All traditions
2,283 traditions so far, best known first. 12,333 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
🇮🇷 Tehran, IranTa'ziyehتعزیه
A ritual drama from Iran that retells the Karbala mourning each MuharramSpiritual
🇬🇧 Cardiff, United Kingdom and 1 moreSaint David's DayDydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant
The national feast day of Wales, marked with parades, poetry contests and daffodilsFestival
🇪🇬 Luxor, EgyptOpet Festivalḥb nfr n jpt
An ancient Egyptian festival in Thebes celebrating divine kingship and the Nile floodSpiritual
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節
An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesPresidents' DayWashington's Birthday
An annual American holiday honouring George Washington and the nation's past leadersCeremony
🇮🇱 IsraelYom HaZikaronיוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן
Israel's national day of mourning for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism.Ceremony
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanHatsumōde初詣
The first shrine or temple visit of the Japanese New Year to pray for good fortuneSpiritual
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 2 moreTsagaan SarЦагаан сар
The Mongolian Lunar New Year festival of peace, elders, white foods and renewalSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesThanksgiving
An annual American holiday of gratitude, family gatherings and an autumn harvest feastFestival · Dinner
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreEgg rolling
A spring game of rolling decorated hard-boiled eggs down hills or along lawnsGame
🇨🇴 Barranquilla, ColombiaBarranquilla CarnivalCarnaval de Barranquilla
A four-day street festival of music, masquerade and dance in coastal ColombiaFestival
🇯🇵 JapanHadaka Matsuri裸祭り
Japanese festivals where participants clad in loincloths seek luck and purificationSpiritual
🇮🇷 Shiraz, IranHaft-sinهفتسین
Seven symbolic items whose Persian names begin with S, set out for NowruzSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreMāgha Pūjāមាឃបូជា
A Buddhist holy day honoring monastic unity, moral guidance and spiritual fellowshipSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇦🇲 Armenia and 2 moreVardavarՎարդավառ
An Armenian midsummer festival where people playfully douse each other with waterFestival
🇳🇿 New ZealandMatariki
The Māori New Year marked by the midwinter rising of the Pleiades clusterSeasonal
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreMidnight MassMissa in nocte
The first service of Christmas, kept late on Christmas Eve in many Western churchesSpiritual
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 3 moreRosenmontag
The peak of German carnival, celebrated with satirical street parades and sweetsFestival
🇲🇲 Yangon, MyanmarThingyanသင်္ကြန်
A four-day water festival marking the Myanmar New Year, celebrated in April with merit-making and playful splashing.Festival
🇬🇷 GreeceAnthesteriaἈνθεστήρια
An ancient Greek three-day spring festival of Dionysus, new wine, and the deadFestival
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark and 4 moreRisalamande
A chilled Danish Christmas rice dessert with cream, chopped almonds and cherry sauceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇦 CanadaSaint-Jean-Baptiste DayFête nationale du Québec
An annual civic and cultural celebration observed across Quebec every June 24Ceremony
🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreSizdah Bedarسیزدهبدر
An open-air picnic holiday concluding the Iranian New Year celebrationsFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaVishuവിഷു
The Malayali new year, kept on 14 or 15 April with an auspicious first sightingSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇼 Taipei, TaiwanDouble Ten Day國慶日
The national holiday of Taiwan marking the start of the 1911 revolution.Ceremony
🇨🇿 Vlčnov, CzechiaRide of the KingsJízda králů
A Moravian spring procession where horsemen escort a silent boy king holding a roseFestival
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreHolika Dahanहोलिकादहन
A Hindu ritual bonfire lit on the eve of Holi to welcome the spring.Spiritual
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 12 moreKoliadaКоляда
A traditional winter caroling and solstice festival kept across Slavic EuropeFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaMahavir Janma Kalyanak
A Jain festival of temple worship, street processions and acts of charitySpiritual
🇨🇿 Czechia and 2 moreEaster whippingpomlázka
An Easter Monday custom of tapping women with braided willow switches for vitalitySeasonal
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 1 moreDidukhдідух
A wheat sheaf kept at Christmas to honour ancestors and pray for a bountiful harvestHome
🇮🇳 IndiaTulasi Vivahaतुलसी विवाह (Tulasī Vivāha)
A ritual wedding of the tulasi plant to Vishnu, kept in homes and temples across IndiaSpiritual
🇨🇴 Pasto, ColombiaBlacks and Whites' CarnivalCarnaval de Negros y Blancos
A week of street games, parades and music held every January in Pasto, ColombiaFestival
🇳🇬 Argungu, NigeriaArgungu Fishing Festival
A four-day gathering in Nigeria where thousands compete to land giant river fishFestival
🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North KoreaDay of the Shining Star광명성절
