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
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreIntercession of the TheotokosПокровъ
An Eastern Christian autumn feast honoring the protective veil of the Virgin MarySpiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBeheading of John the Baptist
A Christian holy day of strict fasting that marks the death of John the BaptistSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇹🇷 Edirne, TurkeyKakava
A Romani night by the river in Edirne: bonfire, candles and pilafFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇦 Canada and 5 moreWorkers' Memorial Day
An annual day remembering people killed, injured, or made ill by their workCeremony
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreRadonitsaРа́доница (Russian), Ра́даўніца (Belarusian)
A spring day when Orthodox families visit graves, share Easter food and greet the deadSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 IrelandSolemnitySolemnitas
The highest rank of celebration in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendarSpiritual
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 4 moreMarian feast days
Holy days across the liturgical year celebrating the life and veneration of Mary.Spiritual
🇷🇺 Mordovia, Russia and 2 moreErzya Language DayЭрзянь келень чи
A yearly day for the Erzya language, held on 16 April, the birthday of Anatoli RyabovFestival
🇨🇳 Yulin, ChinaYulin Dog Meat Festival狗肉节
A ten-day June festival in Yulin, China, where dog meat is eaten with lycheesFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTwelve Days of Christmas
A festive Christian liturgical season linking Christmas Day to the eve of EpiphanySeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreMid-Sha'banنصف شعبان
An Islamic night of prayer, forgiveness, ancestral remembrance and sweet offeringsSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇯🇵 JapanMarine Day海の日
A Japanese summer holiday to thank the ocean and mark the country's ties to the seaCeremony
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreDozhinkiDożynki
A Slavic harvest festival of the last sheaf, a woven wreath and a shared mealSeasonal
🇵🇰 Islamabad, Pakistan and 1 morePakistan Dayیومِ پاکستان
Pakistan's national day on 23 March: the 1940 Lahore Resolution and the 1956 constitutionCeremony
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreVictory Dayবিজয় দিবস
Bangladesh's national day on 16 December, marking the 1971 surrender that made the stateCeremony
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreCavalcade of Magi
A parade of the Three Magi through town on Epiphany Eve, with sweets thrown to the crowdFestival
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreYouth Day
A commemorative holiday honoring young people and youth movements worldwideCeremony
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyAmbarvalia
An ancient Roman agricultural rite to purify farmland and ensure fertile cropsSpiritual
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreInternational Masturbation Month
An annual May observance promoting sexual health, pleasure, and open dialogueSeasonal
🇷🇺 RussiaAsperges
The Christian liturgical ceremony of sprinkling the faithful with blessed waterSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRogation days
Springtime Christian days of prayer, fasting, and parish boundary walks.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇶 Karbala, Iraq and 5 moreMourning of Muharramعَزَاءُ ٱلْمُحَرَّمِ
Annual rites of grief and remembrance for Imam Husayn and his companionsSpiritual
🇹🇷 Van, Turkey and 5 moreChildren's Day
An international observance supporting youth welfare, education and children's rightsCeremony
🇮🇱 IsraelFast of the Firstbornתַעֲנִית בְּכוֹרוֹת
A Jewish fast day kept by firstborns on the eve of PassoverSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇸 Toledo, SpainFeast of the Holy Name of Mary
A Catholic feast day honouring the name and intercession of the Virgin MarySpiritual
🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 4 moreDongzhi Festival冬至
A winter solstice festival of family reunions, ancestor rites and sweet rice ballsSeasonal · Dinner
🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada and 5 moreNo Bra Day
An annual October observance promoting breast cancer awareness and bodily autonomySeasonal
🇮🇶 Karbala, Iraq and 3 moreTasu'aتاسوعاء
A Shia day of remembrance before Ashura, honouring Abbas and the fallen at KarbalaSpiritual
🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamReunification DayNgày Thống nhất
A public holiday in Vietnam on 30 April, marking the war's end in 1975Ceremony
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreFatimiyyaفاطمیة
A Shia period of mourning honoring the life and martyrdom of Lady FatimahSpiritual
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreFeast of the Sacred HeartSollemnitas Sacratissimi Cordis Iesu
A Catholic holy day honoring Christ's love and mercy, observed in early summerSpiritual
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreFeast of the Holy Name of Jesus
