All traditions
2,291 traditions so far, best known first. 12,311 more are on the list to be written. Filter by region, kind and meal.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
🇧🇦 Bosnia and HerzegovinaDay of Republika SrpskaДан Републике Српске
An annual civic holiday observed across Republika Srpska on 9 JanuaryCeremony
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreNavigium Isidis
An ancient Roman ship procession honouring Isis and the opening of sea travelSpiritual
🇩🇪 Berlin, GermanyRepublic DayTag der Republik
The former national holiday marking the founding of East Germany each OctoberCeremony
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreIsru Chagאסרו חג
A minor Jewish observance extending the joy and sanctity of major pilgrimage holidaysSpiritual
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreGustavus Adolphus DayGustav Adolfsdagen
A Swedish flag day on 6 November, marked with a pastry topped with the king's likenessCeremony · Sweets given and shared
🇹🇳 Tunisia and 1 moreBsisaبسيسة
A North African grain and oil ritual to unlock blessings for the yearTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇸🇾 Syria and 6 moreKha b'Nisanܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ
A spring new year on 1 April, kept with parades, poems and dancing by AssyriansFestival
🇮🇸 IcelandFirst Day of Summersumardagurinn fyrsti
Iceland's holiday on the first Thursday after 18 April, opening the old calendar's summerSeasonal
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreMeteņi
A Latvian pre-Lenten festival marking the turn of time and welcoming spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇹 Birgu, MaltaFreedom DayJum il-Helsien
Malta's national holiday on 31 March, marking the 1979 British military departureCeremony
🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti
An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVolturnalia
An ancient Roman festival honouring the water deity Volturnus and his daughter JuturnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaNirjala Ekadashiनिर्जला एकादशी
A rigorous, waterless Hindu fast observed in early summer to honour the god Vishnu.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇳🇬 Kagoro, NigeriaAfan FestivalBwok Ǎfan
A New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBiikebrennenBiikebrånen
Fires lit at sunset on 21 February to send winter away in North FrisiaFestival
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreJur Sitalजुड़ शीतल
The first day of the Maithil year, kept with a rice meal, gifts and water blessingsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇪 MontenegroStatehood DayДан државности
Montenegro's national holiday on 13 July, for 1878 recognition and the 1941 revoltCeremony
🇮🇳 Muhamma, India and 5 moreAkhiri Chahar Shambah
A day of bathing, prayer and charity on the last Wednesday of SafarSpiritual
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreTurońTuroń (Polish), Turoň (Slovak)
A shaggy horned beast led from house to house by carol singers at carnival timeFolklore
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandChalandamarz
A bell-ringing march on the first of March that sends winter out of the Grisons valleysSeasonal
🇧🇪 Geraardsbergen, BelgiumKrakelingen and Tonnekensbrand
A bread throw and a hilltop bonfire that close the winter in GeraardsbergenFestival
🇧🇦 Kupres, Bosnia and HerzegovinaMowing on KupresStrljanica
A July scythe-mowing contest on the Strljanica meadow at Kupres, kept since 1687Game
🇵🇱 Poland and 6 morePolaznik
The first visitor to cross the threshold at Christmas, read as a sign of the year to comeFolklore
🇦🇹 Austria and 2 morePerchten
Masked midwinter walks in the Alps, with carved wooden masks and sheepskinFolklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night
An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreDajiao打醮
An annual Taoist ritual and festival seeking peace and safety for the communitySpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇹 BhutanNgenpa Gudzomངན་པ་དགུ་འཛོམས
A Bhutanese day of pause and games during an inauspicious astrological periodSeasonal
🇻🇳 VietnamSpace of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands of VietnamKhông gian văn hóa Cồng Chiêng Tây Nguyên
Gong sets of Vietnam's Central Highlands, played for festivals and spiritsPerformance
🇨🇳 Xiamen, China and 2 moreBo Bing博餅 (Bóbǐng)
A dice game played at Mid-Autumn, where mooncakes of many sizes are the prizesGame
🇬🇧 United KingdomJack o' Lent
An English Lenten custom of abusing and burning a straw figureSeasonal
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 3 moreVenice New Year's ConcertConcerto di Capodanno del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia
A New Year's Day concert of orchestra and opera at Venice's Teatro La FenicePerformance
🇨🇦 Toronto, CanadaRamadan in Canada
