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
🇫🇷 Paris, France and 3 moreFête de la Musique
An annual celebration where people play music in public spaces on the summer solstice.Festival
🇧🇴 Oruro, Bolivia and 3 moreMorenada
A Bolivian folk dance featuring heavy masks and rattling instruments, performed in festivals across the Andes.Performance
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreStammtisch
A weekly gathering of regulars at a reserved table in a pub or restaurant for conversation and community.Etiquette
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreName day
A calendar tradition where people celebrate the feast day of the saint after whom they are named.Festival
🇮🇩 Bali, Indonesia and 1 moreLegonglégong
A refined Balinese dance of intricate finger movements and expressive gestures, kept in Indonesia.Performance
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreShadow play
A storytelling art using flat puppets and light to cast moving silhouettes on a screen.Performance
🇧🇯 Ouidah, BeninVodun DaysFête du Vodoun
A Benin public holiday on January 10 honoring the Vodoun religion with rituals and community gatherings.Festival
🇲🇽 Huamantla, Mexico and 4 moreSawdust carpettapete de aserrín
Colored sawdust designs laid on streets to greet religious processions in Latin America and beyond.Festival
🇮🇱 Tiberias, Israel and 2 moreYahrzeitיאָרצײַט (yortsayt)
A Jewish death anniversary marked by prayer and a burning candle to honour the departed.Rite of passage
🇪🇪 EstoniaJaanipäev
An Estonian midsummer festival marking the shortest night with bonfires, songs and independence memories.Festival
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreButter lampདཀར་མེ (Tibetan)
A lit candle made from clarified yak butter, kept in Tibetan Buddhist temples to aid meditation and symbolize enlightenmSpiritual
🇹🇿 Zanzibar, Tanzania and 1 moreNgalawa
A traditional double-outrigger sailing canoe of the Swahili coastCraft
🇳🇿 Wellington, New ZealandKa Mate
A Māori haka of life and survival, composed by Te Rauparaha and performed by New Zealand teams.Performance
🇷🇺 Tula, Russia and 3 moreSamovarсамовар
A heated urn that brews tea for a slow, sociable pour, from Russia to Iran and KashmirTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreApple bobbing
A Halloween game where players try to catch floating apples with their teeth.Game
🇦🇷 Santiago del Estero, Argentina and 1 moreChacarera
A partner dance and folk music genre from Argentina's north-west, known for its distinctive rhythm and courtship steps.Performance
🇯🇵 JapanNemawashi根回し
The Japanese practice of building quiet consensus before an official decisionEtiquette
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPanchavadyamപഞ്ചവാദ്യം
A Kerala temple orchestra of five instruments that builds rhythm from slow to fast over two hoursPerformance
🇮🇩 IndonesiaPasola
A ritual horseback spear contest in western Sumba marking the rice-planting seasonGame
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreMani stone
Inscribed stones placed along trails in Tibetan Buddhist regions as devotional offerings.Spiritual
🇰🇷 South Korea and 2 moreNajeonchilgi나전칠기
A Korean craft of inlaying mother-of-pearl onto lacquered wood to create decorative objects.Craft
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 2 moreMezuzahמְזוּזָה (mezuzah)
A parchment scroll with Hebrew verses placed in a case on the doorposts of Jewish homes.Spiritual
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 5 moreMoko Jumbie
A stilt-walking tradition from the Caribbean that blends African heritage with local carnival celebrations.Performance
🇬🇷 GreeceXeniaξενία (xenia)
An ancient Greek code of hospitality and guest-friendship rooted in reciprocity and divine duty.Etiquette
🇵🇭 PhilippinesCariñosa
A Philippine folk dance of colonial origin where a couple uses a fan and handkerchief to enact a playful romance.Performance
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan and 1 moreArmudu tea glassArmudu stəkan
A pear-shaped glass used in Azerbaijan to serve and drink black tea.Table custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇧🇲 BermudaBermuda kite
Flying bright geometric kites on Good Friday across Bermuda to mark EasterCraft
🇵🇱 Poland and 2 morePolonaisePolonez
A traditional Polish partner dance in triple metre, kept as a national custom and UNESCO heritage.Performance
🇮🇪 Waterford, IrelandPatternpátrún
A parish feast honoring a patron saint, marked by prayers at holy wells and local gatherings in Ireland.Spiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaDhokra
A lost-wax metal casting craft kept by tribal artisans in eastern and central India for over four millennia.Craft
🇵🇭 Manila, Philippines and 5 moreNovena
A nine-day Christian prayer tradition for petitions, feasts, or mourning.Spiritual
🇯🇵 JapanOmamori御守 (omamori)
Japanese protective amulets sold at shrines and temples for luck and safety.Spiritual
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaGeorgian danceქართული ცეკვა
Martial, courtship, and celebratory regional dances from across GeorgiaPerformance
