All traditions
2,350 traditions so far, best known first. 12,186 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
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, NetherlandsKoningsmantel
The Dutch royal cloak of red velvet and ermine, brought out when a monarch is sworn inDress
🇬🇷 GreeceKalanta ChristougenonΚάλαντα Χριστουγέννων
A Greek Christmas carol, sung around the feast with triangle and guitarPerformance
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreBliaut
A fitted medieval overgarment with trailing sleeves, worn in France and nearby landsDress
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 2 moreFeast of Saint MarkFesta di san Marco
Saint Mark's day on 25 April, kept with rosebuds in Venice and harvest care in LithuaniaSpiritual
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreFlabiol
A Catalan woodwind flute played alongside a small drum in folk dancesPerformance
🇪🇪 Kuremaa, EstoniaJõgevatreff
An annual international motorcycle festival held in Kuremaa, EstoniaFestival
🇨🇿 Prague, CzechiaPrague SoundsStruny podzimu
An annual music festival in Prague presenting jazz, classical and electronic artistsFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomStirrup cup
A farewell drink served to guests as they depart, often while mounting a horse.Etiquette
🇭🇷 Hvar, CroatiaZa križen
A night procession on Hvar island where six villages walk simultaneously to honor the cross.Spiritual
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 1 moreMarriage vows
The promises a couple speak to each other as they marryRite of passage
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreĐurđevdanЂурђевдан
A spring festival and feast of Saint George kept across the Balkans and Eastern EuropeFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇹 Lisbon, PortugalGraça Procession of the Lord of the PassionProcissão do Senhor dos Passos da Graça
Lisbon's Lenten walk of seven Passion stops, kept every year since 1587Spiritual
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 2 moreOchipokочіпок
The embroidered cap a Ukrainian bride put on at her wedding and kept afterwardsDress
🇬🇧 United KingdomBean-nighe
A Scottish spirit of the streams who washes shrouds to foretell deathFolklore
🇬🇷 GreeceTablionταβλίον
An embroidered panel on the ceremonial mantle of Byzantine courtiers.Dress
🇩🇰 Copenhagen, DenmarkNatFilm Festival
An annual Danish cinema gathering held around Easter from 1990 to 2008Performance
🇫🇷 Lyon, France and 2 moreWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity
An eight-day international period of shared prayer for reconciliation among churchesSpiritual
🇦🇹 Tyrol, AustriaLoden capeLodenmantel
A rain-shedding wool overcoat from Tyrol, part of the region's TrachtDress
🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain and 4 moreFeast of Saint Isidore the LaborerFiestas de San Isidro Labrador
A May festival honoring the patron saint of farmers, marked by processions and harvest gratitude in Spain and former colFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇱 Poland and 1 moreDelia
A fur-trimmed outer coat worn by nobility in the Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthDress
🇪🇪 Kuressaare, EstoniaSaaremaa Opera FestivalSaaremaa ooperipäevad
An annual opera festival in Kuressaare, Estonia, featuring international performances.Performance
🇩🇪 Weingarten, Germany and 1 moreBlutritt
An equestrian pilgrimage across southern Germany honoring a relic of the Holy BloodSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomMoragMòrag
A loch monster said to live in Loch Morar, Scotland, reported since 1887Folklore
🇪🇪 Tartu, EstoniaTartuff
An open-air romance film festival held in the town hall square of Tartu, EstoniaPerformance
🇮🇹 Benevento, ItalyWitches of Benevento
A southern Italian tradition of walnut-tree gatherings and protective folk charmsFolklore
🇩🇪 Munich, GermanyO'zapft is!
