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
🇱🇹 Lithuania and 5 moreNativity of John the Baptist
A Christian feast day on June 24 that marks the birth of John the Baptist and anticipates Christmas.Festival
🇦🇱 Albania and 3 moreXhubleta
A rippling bell-shaped skirt made by Albanian women of the northern highlandsDress
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea and 5 moreCouvade
Childbirth rituals where fathers take to bed and mimic the labor of childbirthRite of passage
🇪🇸 Spain and 4 moreDay of the Holy InnocentsDía de los Santos Inocentes
A 28 December day of pranks and fake news, kept in the Spanish-speaking worldFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyAmbarvalia
An ancient Roman agricultural rite to purify farmland and ensure fertile cropsSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreShoe throwing
The act of hurling footwear for sport, wedding luck, protest or overhead display.Folklore
🇦🇱 Albania and 5 moreDodolaДодoла / Dodola
A Balkan rainmaking ritual where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summer showers.Festival
🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreLine-crossing ceremony
A naval initiation rite marking a sailor's first voyage across the equatorRite of passage
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKoledariколядники
A Slavic winter caroling custom of visiting homes with songs, masks and blessingsFestival
🇹🇭 Thailand and 4 moreVessantara JatakaVessantara Jātaka
A Buddhist festival celebrating the last life of the Buddha as a generous prince.Festival
🇫🇷 FranceLa soule
A rough medieval ball game from Normandy and Picardy played between parishes on religious holidays.Game
🇲🇦 MoroccoBujloodبوجلود
A masked carnival of animal skins held in Morocco just after Eid al-AdhaFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreTauroctonyταυροκτόνος
The sacred bull-slaying imagery at the heart of the ancient Roman Mithraic mysteriesSpiritual
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreFukubukuro福袋
Surprise discount grab bags sold by Japanese retailers for the New YearSeasonal
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyFeraliaFerālia
An ancient Roman day of offerings to the dead, marking the close of ParentaliaSpiritual
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreIncubationἐγκοίμησις
The sacred practice of sleeping in holy shrines to seek divine healing and dreamsSpiritual
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreKiddush Levanahקידוש לבנה
A Jewish ritual service held after the new moon to bless God for the lunar cycle and seek protection.Spiritual
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreNeed-fire
A ritual fire kindled by friction to ward off cattle plague, disease and harmFolklore
🇬🇷 GreeceSparagmosσπαραγμός
An ancient Greek Dionysian sacrificial rite of tearing an offering apartSpiritual
🇷🇺 Chukaly, RussiaRas'ken' OzksРаськень Озкс
A triennial gathering and ancestral prayer ritual of the Erzya people in MordoviaSpiritual
🇵🇪 Santo Tomás, PeruTakanakuy
A December tradition in Peru where community members settle disputes through regulated fistfights and dance.Festival
🇬🇭 Winneba, GhanaAboakyer festival
A deer hunt kept by the people of Winneba, Ghana, on the first Saturday in MayFestival
🇵🇹 Portugal and 3 moreSalting the earth
An ancient ritual of scattering salt over ruined ground to curse its future useFolklore
🇵🇱 Kraków, Poland and 5 moreTurońTuroń (Polish), Turoň (Slovak)
A shaggy horned beast led from house to house by carol singers at carnival timeFolklore
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreBiikebrennenBiikebrånen
Fires lit at sunset on 21 February to send winter away in North FrisiaFestival
🇪🇬 EgyptHermetic Qabalah
A Western esoteric tradition blending Kabbalah, astrology, tarot and classical mythSpiritual
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreMeteņi
A Latvian pre-Lenten festival marking the turn of time and welcoming spring.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Orchomenus, GreeceAgrionia
An ancient Greek nocturnal festival dedicated to Dionysus AgrioniusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandChalandamarz
A bell-ringing march on the first of March that sends winter out of the Grisons valleysSeasonal
🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna
A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual
🇦🇴 Angola and 2 moreLusona
Sand drawings from Angola and Zambia that carry proverbs, fables and animalsCraft
🇦🇹 Austria and 2 morePerchten
Masked midwinter walks in the Alps, with carved wooden masks and sheepskinFolklore
🇷🇴 RomaniaCapra
A New Year's ritual in Romania where a masked dancer visits homes to bring luck and predict the weather.Festival
🇵🇱 Poland and 6 morePolaznik
The first visitor to cross the threshold at Christmas, read as a sign of the year to comeFolklore