🇵🇸 Jerusalem, Palestine and 2 moreStations of the CrossVia Crucis
A Christian prayer journey following fourteen moments of the Passion of JesusSpiritual
🇨🇻 Cape VerdeFunaná
An accordion and iron-scraper music and couple dance from Cape VerdePerformance
🇿🇼 ZimbabweMhondoro
Territorial guardian spirits and mediums honoured in Zimbabwe for guidance and rainSpiritual
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaThrissur Pooramതൃശ്ശൂര് പൂരം
A grand Kerala temple gathering with elephant pageantry, percussion, and fireworksFestival
🇿🇦 South Africa and 5 moreSouthern African traditional healing
Ancestral divination, herbal muthi, and spiritual care across Southern AfricaSpiritual
🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilRio CarnivalCarnaval do Rio de Janeiro
Five days of samba parades, costumes and street parties in Rio, ending at LentFestival
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 2 moreRushnykрушник
A sacred embroidered cloth used in East Slavic rituals, weddings and daily life.Dress
🇨🇳 Quanzhou, China and 3 moreGlove puppetry布袋戲
A traditional theatre of cloth-bodied puppets with carved wooden heads and live musicPerformance
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaMelasti
A Balinese Hindu purification ritual held at the sea before Nyepi to cleanse sacred objects and people.Spiritual
🇵🇭 Marinduque, PhilippinesMoriones Festival
A Holy Week reenactment in Marinduque where masked participants search for the Roman centurion Longinus.Festival
🇦🇹 Vienna, Austria and 3 moreLändler
A three-quarter time partner dance from the Alpine region, known for hopping steps and yodeling.Performance
🇧🇷 BrazilBaião
A syncopated folk rhythm and partnered dance from northeastern BrazilPerformance
🇲🇺 Mauritius and 3 moreSegaséga
A music and dance tradition from Mauritius and Réunion with Afro-Malagasy roots.Performance
🇬🇱 Greenland and 3 moreDog sledding
An Arctic tradition of navigating snow and ice behind working dog teamsCraft
🇵🇭 Cebu, PhilippinesBatok
Indigenous Filipino tattooing, once worn as dress, rank and a rite of passageCraft
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Chichilaki: Mostafameraji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fête de la Musique: dalbera, CC BY 2.0, source
- Morenada: Alfredobi, CC BY 3.0, source
- Stammtisch: Nixalsverdruss, Public domain, source
- Name day: Sendker, Public domain, source
- Legong: P. (Paul) Spies (Fotograaf/photographer)., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shadow play: Museu Valencià d'Etnologia, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Vodun Days: Eureka9090, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sawdust carpet: Rosalba Muñoz RomeroLia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yahrzeit: Elipongo, Public domain, source
- Butter lamp: Chris Fynn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ngalawa: Zenith4237, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ka Mate: Alasdair Massie, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Samovar: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Apple bobbing: Caleb Zahnd, CC BY 2.0, source
- Chacarera: Pflatau, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Panchavadyam: Mahesh K, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pasola: Fakhri Anindita, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mani stone: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Najeonchilgi: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Mezuzah: Adrian Grycuk, CC BY-SA 3.0 pl, source
- Moko Jumbie: COD Newsroom, CC BY 2.0, source
- Xenia: Workshop of Peter Paul Rubens, Public domain, source
- Cariñosa: Markytour777, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Armudu tea glass: Interfase, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bermuda kite: Aodhdubh ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Polonaise: Korneli Szlegel, Public domain, source
- Pattern: code poet, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Dhokra: Sushilsakhuja, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Novena: Catedrales e Iglesias/Cathedrals and Churches, CC BY 2.0, source
- Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
- Stations of the Cross: Tango7174, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Funaná: Xandu, Public domain, source
- Thrissur Pooram: Rameshng, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Southern African traditional healing: Wizzy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rio Carnival: Sergio Luiz, CC BY 2.0, source
- Rushnyk: Pavlo Boyko, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Glove puppetry: Taman Renyah, CC0, source
- Melasti: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Moriones Festival: EMMAN A. FORONDA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ländler: Emil Rau, Public domain, source
- Sega: HelenOnline, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Batok: Lee, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dog sledding: chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source