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
🇮🇳 IndiaMonlam Prayer Festival
A Tibetan Buddhist festival of mass prayers, sacred dances and ritual offeringsSpiritual
🇮🇸 IcelandIcelandic National DayÞjóðhátíðardagurinn
Iceland's national day, 17 June, marking the founding of the republic in 1944Ceremony
🇮🇹 Italy and 6 morePatronal festivalFiesta patronal
A town's yearly feast for its patron saint, with processions, a fair and shared foodFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyEquirria
Two ancient Roman festivals of horse and chariot racing held in honor of Mars.Festival
🇮🇩 Pariaman, IndonesiaTabuik
A Muharram mourning rite in Pariaman, Sumatra, ending with a bier carried into the seaSpiritual
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreRosalia
An ancient Roman festival of decorating graves, statues, and standards with fresh flowersSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇪 Stockholm, SwedenSweden Finns' Dayruotsinsuomalaisten päivä (Finnish); sverigefinnarnas dag (Swedish)
An annual day in Sweden for the Sweden Finns, their language and their historyFestival
🇿🇦 Pretoria, South AfricaNational Women's Day
South Africa's public holiday on 9 August, remembering the women who marched in 1956Ceremony
🇲🇨 MonacoInternational Circus Festival of Monte-CarloFestival International du Cirque de Monte-Carlo
A January circus competition in Monaco, with Clown statuettes for the finest actsFestival
🇦🇲 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
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The Thai solar New Year marked by temple rites, elder blessings and water throwingSeasonal
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreArmed Forces Day
A civic holiday honouring national military services, their history and active personnelCeremony
🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreWorld Religion Day
An annual day in January dedicated to spiritual unity and harmony across all faiths.Spiritual
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaRemembrance Day of the Latvian LegionnairesLeģionāru piemiņas diena
An annual observance in Latvia honoring soldiers from the Latvian Legion who fought during World War II.Festival
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 10 moreEgg decorating
Decorating eggs with dye, wax and carving, kept at Easter, Nowruz and springCraft
🇨🇴 ColombiaLittle Candles DayDía de las velitas
Candles and paper lanterns across Colombia on the night before the Immaculate ConceptionSpiritual
🇵🇰 PakistanDefence Dayیومِ دفاع
Pakistan's national day for its soldiers, kept each 6 September with parades and tributesCeremony
🇻🇳 Hanoi, VietnamNational DayNgày Quốc khánh
Vietnam's national day, marking the 1945 independence declaration read in HanoiCeremony
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreLGBTQ History Month
An annual month of education and remembrance celebrating queer lives and civil rightsCeremony
🇵🇱 Zakopane, PolandKulig
A traditional Polish winter sleigh ride party celebrated during the Carnival seasonFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇷 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
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreSaint Sylvester's Day
A Christian feast day and year-end celebration marked across Europe and beyondSeasonal · Dinner
🇺🇿 Tashkent, UzbekistanIndependence DayOʻzbekiston Respublikasi Mustaqilligi kuni
A state holiday on 1 September marking Uzbekistan's break from the Soviet UnionCeremony
🇧🇦 Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaIndependence Day of Bosnia and HerzegovinaDan nezavisnosti
A public holiday on 1 March marking the 1992 vote for independenceCeremony
🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North KoreaParty Foundation Day조선로동당 창건일
A national holiday in North Korea that marks the founding of its ruling party in 1945.Ceremony
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreBanned Books Week
An annual autumn campaign celebrating the freedom to read and access challenged booksCeremony
🇵🇰 PakistanSindhi Cultural Dayسنڌي ثقافتي ڏھاڙو
An annual December celebration of Sindhi heritage, music, and traditional attireFestival
🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria and 2 moreIndependence Day
Nigeria's national day, marking the end of British rule on 1 October 1960Ceremony
🇷🇺 Chukaly, RussiaRas'ken' OzksРаськень Озкс
A triennial gathering and ancestral prayer ritual of the Erzya people in MordoviaSpiritual
🇮🇳 Delhi, IndiaChildren's Day
An annual Indian celebration of children and their welfare held on 14 NovemberCeremony
🇸🇳 Dakar, Senegal and 4 moreWorld Festival of Black ArtsFestival Mondial des Arts Nègres
A recurring month-long gathering of arts, music and writing from Africa and its diasporaFestival
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreInternet DayDía de Internet
An annual May observance dedicated to digital access, education and online community.Ceremony
