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
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreMartin Luther King Jr. Day
An American federal holiday honouring the civil rights leader with service and remembranceCeremony
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreRite of passage
A ceremony that marks leaving one group and entering another, with a new statusRite of passage
🇩🇪 Hamburg, Germany and 2 moreAdvent wreathAdventskranz
An evergreen ring of candles lit week by week in the lead-up to ChristmasSeasonal
🇷🇺 Kazan, Russia and 2 moreSabantuyСабан туе
A Tatar summer festival of wrestling, horse races and village contestsFestival
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 4 moreSaint Lucy's Day
A December festival of light and song held across Scandinavia and Italy to honour a Christian martyr.Festival · Breakfast
🇮🇳 Amritsar, India and 2 moreVaisakhi
A spring harvest and new year festival kept across India and Pakistan by Hindus and Sikhs.Festival
🇰🇵 Pyongyang, North Korea and 3 moreNaengmyeon냉면
Long buckwheat noodles in icy broth, born in North Korea and eaten most in summerTable custom · Dinner
🇮🇳 India and 6 moreMakar Sankrantiमकरसङ्क्रान्ति
The Sun's northward turn, kept on 14 January with kites, fairs and river bathsSpiritual
🇧🇹 Bhutan and 4 moreLosarལོ་གསར་
The Tibetan Buddhist New Year festival of renewal, offerings, and family feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, NetherlandsKing's DayKoningsdag
A Dutch national holiday celebrating the monarch's birthday with street markets and orange attire.Festival
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreDefender of the Fatherland DayДень защитника Отечества
A national holiday honouring military service and male relatives, observed across several post-Soviet states.Festival
🇹🇭 Chiang Mai, Thailand and 5 moreLoy Krathongลอยกระทง
A Thai festival of floating leaf baskets on rivers to honor water and release negativity.Festival
🇲🇳 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and 1 moreNaadamнаадам
A midsummer festival of wrestling, horse racing, and archery kept by Mongols in Mongolia and neighboring regions.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 China and 7 moreGhost Festival中元節 / 中元节 (Zhōngyuán jié)
A full-moon night in the seventh lunar month for feeding ghosts and guiding souls homeSpiritual
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreKupala Night
A summer solstice folk festival marked by bonfires, water rituals and herbal gatherings across Eastern Europe.Festival
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreQixi Festival七夕
A Chinese night of romance, needlecraft wishes and stargazing for two mythic loversFestival
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreFat Thursday
A Thursday before Lent when doughnuts, grilled meat and Carnival take overFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 Fukuoka, Japan and 4 moreWhite Dayホワイトデー
A day on 14 March when men give a return gift to the women who gave them chocolateFestival
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 morePohela Boishakhপহেলা বৈশাখ
The Bengali New Year festival marking the spring harvest and the start of the agricultural year.Festival
🇧🇪 Belgium and 5 moreSaint Nicholas Day
The feast day of Saint Nicholas, kept in Advent with gifts, shoes and church servicesSpiritual
🇰🇷 Jeju, South KoreaHaenyeo해녀
Female free-divers of Jeju Island who harvest seafood from the ocean.Table custom
🇳🇴 Oslo, Norway and 3 moreConstitution DaySyttende mai
A national public holiday in Norway marked by children's parades, flags, and traditional food.Festival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreWake
A gathering before a funeral, where family and friends keep watch over the deadRite of passage
🇮🇳 Puri, India and 4 moreRatha Yatra
An annual Hindu festival where deities travel through the streets in towering carriagesFestival
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelPassover Sederסדר פסח
A ritual meal opening Passover, told over wine, matzah and symbolic foodsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇾🇪 Mokha, Yemen and 7 moreArabic coffeeqahwa (Arabic: قهوة)
A bitter, spiced brew served as a gesture of hospitality across the Arab world.Table custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreSamaSema (Turkish); سَماع (Persian)
A Sufi rite of listening, music and turning, kept by Mevlevi and other Sufi ordersSpiritual
🇸🇪 Stockholm, SwedenNational Day of SwedenSveriges nationaldag
A public holiday on 6 June marking the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523.Ceremony
🇬🇷 Athens, Greece and 1 moreOhi DayΕπέτειος του Όχι
A Greek national holiday on October 28 that marks the refusal of an Italian ultimatum in 1940.Ceremony
🇫🇷 FranceFest nozfest noz (pl. festoù noz)
A Breton night festival of group dancing and live acoustic music, kept in Brittany and its diaspora.Festival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇺🇸 United StatesLabor Day
A national American holiday honouring the working class with parades and picnicsCeremony
🇮🇷 Isfahan, Iran and 4 moreChaharshanbe Suriچهارشنبهسوری
An Iranian festival of fire and renewal celebrated on the eve of the final Wednesday before spring.Festival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇵🇪 Cusco, Peru and 2 moreInti Raymi
A major Andean festival honoring the sun god Inti and marking the winter solstice in Cusco.Festival
🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia and 6 moreArmenian Genocide Remembrance DayՄեծ Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր
An annual day of mourning and remembrance for the victims of the 1915 Armenian Genocide.Spiritual
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 14 morePysankaписанка