🇹🇭 Dan Sai, ThailandPhi Ta Khonผีตาโขน
A three-day festival in Dan Sai, north-east Thailand, of ghost masks and merit-makingFestival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTelling the bees
A Western European custom of informing honeybees about major household events like deaths and weddings.Folklore
🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania and 2 moreCaloian
A Romanian rainmaking and fertility ritual centered on the creation, funeral, and rebirth of a clay effigy.Festival
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan and 1 moreJeti ataЖеті ата
A Kazakh custom requiring knowledge of seven direct ancestors to ensure healthy marriages and tribal identity.Folklore
🇵🇱 Poland and 3 morePodłaźniczka
A decorated evergreen branch hung over the Christmas Eve table in Poland and SlovakiaFestival
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 2 moreCamel Heda'aحداء الإبل
Camel herders' calls that speak to the herd, kept across the Arabian PeninsulaFolklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreMischief Night
An informal autumn evening of neighbourhood tricks, practical jokes and street pranksFestival
🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreBundling
A traditional courtship practice where a couple shares a bed under supervision to ensure compatibility and accountabilitRite of passage
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFairy-locks
A folk belief that fairies and spirits tangle the hair of sleeping children and animals.Folklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreFlyting
A ritual contest of poetic insults exchanged between two parties in verse.Performance
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelTikkun HaKlaliתיקון הכללי
A set of ten Psalms recited for repentance and spiritual healing within the Breslover Hasidic tradition.Spiritual
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreStatue rubbing
A global custom of touching public statues to seek luck, love, or a return to the city.Festival
🇩🇪 Worms, Germany and 2 moreHollekreisch
An Ashkenazi birth ritual where children name a newborn with a secular name.Rite of passage
🇷🇸 Serbia and 3 moreLazariceлазарице
A spring procession of girls in flower wreaths, singing door to door before Palm SundaySpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ras'ken' Ozks: Erzianj jurnalist, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mischief Night: Roseohioresident, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Day of the Holy Innocents: Attributed to Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Public domain, source
- Turoń: Museum: The Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in Kraków, CC0, source
- Aboakyer festival: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Polaznik: Carlton Alfred Smith, Public domain, source
- Phi Ta Khon: E.D.W., Public domain, source
- Camel Heda'a: Rawan92, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Xhubleta: Albinfo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nativity of John the Baptist: Brakeet, CC0, source
- Dodola: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source
- Koledari: Mikhail Germashev, Public domain, source
- Line-crossing ceremony: Jules de Caudin, Public domain, source
- Vessantara Jataka: Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- La soule: Unknown author Unknown author illustrator (based on a sketch by M.J.L., Public domain, source
- Tauroctony: Jastrow, Public domain, source
- Kiddush Levanah: Wacław Koniuszko, Public domain, source
- Fukubukuro: Jnn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Need-fire: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sparagmos: WolfgangRieger, Public domain, source
- Hermetic Qabalah: Jean-Louis Durant (1654-1718), Public domain, source
- Capra: Michał Elwiro Andriolli, Public domain, source
- Fairy-locks: Tsaag Valren, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Caloian: Costică Acsinte Archive, No restrictions, source
- Statue rubbing: Matthias Rosenkranz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Perchten: Anita Martinz, CC BY 2.0, source
- Chalandamarz: Claudio Schneider, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shoe throwing: Zarateman, CC0, source
- Biikebrennen: Borstenpinsel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ambarvalia: Alberto Pisa, Public domain, source
- Bujlood: Hassan ahachi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meteņi: Spekozols, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lazarice: Svetlina bov at Bulgarian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Podłaźniczka: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Flyting: Lorenz Frølich, Public domain, source
- Salting the earth: C.W.M., Public domain, source