Skip to content

ArtsFamily Folk Dance HeritageWhy is Kolkata’s Durga Puja recognised as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage?WeddingsCalifornia city hall goes jurassic with dino wedding ceremony Carnival28th Latino Heritage Parade and Festival Set for Today, Recognizing City’s ‘Unsung Heroes’Holy daysWhen is Diwali 2026? Key dates, significance, how to celebrate WeddingsArt of Betashar: Issatay Issabayev’s Lifelong Dialogue with Kazakh Tradition SeasonsOak Mountain State Park to host annual Harvest Festival Oct. 17 ArtsTwo weekends of Oktoberfest fun begin tonight at American German Club ArtsTwo weekends of Oktoberfest fun begin tonight at American German Club ArtsTwo weekends of Oktoberfest fun begin tonight at American German Club ArtsFamily Folk Dance HeritageWhy is Kolkata’s Durga Puja recognised as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage?WeddingsCalifornia city hall goes jurassic with dino wedding ceremony Carnival28th Latino Heritage Parade and Festival Set for Today, Recognizing City’s ‘Unsung Heroes’Holy daysWhen is Diwali 2026? Key dates, significance, how to celebrate WeddingsArt of Betashar: Issatay Issabayev’s Lifelong Dialogue with Kazakh Tradition SeasonsOak Mountain State Park to host annual Harvest Festival Oct. 17 ArtsTwo weekends of Oktoberfest fun begin tonight at American German Club ArtsTwo weekends of Oktoberfest fun begin tonight at American German Club ArtsTwo weekends of Oktoberfest fun begin tonight at American German Club

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.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandWhakapapa Māori genealogy, recited to place a person among ancestors, land and tribeHome 🇵🇬 Trobriand Islands, Papua New GuineaTrobriand cricket Cricket as played in the Trobriand Islands, with chants, dances and a feastGame

🇵🇬 Maprik, Papua New GuineaHaus Tambaran A sacred house of the Sepik peoples, used for ancestor worship and male initiationSpiritual

🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea and 5 moreShell money Traditional currency made from cowries, ground clam beads, and carved sea shellsCraft

🇦🇺 AustraliaThe Dreaming A living spiritual worldview and law connecting Aboriginal Australians to ancestors, land, and community.Spiritual

🇳🇿 Auckland, New ZealandTā moko The traditional permanent tattooing of the Māori people of New Zealand, marking identity and status.Rite of passage

🇳🇿 New ZealandWaka Traditional Māori canoes used for fishing, transport, and ceremony, built from single logs or stitched planks.Craft 🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaSongline A navigational and spiritual path across Australia that links ancestral stories to the physical landscape.Folklore 🇦🇺 AustraliaWalkabout A rite of passage involving travel through the Australian landscape to learn ancestral lore.Rite of passage

🇦🇺 AustraliaBush ballad Verse and song that tell stories of life in the Australian bushPerformance 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea and 5 moreCouvade Childbirth rituals where fathers take to bed and mimic the labor of childbirthRite of passage 🇻🇺 Pentecost Island, VanuatuGrade-taking A social system in northern Vanuatu where men and women gain status through ceremonial pig sacrifices.Ceremony

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Whakapapa: Jimmy Pitt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Haus Tambaran: Sylt-Tinto, CC0, source
Shell money: Niccolò Gualtieri, Public domain, source
The Dreaming: September 1985, Public domain, source
Tā moko: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
Waka: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bush ballad: A. B. Paterson, Public domain, source

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.