A wax-resist egg decorating tradition kept by Slavic communities for Easter and spring renewal.Festival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 6 moreSaint Stephen's Day
A Christian feast day celebrating the first martyr with feasts, rides and folk customs.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇸 SerbiaSlavaСлава
An annual Serbian family feast honouring their patron saint with blessed bread and wineSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyPalio di SienaIl Palio
A bareback horse race held twice a year in Siena's Piazza del Campo, representing the city's historic wards.Festival
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 1 moreNaga Panchamiनागपञ्चमी (Nāgapañcamī)
A day of worship for serpent deities and cobras, observed by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists across South Asia.Spiritual
🇯🇵 Sapporo, JapanSapporo Snow Festival札幌雪祭り (Sapporo Yuki-matsuri)
A week-long winter festival in Sapporo featuring hundreds of large snow and ice sculptures.Festival
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 5 moreBloomsdayLá Bloom
A celebration of James Joyce and his novel Ulysses, observed on 16 June in Dublin and worldwide.Festival · Breakfast
🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreVidovdanВидовдан
A Serbian church feast on 28 June, kept in memory of those who died at KosovoSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreUgadiఉగాది
A South Indian New Year feast celebrating life with sweet, sour, and bitter tastesSeasonal
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyFerragosto
A public holiday on 15 August marking the Assumption of Mary and the traditional start of the Italian summer break.Festival · Lunch
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreMichaelmas
A Christian festival honouring the archangels, marked by autumn harvest foods and legal terms in the British Isles.Festival · Dinner
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 4 moreMay Day
A traditional European festival welcoming summer with greenery, dances and bonfiresSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShichi-Go-San七五三
A Japanese festival celebrating the growth of three-year-old girls, five-year-old boys, and seven-year-old girls.Rite of passage
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreJoik
A Sámi song that evokes a person, animal or place instead of telling about themPerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sama: myself, Public domain, source
- Inti Raymi: Cyntia Motta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint Lucy's Day: Fredrik Magnusson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Losar: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Slava: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vaisakhi: Michael Clark, CC BY 2.0, source
- King's Day: Carmelrmd, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Loy Krathong: John Shedrick, CC BY 2.0, source
- Defender of the Fatherland Day: И. Мартынов, Public domain, source
- Kupala Night: Ivan Sokolov, Public domain, source
- National Day of Sweden: Bengt Nyman, CC BY 2.0, source
- Pohela Boishakh: Abidhasan00, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day: This photo was made by Hayordi . Այս լուսանկարի հեղինակը Հայորդին է :, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Palio di Siena: Mirco, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Michaelmas: Julian P Guffogg, CC BY 2.0, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ratha Yatra: G.-U. Tolkiehn, CC BY 2.5, source
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day: O. Fernandez, New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer, Public domain, source
- Qixi Festival: shizhao ( talk )拍摄，画者不明, Public domain, source
- Naga Panchami: No machine-readable author provided. Krish Dulal assumed (based on cop, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sapporo Snow Festival: Materialscientist, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shichi-Go-San: Bergmann at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ohi Day: Tigroinikos, CC BY 2.5, source
- Fat Thursday: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- White Day: Flickr user mersy ( Masashi Yanagiya), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Saint Nicholas Day: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, source
- Passover Seder: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Fest noz: Man vyi, Public domain, source
- Haenyeo: Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Naengmyeon: wjlee4284, CC BY 2.5, source
- Arabic coffee: Canbel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pysanka: Lubap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Naadam: Chongkian, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bloomsday: No machine-readable author provided. Flapdragon assumed (based on copy, Public domain, source
- Labor Day: Author not known, but more than 100 years old, Image edited, Public domain, source
- Constitution Day: evelinagustafsson@live.se, Public domain, source
- Chaharshanbe Suri: Philippe Giabbanelli, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ghost Festival: Chong Fat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vidovdan: Радосав Стојановић at Serbian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Saint Stephen's Day: Carlo Crivelli, Public domain, source
- Ugadi: Kalyan Kanuri, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rite of passage: Rogier van der Weyden, Public domain, source
- Wake: Julio Romero de Torres, Public domain, source
- Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Advent wreath: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY 4.0, source
- Sabantuy: Якупов Рамиль, CC BY 3.0, source
- Makar Sankranti: Saloni Desai, CC BY-SA 2.0, source