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
🇲🇬 MadagascarLamba
A rectangular cloth wrapped around the body, worn across Madagascar and at burialsDress
🇮🇳 Ayodhya, IndiaTilakaतिलक
A forehead mark worn by Hindus and Jains, at home, at temple and on special daysDress
🇲🇦 Tangier, MoroccoNegafaنڭافة (Arabic); ⵏⴳⴰⴼⴰ (Tamazight)
The woman who dresses a bride and guards the customs of a Moroccan weddingRite of passage
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreLederhosen
Leather breeches that began as work wear and now belong to Alpine festivalsDress
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreKiltfèileadh
A pleated knee-length skirt in tartan wool, worn as Scottish Highland dressDress
🇾🇪 Hadhramaut, Yemen and 1 moreJambiyaجنبية
A short curved dagger worn at the waist by Yemeni men, its handle a sign of statusDress
🇧🇸 Bahamas and 3 moreJunkanoo
A Caribbean masquerade festival of masked dancing, goatskin drumming, and cowbellsFestival
🇹🇴 Tonga and 1 moreTaʻovala
A waist mat worn in Tonga for weddings, funerals and formal daysDress
🇲🇾 Malacca, Malaysia and 5 moreBaju Melayuباجو ملايو
The long-sleeved Malay man's shirt and trousers, formal national dress in Malaysia and BruneiDress
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreDjellabaجلابة
A long, loose hooded robe worn by men and women across North AfricaDress
🇺🇬 UgandaGomesi
A floor-length, brightly coloured dress tied with a sash, worn by women in UgandaDress
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी
An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreDhoti
A long unstitched cloth men wrap like trousers, for worship and formal daysDress
🇲🇽 Guadalajara, MexicoMexican hat danceJarabe tapatío
Mexico's national courtship dance, in which a dancer's steps circle the brim of a hatPerformance
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 3 moreSherwani
A long buttoned coat for men, worn at weddings and state occasions in South AsiaDress
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreTracht
Traditional dress of the German-speaking regions, from lederhosen to the dirndlDress
🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaKofar Mata Dye Pits
Hand-dyed indigo cloth from centuries-old earthen pits in the heart of KanoCraft
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumGillesGille
Costumed carnival figures of Binche and surrounding Belgian townsFestival
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreJamdaniজামদানি
A fine handwoven cotton cloth of Bengal, patterned with motifs worked in by handCraft
🇷🇺 RussiaSarafanсарафа́н
A long, flared Russian dress, the everyday wear of peasant women for centuriesDress
🇳🇴 NorwayBunad
Norway's festive dress, tied to a home district and worn from weddings to 17 MayDress
🇲🇳 Ölgii, MongoliaGolden Eagle FestivalБүргэдийн баяр
An annual gathering in western Mongolia celebrating Kazakh eagle hunting and horsemanshipFestival
🇬🇭 Bonwire, Ghana and 1 moreKente clothNwentoma
Hand-woven Ghanaian cloth of silk and cotton strips, worn for ceremonies and graduationsDress
🇮🇳 Bhuj, India and 1 moreBandhani
Tie-dye cloth from India, knotted by hand and dipped in dye to leave dot patternsCraft
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 5 moreKurtaکرته (Persian), कुरता (Hindi)
A loose collarless tunic from South Asia, worn plain or embroidered over pyjamas or jeansDress
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, Indonesia and 4 moreKebayaꦏꦼꦧꦪ
A front-opening blouse and wrapped cloth, worn by women across Southeast AsiaDress
🇬🇪 Georgia and 5 moreChokha
A high-collared wool coat of the Caucasus, worn by men for battle and ceremonyDress
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreMangalasutraमङ्गलसूत्रम् (maṅgalasūtram)
A necklace tied by the groom at a wedding, worn through married lifeDress
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreChulloch'ullu
An earflapped Andean hat in alpaca or llama wool, worn against the coldDress
🇩🇪 Munich, Germany and 3 moreSchuhplattler
An Alpine folk dance of stomps, claps and flat-hand slaps on shoes, knees and thighsPerformance
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 2 moreSampotសំពត់
A length of cloth wrapped at the waist, the everyday and ceremonial dress of CambodiaDress
🇷🇺 Pavlovsky Posad, RussiaPavlovo Posad shawlПавловопосадский платок
A woolen Russian shawl printed with flowers, made in the town of Pavlovsky PosadDress
🇮🇪 Dublin, IrelandShamrockseamróg
A small three-leaved clover, worn in Ireland on St Patrick's Day as a national emblemFolklore
🇵🇸 Palestine and 5 moreKeffiyehكُوفِيَّة (kūfīyah)
A square cotton headscarf worn by men in arid parts of the Middle East and North AfricaDress
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 1 moreVyshyvankaвишиванка (Ukrainian), вышыванка (Belarusian)
An embroidered shirt of Ukraine and Belarus, its patterns marking region and familyDress