A two-day national holiday in North Korea honouring the birth of Kim Jong Il.Ceremony
🇨🇳 ChinaGolden Week黄金周
Seven- or eight-day national holiday periods in China for travel and family visitsSeasonal
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSharad Purnima
A Hindu autumn full moon festival of night vigils, moonlit sweets and sacred dancesSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreClean MondayΚαθαρά Δευτέρα
The Monday that opens Great Lent, kept with fasting, forgiveness and kite-flyingSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 4 moreRoyal Ploughing Ceremonyព្រះរាជពិធីបុណ្យច្រត់ព្រះនង្គ័ល
A royal agricultural rite opening the rice season across mainland Southeast AsiaCeremony
🇨🇦 Toronto, CanadaVictoria DayFête de la Reine
A Canadian public holiday celebrating the monarch and welcoming the return of summerCeremony
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDaeboreum대보름
A Korean festival of the first lunar full moon, marked by fires, wishes and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇦 Luang Prabang, Laos and 5 moreLao New Yearປີໃໝ່ລາວ
A mid-April water festival and Buddhist celebration marking the Lao new yearFestival
🇷🇴 RomaniaDragobete
A Romanian festival of young love and spring, celebrated with early flowers and courtshipFestival
🇮🇷 Yazd, Iran and 1 moreSadehسده
An ancient midwinter festival of fire, light, and the approach of springFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreJāņi
An annual Latvian summer solstice celebration of bonfires, singing and woven wreathsFestival
🇦🇿 AzerbaijanNovruzNovruz Bayramı
The Azerbaijani spring equinox festival of bonfires, sweets and sprouted wheatSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇹 Austria and 4 moreAlmabtrieb
An Alpine autumn custom of leading decorated cattle from high pastures to valley barnsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Jaipur, IndiaGangaurगणगौर
A North Indian spring festival honouring Shiva and Gauri with clay idols and processionsFestival · Fasting and breaking the fast
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Hatsumōde: KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Barranquilla Carnival: el heraldo, Public domain, source
- Argungu Fishing Festival: Jaekel, Francis., Public domain, source
- Yom HaZikaron: אבישי טייכר, CC BY 2.5, source
- Tsagaan Sar: User:Chinneeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egg rolling: White House/Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, source
- Matariki: Robert Gendler, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vardavar: Камалян001, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rosenmontag: Aymx, Public domain, source
- Māgha Pūjā: myself, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sizdah Bedar: PersianDutchNetwork, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day: Montrealais, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Easter whipping: Chmee2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint David's Day: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, source
- Risalamande: Lorie Shaull, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Daeboreum: hojusaram, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Victoria Day: abdallahh, CC BY 2.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Public domain, source
- Novruz: Abutalub, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gangaur: Avinashmaurya, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ta'ziyeh: Payam Moein, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haft-sin: HengamehRM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lao New Year: Darren On The Road, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ride of the Kings: Filipzverina, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Almabtrieb: Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and if, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Opet Festival: Marc Ryckaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Double Ten Day: 總統府, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mahavir Janma Kalyanak: Francis Harry Roy S, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hadaka Matsuri: CES, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jāņi: Heinrihsons, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Koliada: Konstantin Trutovsky, Public domain, source
- Anthesteria: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Day of the Shining Star: Nicor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Presidents' Day: Alexander Gardner, Public domain, source
- Sadeh: Farzad j, Public domain, source
- Golden Week: User:czhongwu, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Thingyan: Pagan era painter(s), Public domain, source
- Clean Monday: Перов, Public domain, source
- Sharad Purnima: ShotgunMavericks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tulasi Vivaha: Unknown author, CC BY 3.0, source
- Holika Dahan: Banswalhemant, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Royal Ploughing Ceremony: Xiengyod, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Blacks and Whites' Carnival: camiloAndres, CC BY 2.0, source
- Vishu: Vishnu Kunnathully, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Didukh: Bo&Ko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Midnight Mass: Atleett, CC0, source