A month of fasting, prayer and shared evening meals, kept by Muslims across CanadaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Chennai, IndiaMadras Music Season
Nine weeks of Carnatic concerts in Chennai, from mid-November to JanuaryPerformance
🇨🇺 Cuba and 5 moreLetra del Año
Annual prophecies and guidance proclaimed by babalawo priests for the coming yearSpiritual
🇨🇳 ChinaSanfutie三伏贴
A seasonal Chinese medicine practice applying herbal patches during peak summer heatSeasonal
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇿 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
🇿🇲 Lundazi, Zambia and 1 moreKulonga
An annual harvest festival of thanksgiving celebrated by Tumbuka communitiesSeasonal
🇵🇸 Jerusalem, Palestine and 1 moreThursday of the Deadخميس الأموات
A spring day of cemetery visits, prayer, and shared yellow breads across the LevantSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreEmber daysQuatuor Tempora
A quarterly Western Christian rhythm of fasting, prayer and seasonal thanksgivingSeasonal · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United KingdomLincolnshire Day
An annual county day on 1 October honouring the history and culture of LincolnshireCeremony
🇮🇹 Turin, Italy and 5 moreMary Help of ChristiansSancta Maria Auxilium Christianorum
A Christian feast and devotion honouring Mary as a protector, observed on 24 MaySpiritual
🇱🇹 Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuania Independence Restoration Day
A Lithuanian national holiday on 11 March celebrating the 1990 return of sovereign ruleCeremony
🇷🇸 SerbiaVertepвертеп
A Serbian Orthodox Christmas Eve custom, named for the cave of the NativitySpiritual
🇷🇸 Serbia and 2 moreZapisзапис
A consecrated village tree marked with a cross, venerated in Serbian folk traditionSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇭🇺 Miskolc, HungaryKocsonya FestivalKocsonyafesztivál
An annual winter food and culture festival held in Miskolc, HungaryFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreShielingÀirigh
Seasonal summer pasture living and traditional dairying in the Scottish hillsSeasonal
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreKingdomtide
An autumn liturgical season focusing on Christ's reign in heaven and on earthSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kocsonya Festival: Szalax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mary Help of Christians: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Egungun: Ìṣẹ̀ṣeAssembly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Madras Music Season: Martin spaink, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kha b'Nisan: Athrakado, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- First Day of Summer: ArniGael, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Turoń: Museum: The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, CC0, source
- Akhiri Chahar Shambah: Hans Kyoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Polaznik: Carlton Alfred Smith, Public domain, source
- Jur Sital: PCNWorld at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Isru Chag: Jim Padgett, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mowing on Kupres: PLATFORMA SARAJEVO, CC BY 3.0, source
- Day of Republika Srpska: Ministry of Defence of Republic of Serbia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Republic Day: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nirjala Ekadashi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Bsisa: Kamelgazzah, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Perchten: Anita Martinz, CC BY 2.0, source
- Chalandamarz: Claudio Schneider, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Biikebrennen: Borstenpinsel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrand: Jan Coppens at nl.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Meteņi: Spekozols, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Navigium Isidis: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rabindra Jayanti: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt, Public domain, source
- Dajiao: 29cm, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Lithuania Independence Restoration Day: Lithuania Post Office / Scanned and processed by Vizu, Public domain, source
- Sebiba: Abderrahmane boudjenane, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zapis: Zblagojevic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Venice New Year's Concert: Youflavio, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Space of Gong Culture in the Central Highlands of Vietnam: Đỗ Tuấn Hưng, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bo Bing: Xmhaoyu, CC BY 3.0, source
- Shieling: Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ember days: Richard Symonds, CC BY 3.0, source
- Gustavus Adolphus Day: Jacob Truedson Demitz for Ristesson, Public domain, source