🇸🇾 Syria and 6 moreKha b'Nisanܚܕ ܒܢܝܣܢ
A spring new year on 1 April, kept with parades, poems and dancing by AssyriansFestival
🇧🇬 BulgariaJuly Morning
A Bulgarian summer gathering where crowds watch the first sunrise of July with music and song.Festival
🇵🇪 Santo Tomás, PeruTakanakuy
A December tradition in Peru where community members settle disputes through regulated fistfights and dance.Festival
🇧🇬 Plovdiv, Bulgaria and 8 moreDay of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and CultureДен на българската просвета и култура и на славянската писменост
Bulgaria's public holiday for its alphabet, schools and culture, kept each 24 MayFestival
🇮🇹 ItalyMeditrinalia
An ancient Roman festival on October 11 to bless the new wine harvest with libations.Festival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreSimchat Beit HaShoeivahשמחת בית השואבה
Nightly music and dancing during the intermediate days of the festival of SukkotFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇬🇷 Amyclae, GreeceHyacinthiaὙακίνθια
A three-day ancient Spartan festival marking the death and rebirth of HyacinthusFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPooram
An annual Kerala temple festival with percussion orchestras, elephants and fireworksFestival
🇮🇪 Galway, IrelandSeachtain na Gaeilge
Seventeen days of Irish-language events, from 1 March to St Patrick's DayFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaVidyarambhamविद्यारम्भ
A Hindu rite of passage introducing young children to reading, writing and the artsRite of passage
🇳🇬 Kagoro, NigeriaAfan FestivalBwok Ǎfan
A New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyVolturnalia
An ancient Roman festival honouring the water deity Volturnus and his daughter JuturnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇸 IcelandFirst Day of Summersumardagurinn fyrsti
Iceland's holiday on the first Thursday after 18 April, opening the old calendar's summerSeasonal
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBiikebrennenBiikebrånen
Fires lit at sunset on 21 February to send winter away in North FrisiaFestival
🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti
An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival
🇬🇭 Anloga, Ghana and 1 moreHogbetsotso festival
An Anlo Ewe festival in Anloga recalling an escape from NotsieFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Defence Day: Faizanbokhari at English Wikipedia (I shot this picture myself.), Public domain, source
- Ras'ken' Ozks: Erzianj jurnalist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Independence Day: AMISOM Public Information, CC0, source
- Day of Slavonic Alphabet, Bulgarian Enlightenment and Culture: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- National Women's Day: K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0, source
- Little Candles Day: CarUno, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tabuik: en:User:Brakatop upload to commons by Ladsgroup, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Egg decorating: L.Kenzel, CC BY 3.0, source
- Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Smooth O, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kha b'Nisan: Athrakado, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- First Day of Summer: ArniGael, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires: Dezidor, CC BY 3.0, source
- Pooram: Augustus Binu : flickr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of the Transfiguration: Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Songkran: Khunmoohan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Armed Forces Day: Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0, source
- Kulig: various, Public domain, source
- Meditrinalia: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Biikebrennen: Borstenpinsel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo: GeorgePrikkel, Public domain, source
- Banned Books Week: carmichaellibrary, CC BY 2.0, source
- July Morning: Sumto, Public domain, source
- Monlam Prayer Festival: Evan-Lovely, CC BY 2.0, source
- Hogbetsotso festival: JY midey, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rosalia: Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Public domain, source
- National Day: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Party Foundation Day: David Stanley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Patronal festival: Ranieljosecastaneda, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Children's Day: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rabindra Jayanti: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt, Public domain, source
- Sindhi Cultural Day: Jogi don, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Sylvester's Day: Unknown medieval artist in Rome, Public domain, source
- Independence Day: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Simchat Beit HaShoeivah: Unknown author, Public domain, source