🇵🇦 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
🇨🇳 Shanghai, ChinaTangzhuang唐裝 (traditional), 唐装 (simplified)
A Chinese jacket with a Mandarin collar, worn for formal occasions and holidaysDress
🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা
A white Assamese cloth with a red border, worn, gifted and laid under sacred textsDress
🇵🇹 Coimbra, PortugalPraxePraxe Académica
A set of student initiation rituals and traditions in Portuguese universities.Rite of passage
🇧🇪 Binche, BelgiumCarnival of BincheCarnaval de Binche
A Belgian pre-Lenten festival known for masked dancers and orange tossingFestival
🇧🇹 BhutanKiraདཀྱི་ར་
Bhutan's national dress for women, an ankle-length woven cloth wrapped and pinnedDress
🇹🇷 Turkey and 3 moreKalpak
A tall cap of Turkic peoples, thick for winter and wide and light for summerDress
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 2 moreNiqabنِقاب
A face veil worn by some Muslim women, hiding all but the eyesDress
🇮🇳 Pune, India and 5 moreTurbanدولبند (dolband)
Cloth wound around the head, worn for faith, rank, shade and identityDress
🇲🇲 Myanmar and 1 moreLongyiလုံချည်
A tube of cloth worn from waist to feet in Myanmar, folded shut with no knotDress
🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreZardoziزردوزی (zarduzi)
Heavy gold and silver embroidery on silk or velvet, worked in Iran, India and beyondCraft
🇺🇿 Tashkent, Uzbekistan and 1 moreDoppaدوپپا (Uyghur); doʻppi / дўппи / دوپا (Uzbek)
An embroidered cap, square or round, that Uyghurs and Uzbeks wear across Central AsiaDress
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jambiya: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sherwani: SabaFatima123456789, Public domain, source
- Jamdani: Salim_Khandoker, CC0, source
- Taʻovala: James Foster, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Doppa: Jasper Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zardozi: Zarood, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mangalasutra: Ackroydman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mexican hat dance: Salvador alc, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Junkanoo: WikiPedant, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Negafa: Amine.elbahij, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lamba: Lemurbaby at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Turban: pxhere, CC0, source
- Carnival of Binche: Marie-Claire, CC BY 3.0, source
- Golden Eagle Festival: Altaihunters, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sarafan: Hanna Zelenko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kofar Mata Dye Pits: Solasly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Niqab: Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kalpak: Prosopee, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chullo: El archivo fue elegido de manera aleatoria sin uso necesario de su lic, Public domain, source
- Chokha: Pyotr Gankevich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kebaya: Simon_sees, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kurta: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Schuhplattler: Harald Bischoff, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bunad: Wolfmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pavlovo Posad shawl: Svetlov Artem, CC0, source
- Shamrock: Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Keffiyeh: Copyright World Economic Forum ( www.weforum.org ) swiss-image.ch/Phot, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pollera: Pedro Szekely, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shalwar kameez: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Queima das Fitas: Fotografía realizada por: Ángel Serrano Sánchez de León, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tangzhuang: Gobierno de Chile, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gamosa: Priyankoo at en.wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Dhoti: Redaloes at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Kira: Cfynn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Djellaba: Daderot, Public domain, source
- Longyi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Kilt: Georg Cöler, Public domain, source
- Lederhosen: Original photographer and uploader was Florian Schott at bar.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, source
- Sampot: George Groslier (1887–1945), Public domain, source
- Vyshyvanka: Vasily Andreevich Tropinin, Public domain, source
- Kente cloth: ZSM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gomesi: sarahemcc, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tracht: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bandhani: RubyGoes, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tilaka: Robert Vane Russell (1873-1915), Public domain, source
- Baju Melayu: CuLeX-, CC BY 2.0, source