A Christian observance honoring the name of Jesus, celebrated on various dates across different traditions.Spiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaMonlam Prayer Festival
A Tibetan Buddhist festival of mass prayers, sacred dances and ritual offeringsSpiritual
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreFukubukuro福袋
Surprise discount grab bags sold by Japanese retailers for the New YearSeasonal
🇦🇲 Armenia and 5 moreFeast of the TransfigurationՊայծառակերպութիւն
A Christian holy day marking the revelation of Christ's divine glory on Mount TaborSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyFeraliaFerālia
An ancient Roman day of offerings to the dead, marking the close of ParentaliaSpiritual
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The Thai solar New Year marked by temple rites, elder blessings and water throwingSeasonal
🇮🇳 IndiaNational Unity Dayराष्ट्रीय एकता दिवस
An annual Indian observance honouring Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 31 OctoberCeremony
🇹🇷 TurkeyKandilقنديل
Five holy nights marked by illuminated minarets and prayers in Turkey and the BalkansSpiritual · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day
A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreLGBTQ History Month
An annual month of education and remembrance celebrating queer lives and civil rightsCeremony
🇹🇼 Taipei, Taiwan and 1 moreRetrocession Day臺灣光復節 / 台湾光复节 (Táiwān guāngfùjié)
A public holiday on 25 October marking the end of Japanese rule in Taiwan in 1945Ceremony
🇹🇷 Bursa, TurkeyLaylat al-Raghaibلَيْلَةُ الرّغائِب
An Islamic night of prayer and fasting at the beginning of the three sacred monthsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United KingdomWorld Osteoporosis Day
A global observance on 20 October promoting bone health and fracture preventionCeremony
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 8 moreVechornytsiвечорниці
Evening gatherings of Ukrainian youth, with songs, jokes, games and winter divinationSeasonal
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreNeed-fire
A ritual fire kindled by friction to ward off cattle plague, disease and harmFolklore
🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreWorld Religion Day
An annual day in January dedicated to spiritual unity and harmony across all faiths.Spiritual
🇵🇱 Zakopane, PolandKulig
A traditional Polish winter sleigh ride party celebrated during the Carnival seasonFestival · 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.
- Children's Day: Schekinov Alexey Victorovich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beheading of John the Baptist: Caravaggio, Public domain, source
- Kakava: CeeGee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Radonitsa: Perohanych, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Erzya Language Day: Erzianj jurnalist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yulin Dog Meat Festival: Maria Ly, CC BY 2.0, source
- Marine Day: Manish Prabhune, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dozhinki: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Victory Day: Jubair1985, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cavalcade of Magi: Diario de Madrid, CC BY 4.0, source
- Reunification Day: HappyMidnight, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Retrocession Day: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- No Bra Day: Ralf Roletschek, GFDL, source
- Marian feast days: © Ralph Hammann - Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mid-Sha'ban: sayyed shahab-o- din vajedi, CC BY 4.0, source
- Twelve Days of Christmas: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Asperges: Ian42, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tasu'a: Alirajabzadeh49, CC BY 4.0, source
- Rogation days: Ray Trevena, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Fast of the Firstborn: J. M. W. Turner, Public domain, source
- Feast of the Holy Name of Mary: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 3.0, source
- Mourning of Muharram: Naser Jafari, CC BY 4.0, source
- Fatimiyya: Mohsen Ataei, CC BY 4.0, source
- Fukubukuro: Jnn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of the Transfiguration: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Songkran: Khunmoohan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kulig: various, Public domain, source
- Need-fire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Ambarvalia: Alberto Pisa, Public domain, source
- Monlam Prayer Festival: Evan-Lovely, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dongzhi Festival: Alpha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Youth Day: Andrey Butko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Workers' Memorial Day: Jungpionier, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Intercession of the Theotokos: SNCH, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feast of the Sacred Heart: José de Páez, Public domain, source
- Pakistan Day: Imniazi001, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
- Vechornytsi: Гейслер, Кристиан Готфрид Генрих, Public domain, source