All traditions
2,237 traditions so far, best known first. 12,423 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
🇳🇱 Noordwijk, Netherlands and 1 moreBloemencorso
Annual parades of flower-covered floats and boats in the Netherlands and BelgiumFestival
🇮🇷 Tabriz, IranPersian carpetفرش ایرانی
Hand-woven knotted rugs and flat textiles crafted across the towns and tribes of IranCraft
🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaKofar Mata Dye Pits
Hand-dyed indigo cloth from centuries-old earthen pits in the heart of KanoCraft
🇲🇽 Oaxaca, MexicoNight of the RadishesNoche de Rábanos
An annual festival of intricate sculptures carved from oversized radishes in OaxacaCraft
🇲🇽 Acolman, Mexico and 1 morePiñata
A festive decorated container broken open with a stick to scatter treats and fruitFestival
🇲🇽 Oaxaca, Mexico and 1 moreGuelaguetza
An annual Oaxacan festival of indigenous dance, music, costumes and communal sharingFestival
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePandal
Temporary decorated pavilions and arches built for festivals and gatheringsFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaSanjhi
Autumn devotion honoring a mother goddess and sacred floor art of Radha and KrishnaSpiritual
🇻🇺 VanuatuSand drawingsandroing
One unbroken line drawn in sand with a finger, used to tell stories in VanuatuCraft
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreKitenge
A printed cloth tied at the waist or chest, worn as a wrap, head cover or baby slingDress
🇸🇾 Aleppo, SyriaAleppo soapصابون غَار (ṣābūn ghar)
A hard olive-oil and laurel soap, hand-made in Aleppo and aged for monthsCraft
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreChulloch'ullu
An earflapped Andean hat in alpaca or llama wool, worn against the coldDress
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, Indonesia and 4 moreKebayaꦏꦼꦧꦪ
A front-opening blouse and wrapped cloth, worn by women across Southeast AsiaDress
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 5 moreKurtaکرته (Persian), कुरता (Hindi)
A loose collarless tunic from South Asia, worn plain or embroidered over pyjamas or jeansDress
🇷🇺 Pavlovsky Posad, RussiaPavlovo Posad shawlПавловопосадский платок
A woolen Russian shawl printed with flowers, made in the town of Pavlovsky PosadDress
🇵🇦 Las Tablas, Panama and 2 morePollera
A handmade skirt and outfit worn in Panama, Bolivia and Peru, and a marker of identityDress
🇵🇰 Multan, Pakistan and 3 moreShalwar kameez
Loose trousers and a long tunic, worn as one outfit across South AsiaDress
🇨🇷 San Antonio de Escazú, Costa RicaCosta Rican oxcartscarretas
Oxen-drawn carts, hand-painted in bright patterns, kept as a national symbol of Costa RicaCraft
🇯🇵 JapanKintsugi金継ぎ
Mending broken pottery with lacquer and gold, so the repair stays visibleCraft
🇷🇺 Dymkovo, RussiaDymkovo toysДымковская игрушка
Painted clay people, animals and whistles, shaped by women in Dymkovo near KirovCraft
🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা
A white Assamese cloth with a red border, worn, gifted and laid under sacred textsDress
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese paper cutting剪紙 / 剪纸 (jiǎnzhǐ)
Chinese cut paper pictures, pasted on windows and doors for luck at New YearCraft
🇬🇹 GuatemalaWorry dollMuñecas quitapenas
Hand-made dolls from highland Guatemala that children tell their worries to at nightFolklore
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreDjellabaجلابة
A long, loose hooded robe worn by men and women across North AfricaDress
🇲🇲 Myanmar and 1 moreLongyiလုံချည်
A tube of cloth worn from waist to feet in Myanmar, folded shut with no knotDress
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreKiltfèileadh
A pleated knee-length skirt in tartan wool, worn as Scottish Highland dressDress
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 moreInuksuk
Stone markers raised by Inuit across the Arctic to guide, hunt and rememberCraft
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 2 moreSampotសំពត់
A length of cloth wrapped at the waist, the everyday and ceremonial dress of CambodiaDress
🇮🇹 Naples, Italy and 5 moreNativity scene
A seasonal set of figures showing Jesus's birth, put up by Christians at ChristmasFestival
🇪🇸 Seville, Spain and 5 moreAzulejo
Painted, tin-glazed ceramic tiles that cover walls and floors across Portugal and SpainCraft
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 1 moreVyshyvankaвишиванка (Ukrainian), вышыванка (Belarusian)
An embroidered shirt of Ukraine and Belarus, its patterns marking region and familyDress
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreShyrdakшырдак (Kyrgyz); сырмақ (Kazakh)
A hand-stitched felt rug of contrasting colour, made by Kyrgyz and Kazakh familiesCraft
🇮🇳 Srinagar, India and 3 morePashmina
Ultra-fine wool of Himalayan goats, hand-woven in Kashmir into shawls of rankDress
🇬🇭 Bonwire, Ghana and 1 moreKente clothNwentoma
Hand-woven Ghanaian cloth of silk and cotton strips, worn for ceremonies and graduationsDress
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreTopping out
A builders' rite for the day the last beam goes up, marked with a tree, a flag and a toastCraft
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 2 moreAla kiyizала кийиз