The civic barrel-tapping ceremony that officially launches Munich's OktoberfestCeremony · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇲🇰 Bitola, North MacedoniaManaki Brothers Film Festival
An annual international festival in Bitola honouring the craft of cinematographyFestival
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreGeorge's Day in AutumnЕгорий Осенний (Yegoriy Osenniy), Юрьев день (Yuriev den); Serbian: Ђурђиц (Đurđic)
The autumn feast of Saint George, kept at harvest's end in Slavic landsFestival
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 morePapakha
A sheepskin hat of the Caucasus, worn by highland men and by army regimentsDress
🇫🇷 Paris, FranceParis CarnivalCarnaval de Paris
An annual street celebration and costume procession across ParisFestival
🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain and 2 morePeineta
A curved decorative comb worn by women beneath a lace mantilla in the Hispanic worldDress
🇧🇬 BulgariaSurvakaneСурвакане
A Bulgarian New Year ritual where children tap family members with decorated branches to wish them health and prosperityFestival
🇮🇹 Palermo, ItalyFeast of Saint RosaliaFestino di Santa Rosalia
An annual July festival in Palermo honouring the patron saint who ended the plague.Festival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreScottish folk music
Traditional ballads, fiddle tunes and bagpipe melodies from Scotland and its diasporaPerformance
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Broad
A Cotswold Christmas figure: a bull's head on a pole, carried by a hidden performerFolklore
🇨🇿 CzechiaName days in the Czech RepublicSvátek
A daily custom where people celebrate on the calendar date assigned to their given name.Seasonal
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreTsiknopemptiΤσικνοπέμπτη
A Greek Carnival feast of grilled meats held on the second to last Thursday before Lent.Festival · Dinner
🇬🇷 Athens, GreecePeplosπέπλος
A draped woolen tunic worn by women in ancient Greece, central to Athenian religious festivals.Dress
🇮🇹 ItalyDies lustricus
An ancient Roman naming ceremony where a newborn was purified and given their first name.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇹 Vilnius, LithuaniaLithuania Independence Restoration Day
A Lithuanian national holiday on 11 March celebrating the 1990 return of sovereign ruleCeremony
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 2 moreBaltic Pride
An annual Baltic festival and human rights march rotating between Riga, Tallinn, and VilniusFestival
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaRiga Salsa Festival
An annual salsa dance festival in Riga, Latvia, featuring workshops and live performances.Performance
🇽🇰 Pristina, KosovoDAM Festival Pristina
An annual gathering in Pristina showcasing emerging classical and contemporary musiciansPerformance
🇽🇰 Vushtrri, Kosovo and 1 moreGatherings of Poetesses in VushtrriTakimet e Poeteshave në Vushtrri
An annual literary festival celebrating female poets in Vushtrri, KosovoPerformance
🇬🇧 United KingdomChurch parade
A formal military procession held to attend a religious serviceCeremony
🇫🇷 Cayenne, FranceCarnival of French Guiana
A weeks-long carnival of masked balls and parades, from Epiphany to Mardi GrasFestival
🇲🇰 Skopje, North MacedoniaAnother Story FestivalДруга приказна
An annual literary festival in Skopje celebrating short fiction, activism, and diverse voices.Festival
🇲🇹 Valletta, MaltaMużika Mużika
A national song competition in Malta that selects artists for the Eurovision contest and celebrates Maltese music.Performance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Koningsmantel: Thérèse Schwartze, Public domain, source
- Bliaut: Edmund Blair Leighton, Public domain, source
- Feast of Saint Mark: No machine-readable author provided. Cremedia assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Flabiol: P0mbal, CC0, source
- Jõgevatreff: Aleksei Malogin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Marriage vows: Tumi-1983, Public domain, source
- Za križen: E.mil.mil, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Đurđevdan: Anonymous Russian icon painter (before 1917) Public domain image (acco, Public domain, source
- Graça Procession of the Lord of the Passion: Franciscomendia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ochipok: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Tablion: Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Loden cape: KingaNBM, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: Kaihsu Tai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of Saint Isidore the Laborer: Ángel Lizcano Monedero, Public domain, source
- Saaremaa Opera Festival: Ave Maria Mõistlik, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Blutritt: Joseph Bayer, Public domain, source
- Tartuff: Tusklikupreili, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Witches of Benevento: Guglielmo della Porta, CC0, source
- O'zapft is!: Michael Lucan, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Manaki Brothers Film Festival: US Embassy, Macedonia, Public domain, source
- George's Day in Autumn: Sergey Ivanov, Public domain, source
- Papakha: Russian school Unknown artist Unknown artist, Public domain, source
- Paris Carnival: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Peineta: Hiart, CC0, source
- Feast of Saint Rosalia: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Scottish folk music: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tsiknopempti: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Peplos: No machine-readable author provided. Harrieta171 assumed (based on cop, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lithuania Independence Restoration Day: Lithuania Post Office / Scanned and processed by Vizu, Public domain, source
- Baltic Pride: IDAHOT, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- DAM Festival Pristina: Lyra Cela, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gatherings of Poetesses in Vushtrri: Drenisa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Church parade: Boris Kustodiev, Public domain, source
- Carnival of French Guiana: Didwin973, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Another Story Festival: Vancho Dzambaski, CC0, source