All traditions
2,169 traditions so far, best known first. 12,543 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
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween
An annual observance on 31 October marking the eve of All Saints' Day, rooted in Christian tradition and Celtic heritageFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreApril Fools' Day
An annual day of lighthearted pranks, hoaxes and teasing kept on the first of AprilFestival
🇮🇪 Galway, Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde
A cross of woven rushes or straw, made for Saint Brigid's Day on the first of FebruaryCraft
🇯🇵 JapanKokeshiこけし
Hand-turned Japanese wooden dolls painted with floral designs and slender facesCraft
🇵🇷 San Juan, Puerto Rico and 1 moreBomba
A Puerto Rican music and dance tradition where the drummer follows the dancer in a rhythmic dialogue.Performance
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanRakugo落語
Japanese solo comic storytelling told from a cushion using a fan and a clothPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaKambala
An annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaGame
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreMorris dance
A rhythmic English folk dance performed in costume with bells, sticks and handkerchiefsPerformance
🇰🇷 Seoul, South Korea and 1 moreTalchum탈춤
A Korean mask dance drama in which masked actors sing, dance and mock the powerfulPerformance
🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline
A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore
🇵🇬 Maprik, Papua New GuineaHaus Tambaran
A sacred house of the Sepik peoples, used for ancestor worship and male initiationSpiritual
🇪🇪 EstoniaJaanipäev
Estonia's midsummer night of bonfires, song and fortune-telling, on 23 and 24 JuneFestival
🇮🇱 Israel and 3 moreDreidelדרײדל (Yiddish); סביבון (Hebrew)
A four-sided top spun for small stakes, most often by Jewish families at HanukkahGame
🇮🇪 Waterford, IrelandSean-nós singingSean-nós
An unaccompanied, highly ornamented style of traditional Irish folk singingPerformance
🇪🇸 Granada, SpainCante jondo
A solemn and profound vocal tradition of Andalusian flamenco song.Performance
🇨🇱 Santiago, Chile and 3 moreCueca
A courtship dance of Chile and the Andes where partners trace circles with handkerchiefs to mimic a rooster and hen.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
🇨🇬 Republic of the CongoNkisi
Spiritual vessels and figures crafted to channel ancestral power, healing and justiceSpiritual
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaGumboot danceIsicathulo
A percussive South African dance born in the mines, performed in Wellington boots to communicate and celebrate.Performance
🇹🇷 Kayseri, Turkey and 4 moreHalay
A traditional line and circle folk dance kept across Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, and Syria.Performance
🇬🇭 Ntɔnso, Ghana and 1 moreAdinkra symbols
Symbols of the Akan people, stamped on cloth, each one carrying a proverbCraft
🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 1 moreShagaiшагай
Traditional ankle bone games and fortune-telling played across Central Asia.Game
🇬🇧 South Queensferry, United KingdomThe Burryman
A man clad in burdock burrs walks a Scottish town for a day, bringing luck as he goesFolklore
🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandWhakapapa
Māori genealogy, recited to place a person among ancestors, land and tribeHome
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern
Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival
🇲🇱 Bamako, Mali and 5 moreGriotjeli, ߖߋ߬ߟߌ in N'Ko script
West Africa's hereditary keepers of spoken history, praise and musicPerformance
🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 2 moreChinese opera戲曲 / 戏曲 (xìqǔ)
A sung, danced and acrobatic theatre from China, in over a hundred regional stylesPerformance
🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreTrick-or-treating
A custom where children visit homes in costume to ask for treats or face a playful prank.Festival · Sweets given and shared
🇳🇴 Norway and 3 moreGákti
A traditional coat worn by the Sámi people across northern Scandinavia and Russia, signaling origin and status through cDress
🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaGut굿
Sacred rites of song, dance, and spirit communion performed by Korean shamansSpiritual
🇬🇭 Ghana and 2 moreEwe drumming
The drum ensembles of the Ewe people, with iron bells, rattles and talking drumsPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत
Offerings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Spiritual
🇵🇪 Peru and 2 moreAyniAyni (Quechua and Aymara)
Giving and receiving as a duty, kept by Andean communitiesEtiquette