Patterned felt carpets pressed by hand for the tents of Central Asian herdersCraft
🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia and 5 moreKhachkarխաչքար
A carved stone cross raised as a memorial, a grave marker and a prayer in stoneCraft
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaWayangꦮꦪꦁ
A night-long puppet theatre from Java, where a dalang tells epics behind a lit screenPerformance
🇭🇷 Zagreb, Croatia and 1 moreLicitarlicitarska srca
A hand-painted honey biscuit given as a gift at weddings and on Valentine's DayCraft · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 Bhuj, India and 1 moreBandhani
Tie-dye cloth from India, knotted by hand and dipped in dye to leave dot patternsCraft
🇦🇿 Baku, AzerbaijanAzerbaijani carpetAzərbaycan xalçası
Handwoven floor and wall coverings from Azerbaijan, made by women in regional designsCraft
🇯🇵 Takasaki, JapanDaruma doll達磨 (daruma)
A round Japanese wishing doll: fill one eye to set a goal, the other to mark it done.Folklore
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptAncient Egyptian funerary practices
Rites for the dead in ancient Egypt: preserving the body, spells and grave goodsRite of passage
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKimono着物
Japan's national dress: a wrapped robe with square sleeves, tied with a wide sashDress
🇷🇺 Palekh, RussiaPalekh miniatureПалехская миниатюра
Tiny tempera paintings on lacquered papier-mâché, made in the Russian town of PalekhCraft
🇨🇦 Montréal, CanadaCeinture fléchée
A fingerwoven woollen sash tied at the waist, worn by Québécois and Métis peoplesDress
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 2 moreManeki-neko招き猫
A lucky cat figurine, paw raised, kept by shop doors and in homes across JapanFolklore
🇲🇳 MongoliaMorin khuurморин хуур (Mongolian Cyrillic); ᠮᠣᠷᠢᠨ ᠬᠣᠭᠣᠷ (traditional Mongol script)
Mongolia's two-string horsehead fiddle, played with a horsehair bowPerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bloemencorso: Dekraaie, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Persian carpet: Jastrow, Public domain, source
- Kofar Mata Dye Pits: Solasly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Night of the Radishes: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Piñata: No machine-readable author provided. JEDIKNIGHT1970 assumed (based on, Public domain, source
- Guelaguetza: A01321718, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pandal: SHUBHAM KR SONI, CC0, source
- Sanjhi: Veer jindal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sand drawing: PhillipC, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kitenge: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Aleppo soap: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chullo: El archivo fue elegido de manera aleatoria sin uso necesario de su lic, Public domain, source
- Kebaya: Simon_sees, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kurta: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pavlovo Posad shawl: Svetlov Artem, CC0, source
- Pollera: Pedro Szekely, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shalwar kameez: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Costa Rican oxcarts: Victor Quirós A, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kintsugi: Daderot, CC0, source
- Dymkovo toys: Georg Pik, Public domain, source
- Gamosa: Priyankoo at en.wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Chinese paper cutting: Lanneixi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Worry doll: Leena, CC BY 3.0, source
- Djellaba: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Longyi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kilt: Georg Cöler, Public domain, source
- Inuksuk: Christina Chan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sampot: George Groslier (1887–1945), Public domain, source
- Nativity scene: Yvonne Bentele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Azulejo: Dr. Thomas Liptak, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vyshyvanka: Vasily Andreevich Tropinin, Public domain, source
- Shyrdak: Firespeaker, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pashmina: Aaditya Kitroo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kente cloth: ZSM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Topping out: PKS at Danish Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Ala kiyiz: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pbarry/, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Khachkar: Arantz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wayang: Kevin Gessner, CC BY 2.0, source
- Licitar: Seanpu1, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bandhani: RubyGoes, CC BY 2.0, source
- Azerbaijani carpet: Dmitri Yermakov, Public domain, source
- Daruma doll: Crisco 1492, Public domain, source
- Ancient Egyptian funerary practices: Hunefer, Public domain, source
- Kimono: Takaaki Kawai, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Palekh miniature: Ivan Ivanovich Golikov, Public domain, source
- Ceinture fléchée: Ceinture fléchée, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maneki-neko: Su--May, CC BY 2.0, source
- Morin khuur: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, source