo, GhanaDipo
An annual Ghanaian coming-of-age ceremony welcoming Krobo girls into womanhoodRite of passage
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town Minstrel CarnivalKaapse Klopse
Cape Town's 2 January parade of minstrel troupes, ghoema drums and bright umbrellasFestival
🇰🇪 Nairobi, KenyaMadaraka Day
Kenya's annual public holiday marking the start of self-governance on 1 June 1963Ceremony
🇪🇹 Mekelle, EthiopiaAshendaአሸንዳ
An Ethiopian festival celebrating women and girls with song, dance and tall grass attireFestival
🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreEthiopian Christmasገና
The Christian Nativity feast, marked by night vigils, white garments and field hockeySpiritual
🇬🇭 Accra, GhanaChale Wote Street Art Festival
An annual street art festival in Accra featuring murals, theater, and music.Performance
🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaKofar Mata Dye Pits
Hand-dyed indigo cloth from centuries-old earthen pits in the heart of KanoCraft
🇲🇬 MadagascarFandroana
The Merina new year of Madagascar's highlands, with zebu feasting and a royal bathFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreTimkatጥምቀት
The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Epiphany celebrating the baptism of JesusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇮 Ivory Coast and 1 moreAbissa
A week-long New Year festival of the Nzema people in Ivory Coast and Ghana, marked by sacred drums, dance, and forgiveneFestival
🇲🇬 MadagascarLamba
A rectangular cloth wrapped around the body, worn across Madagascar and at burialsDress
🇷🇼 Kigali, RwandaUmuganda
A monthly morning of mandatory communal work and civic gathering across RwandaCeremony
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreKitenge
A printed cloth tied at the waist or chest, worn as a wrap, head cover or baby slingDress
🇷🇼 Rwanda and 1 moreIntore
A men's dance of Rwanda and Burundi, once for war, now for ceremony and celebrationPerformance
🇷🇼 RwandaKwita Izina
Rwanda's yearly ceremony naming newborn mountain gorillas, after a baby-naming customRite of passage
🇪🇹 Addis Ababa, EthiopiaIrreechaIrreessa
A thanksgiving festival at sacred lakes in Oromia, Ethiopia, at the end of the rainsFestival
🇨🇻 Boa Vista, Cape Verde and 5 moreMorna
Cape Verde's guitar-and-voice song, danced in pairs, listed by UNESCO in 2019Performance
🇬🇭 GhanaOutdooringkpojiemɔ (Ga), abadinto (Akan), vihehedego (Ewe)
A Ghanaian ceremony eight days after birth, when a baby is brought outdoors and namedRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇳 Touba, Senegal and 1 moreGrand Magal of Touba
An annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Touba in Senegal, kept by followers of the Mouride Sufi order.Spiritual
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFasikaፋሲካ
The celebration of Easter and the end of Lent across Ethiopia and EritreaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Argungu Fishing Festival: Jaekel, Francis., Public domain, source
- Famadihana: Saveoursmile (Hery Zo Rakotondramanana), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Gelede: Gogeafrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Congolese rumba: Jeanne Vu Van, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meskel: DanielGirmaTsige, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zanzibar International Film Festival: Peter Bennett / ZIFF, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sigd: האגודה הישראלית למען יהודי אתיופיה, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Damba festival: Bash222, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Homowo: Agbleyjill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Enkutatash: Nati Tad, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Incwala: iulian circo, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ngondo: Photokadaffi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fetu Afahye: Kofiarkohbaidoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kwita Izina: Thesmiler de, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Durbar festival: Omotayo Tajudeen, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Odwira Festival: Duncanoff, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eyo Festival: Slashme, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Intore: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Akwasidae Festival: Nkansahrexford, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sango Festival: Demola Ajayi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Igbo New Yam Festival: Adimora chidinma, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Umuganda: Masako Kato, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dipo: FatawuY1, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lamba: Lemurbaby at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Abissa: Michaelill16, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Timkat: Jean Rebiffé, CC BY 4.0, source
- Chale Wote Street Art Festival: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ethiopian Christmas: Tanjagari, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ashenda: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kofar Mata Dye Pits: Solasly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sega: HelenOnline, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Calabar Carnival: Raji kunle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mokorotlo: Vanellus Foto, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dhaanto: aflaanta std, CC BY 3.0, source
- Hiragasy: Hopeandlink, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kora: kevinzim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fady: Robin Taylor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kitenge: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Heritage Day: CoralBrowne, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Irreecha: Mohammed Kassahun, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Morna: Original uploader was Kotoviski at sv.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cape Town Minstrel Carnival: George Duff, Public domain, source