Traditions of Sub-Saharan Africa
Naming ceremonies, initiation, kente and the harvest yam, Timkat and Ethiopian coffee. 166 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 29🇸🇸 South Sudan 1🇹🇿 Tanzania 13🇹🇬 Togo 8🇺🇬 Uganda 7🇿🇲 Zambia 9🇿🇼 Zimbabwe 8
On the calendar
🇲🇼 Bolero, MalawiGonapamhanya festival
An annual gathering of the Tumbuka people honouring their first paramount chiefFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇿🇲 Muyombe, ZambiaVinkhakanimba
An annual gathering and dance celebration of the Tumbuka people in northeastern ZambiaFestival
🇨🇲 Bangangté, CameroonMedumba Arts and Culture FestivalFestival des arts et de la culture medumba
A two-week biennial festival in Cameroon celebrating Medumba heritage and language.Festival
🇧🇼 Molepolole, BotswanaDithubaruba Cultural Festival
An annual gathering in Botswana that celebrates the customs, music, and history of the Bakwena people.Festival
🇪🇹 EthiopiaGifaataaጊፋታ
The annual New Year celebration of the Wolayta people in southern EthiopiaSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 Uyo, NigeriaAkwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival
A large annual gathering of carol singers in Nigeria that holds a Guinness World Record for the largest assembly.Festival
🇧🇫 Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina FasoNational Culture Week of Burkina Faso
A week of free shows and contests in Bobo-Dioulasso, held every two yearsFestival
🇰🇪 Rusinga Island, KenyaRusinga Cultural Festival
Two December days of Suba music, boat races and food on Rusinga Island in KenyaFestival
🇸🇿 EswatiniBuganu Festival
A three-day festival in Eswatini where women brew buganu from marula fruitFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 2 moreGeleGèlè
A voluminous sculpted headwrap worn by Yoruba women for gatherings and daily lifeDress
🇲🇺 MauritiusSega tambour Chagos
A Sega music and drum tradition of the Chagos islands, kept by Chagossians in MauritiusPerformance
🇧🇼 BotswanaBogwera and bojale
Tswana coming-of-age initiation for boys and girls, held over several monthsRite of passage
🇦🇴 Luanda, AngolaLuanda International Jazz Festival
An annual jazz gathering staged in the capital of AngolaPerformance
🇧🇼 Gaborone, BotswanaBantu Film Festival
An annual pan-African film festival held in Botswana celebrating continental cinemaFestival
🇿🇦 South AfricaIsidwaba
A knee-length leather skirt of cowhide or goatskin, worn by married Zulu womenDress
🇳🇬 NigeriaKwagh-Hir
A Tiv puppet theatre and masquerade performance from central Nigeria that uses masks and marionettes to tell moral storiPerformance
🇲🇬 Antananarivo, MadagascarSavika
Traditional Betsileo zebu wrestling and courtship rite in MadagascarGame
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreAso Olona
A patterned Yoruba cloth, woven with symbols and worn as a mark of rank and identityDress
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreOkpu Aguokpu agụ
A knitted wool cap from southeastern Nigeria, historically worn by warriors to display status and now used in ceremoniesDress
🇹🇿 Tanzania and 4 moreKanga
A colourful printed cotton wrap bearing proverbs, worn across East AfricaDress
🇳🇪 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.
- Akwa Ibom Christmas Carols Festival: MediaMOF, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gele: Royalesignature, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Okpu Agu: Justice kelechi achinefu, CC0, source
- Gonapamhanya festival: Tumbuka Arch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Medumba Arts and Culture Festival: Djenrode, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dithubaruba Cultural Festival: SanDanceVR, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Isidwaba: USBSMG1, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kwagh-Hir: Wilses, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Savika: Obiniaina RANDRIANADRASANA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aso Olona: Oramfe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kanga: Petr Berka ( Petrberka ), Public domain, source
- Tooth ablation: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source