All traditions
2,291 traditions so far, best known first. 12,317 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
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreZakuskiзакуски
A laid-out table of cold small dishes that opens a Russian festive mealTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreYum cha飲茶
A Cantonese breakfast of dim sum and tea, eaten slowly in large groupsTable custom · Breakfast
🇺🇸 United StatesLūʻau
A Hawaiian feast of kālua pig and poi, eaten by hand outdoors with music and hulaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreTailgate party
Grilling, sharing and drinking beside a car before the game, mostly in North AmericaTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇷 Argentina and 4 moreAsado
A slow fire, a grill and a shared table: how people gather to cook and eat meatTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia and 3 moreRijsttafel
Many small dishes around rice: a colonial-era banquet still served in the NetherlandsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇸 Cleveland, United StatesClambake
Shellfish steamed over seaweed in a pit, eaten outdoors along the New England coastTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇭🇷 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
🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 morePyebaek폐백
A Korean wedding rite where newlyweds bow to elders and share dates, chestnuts and wineRite of passage
🇹🇷 Istanbul, TurkeyTurkish tea culture
Two stacked pots, tulip glasses, and a choice of strong or weak tea in TurkeyTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇪🇨 Quito, EcuadorFanesca
Ecuador's Holy Week soup of grains, beans and salt cod, made for Good FridayTable custom · Lunch
🇦🇹 Vienna, AustriaViennese coffee house cultureWiener Kaffeehauskultur
A Viennese social ritual where patrons linger for hours with a single coffee and newspapers.Etiquette · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇮🇷 Ashtian, Iran and 5 moreSamanuسمنو
A sweet sprouted-wheat paste stirred through the night for NowruzTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreBento弁当
A single-portion packed meal in a lidded box, carried to school, work or on a trainTable custom · Lunch
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaTumpengꦠꦸꦩ꧀ꦥꦼꦁ (Javanese); ᬢᬸᬫ᭄ᬧᭂᬂ (Balinese)
A tall cone of rice ringed with side dishes, central to Javanese ceremonies and partiesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 4 moreBeshbarmakбешбармак
Boiled meat and noodles, eaten by hand from one platter, with a set cut for each guestTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreVasilopitaΒασιλόπιτα
A New Year bread or cake with a coin baked inside, shared out slice by sliceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean tea ceremony다례 (茶禮)
Tea served in Korea as a rite of courtesy, now mostly grain and herbal brewsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇺🇸 United StatesPotluck
A shared meal where every guest brings a dish, kept by churches, clubs and neighborsTable custom · Dinner
🇵🇾 Paraguay and 3 moreTereré
Paraguay's cold yerba mate drink, passed around in one cup with a metal strawTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 5 moreSuhurسحور
The pre-dawn meal Muslims eat before a day of fasting in RamadanTable custom · Breakfast
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas dinner
The festive family meal of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, with roast meats and puddingsTable custom · Dinner
🇦🇷 Mendoza, ArgentinaFiesta Nacional de la Vendimia
Argentina's national grape harvest festival, celebrated each year in MendozaSeasonal
🇱🇧 Beirut, Lebanon and 7 moreEid il-Burbaraعيد البربارة
A winter feast of costumes, sweet boiled wheat, and sprouting seeds across the LevantFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Galway, IrelandGalway International Oyster Festival
An annual autumn gathering in Galway honouring native oysters with shucking contestsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 NorwayJul
An eight-week Norwegian midwinter season of feasts, family gatherings, and gift-givingSeasonal · Lunch
🇩🇿 AlgeriaMawlid in Algeriaيوم المولد النبوي
The Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration in Algeria with family feasts and prayersFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMaltese Carnivalil-Karnival ta' Malta
A lively week of costumed parades, dancing, satirical floats and sweets across Malta.Festival · Sweets given and shared
🇩🇰 DenmarkJul
Winter feasts, carols around the tree, and family gatherings across DenmarkFestival · Lunch
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreJulebord
A Scandinavian Christmas banquet of traditional dishes, festive drinks and celebrationTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 Suzhou, China and 3 moreDongzhi冬至
A midwinter festival celebrating the return of light with family feasts and dumplingsSeasonal · Dinner
🇮🇳 Hyderabad, India and 3 moreBonalu
An annual festival of thanksgiving to Goddess Mahakali across Telangana, IndiaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇰🇭 CambodiaPchum Benភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ
A fifteen-day Cambodian Buddhist festival honouring ancestors with food and prayersSpiritual
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBread and saltхлеб-соль
Bread and salt offered to a guest: a welcome kept from Russia to AlbaniaEtiquette
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreŚwięconka
The Polish Holy Saturday blessing of baskets filled with Easter morning foodSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomLammashlāfmæsse
A harvest festival marking the blessing of the first baked bread from the new wheat cropSeasonal
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands and 4 moreSinterklaasSinterklaas / Sint-Nicolaas
A Dutch winter feast on 5 and 6 December, when Saint Nicholas brings gifts to childrenFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreCrayfish partykräftskiva
Boiled crayfish, snaps and paper lanterns at a late-summer party in Sweden and FinlandTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇽 Tijuana, Mexico and 1 moreBirria
A rich, seasoned meat stew from western Mexico, cooked for gatherings and holidaysTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreChallahחַלָּה
A braided Jewish bread, blessed and shared at Shabbat and holiday tablesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 2 moreSmorgasbordsmörgåsbord
A Swedish table of hot and cold dishes where guests serve themselvesTable custom · Lunch
🇨🇳 Guangzhou, China and 1 moreDim sum點心 (traditional Chinese), 点心 (simplified Chinese)
Small dishes shared with tea, eaten as brunch in Cantonese teahouses and restaurantsTable custom · Breakfast
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanJapanese tea ceremony茶道 (Sadō / Chadō), 茶の湯 (Chanoyu)
The formal serving of powdered matcha, shaped by Zen, Shinto and wabiTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreRussian tea culture
The everyday cup of Russia, brewed strong and diluted to taste, with jam and sweetsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇷🇴 Romania and 2 morePlăcintă
A traditional thin, filled pastry baked across Romania, Moldova, and parts of Ukraine.Table custom · Sweets given and shared
🇹🇷 Turkey and 5 moreCoffee culture
The habits and etiquette of drinking coffee, and the cafés built around itTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇳 Palani, IndiaPanchamritaपञ्चामृत (Sanskrit); பஞ்சாமிர்தம் (Tamil)
Five sacred foods mixed and poured over temple images in Hindu and Jain worshipSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇯🇲 JamaicaItal
A Rastafari way of eating: food from the earth, kept to raise livityTable custom
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Korovai: Olli Niemitalo, CC0, source
- Zakuski: Timothy Post, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Yum cha: Infomofo, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Lūʻau: Ralawami, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tailgate party: Ben Vardi, Public domain, source
- Asado: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Rijsttafel: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Clambake: inuyaki.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Licitar: Seanpu1, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pyebaek: halfGoku, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Turkish tea culture: henribergius, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Fanesca: Agencia de Noticias ANDES, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Viennese coffee house culture: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Samanu: Myone63, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bento: Blue Lotus, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tumpeng: brother-harahap, CC BY 2.0, source
- Beshbarmak: NataAllice, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Korean tea ceremony: Mai-Linh Doan, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
- Potluck: Mack Male, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tereré: Genialnico, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Suhur: Hussein Alazaat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ital: Chrysaora, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Christmas dinner: Austin McGee, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia: Javinaselli, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eid il-Burbara: Durziil89, CC0, source
- Galway International Oyster Festival: Thoslee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mawlid in Algeria: Hammiche Hakim, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maltese Carnival: Ronny Siegel, CC BY 3.0, source
- Jul: Erik Christensen, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Julebord: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dongzhi: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bonalu: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pchum Ben: Saphabodi, CC0, source
- Święconka: Błażej Benisz, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Lammas: Paddy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sinterklaas: R.F. (Roel) Jorna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Crayfish party: Holger.Ellgaard, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Birria: Equipo 9mkt, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
- Smorgasbord: Jordan Klein, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dim sum: Kolumbusjogger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Japanese tea ceremony: Photograph taken by Stephane D'Alu ( en:User:Sdalu ) in April 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Russian tea culture: Boris Kustodiev, Public domain, source
- Plăcintă: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Coffee culture: The original uploader was Hajor at English Wikipedia ., CC BY 3.0 br, source
- Panchamrita: Skubydoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source