🇺🇸 New York, United States and 1 moreFortune-telling
Reading cards, palms or tea leaves to tell a client what may lie aheadFolklore
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreDreamcatcherᐊᓴᐱᑫᔒᓐᐦ (asabikeshiinh)
A hand-woven hoop from Anishinaabe tradition, hung above a cradle to protect a childCraft
🇸🇳 Senegal and 1 moreKumpo
A palm-leaf figure of the Diola, danced at village festivals to urge good conductFolklore
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreChinese knotting中國結 (Zhōngguó jié)
A folk craft of cord tied into lucky shapes, made in China and given as charmsCraft
🇲🇳 Ölgii, Mongolia and 3 moreHunting with eagles
The Central Asian tradition of hunting foxes and hares from horseback with golden eagles.Game
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreFriday the 13th
A Western folk superstition regarding the unluckiness of a Friday falling on the 13th.Folklore
🇧🇭 Bahrain and 3 moreFann at-Tanburaفن الطنبورة
A Gulf song and dance of drums and tanbura, born in healing, now stagedPerformance
🇵🇬 Trobriand Islands, Papua New GuineaTrobriand cricket
Cricket as played in the Trobriand Islands, with chants, dances and a feastGame
🇱🇹 LithuaniaVėlinės
A Lithuanian remembrance day honouring deceased souls with cemetery prayers and candlesSpiritual
🇵🇪 Cusco, Peru and 4 moreIntiinti (Quechua)
The Inca sun deity, honoured with temples, offerings and the June festival Inti RaymiSpiritual
🇲🇺 Mauritius and 3 moreSegaséga
A music and dance tradition from Mauritius and Réunion with Afro-Malagasy roots.Performance
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭᠠ (Traditional Mongol)
A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanArchery in Bhutanམདའ (da)
Bhutan's national sport, played with bamboo bows at targets 145 metres awayGame
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreJack-o'-lantern
A carved pumpkin lantern lit with a candle to brighten and protect Halloween nightsFolklore
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jack-o'-lantern: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Friday the 13th: Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, source
- Halay: Post of Moldova, Public domain, source
- Trick-or-treating: Toyah Anette B, Public domain, source
- Inti: Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, Public domain, source
- Whakapapa: Jimmy Pitt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Water lantern: 松岡明芳, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ewe drumming: Freddythehat at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Hunting with eagles: Franz Roubaud, Public domain, source
- Archery in Bhutan: muddum27, CC BY 2.0, source
- Haus Tambaran: Sylt-Tinto, CC0, source
- Gákti: Thorguds, Public domain, source
- Shagai: User:Yaan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Griot: Pierre-Georges Jeanniot (gravure) [ 1 ] M. Barbier (photograph, Public domain, source
- Ovoo: Bouette ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dreamcatcher: Jorge Barrios, Public domain, source
- Chinese knotting: Ucla90024, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- The Burryman: Oliver Benton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kumpo: Pietervp, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ayni: Sr raleigh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chinese opera: https://www.flickr.com/photos/univers-finder/, CC BY 2.0, source
- Jaanipäev: Jaan Künnap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dreidel: Adiel lo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Adinkra symbols: Bosomba Amosah other versions=, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fortune-telling: Taras Shevchenko, Public domain, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cueca: Manuel Antonio Caro, Public domain, source
- Bomba: TechyLibrarian, CC BY 4.0, source
- Talchum: originally by photoren, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nkisi: MiddleOfAfrica, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gumboot dance: Michal Maňas, CC BY 4.0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Morris dance: Des Blenkinsopp, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
- Kambala: Sajith mv parappally, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rakugo: Yuya Tamai, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kokeshi: Kimivanil, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sean-nós singing: Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Public domain, source
- Gut: ReSearcher at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- April Fools' Day: Lars Andersen, Public domain, source
- Sega: HelenOnline, CC BY-SA 4.0, source