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
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDol Purnima
A Hindu spring festival honouring Radha and Krishna with swing processions and colourFestival
🇮🇩 IndonesiaGalungan
A Balinese Hindu festival welcoming ancestral spirits and honouring good over evilSpiritual
🇦🇱 Elbasan, Albania and 3 moreDita e Verës
An Albanian spring festival of bonfires, sweets and nature renewal on March 14Seasonal
🇪🇬 Cairo, EgyptSham Ennessimشم النسيم
An Egyptian spring festival of picnics, salted fish, green onions and painted eggsSeasonal
🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaDurbar festival
An equestrian gathering marking Muslim holidays across northern Nigerian emiratesFestival
🇨🇦 Canada and 5 moreTartan DayLà an Tartain
An annual celebration of Scottish culture, clan tartans, and diaspora heritageFestival
🇮🇳 Kolkata, IndiaDurga Puja in Kolkataকলকাতার দুর্গাপূজা
The grand annual autumn festival honouring the mother goddess Durga across KolkataSpiritual
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBohag Bihu
A multi-day Assamese New Year festival of cattle rites, music, gifts and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Sambalpur, IndiaNuakhai
An agricultural festival in Western Odisha welcoming the first rice of the seasonSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇰🇷 South KoreaNorigae노리개
A Korean pendant of knots and tassels, worn with hanbok and kept for luckDress
🇮🇳 Kohima, IndiaHornbill Festival
A ten-day December gathering of Nagaland's ethnic groups, held at Kisama near KohimaFestival
🇮🇳 Puri, IndiaRajaRaja Parba (Odia: ରଜ ପର୍ବ)
A three-day festival of womanhood and earth in Odisha, celebrating the monsoon and fertility.Festival
🇨🇳 Lhasa, China and 2 moreSho Dun Festivalཞོ་སྟོན། (Tibetan), 雪頓節 (Chinese)
A summer festival in Lhasa where a monks' retreat ends with yogurt and all-day operaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaEsala Perahera
A Sri Lankan procession of sacred relics, drummers and elephants honouring the BuddhaSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaAyudha Pujaआयुध पूजा
A Hindu festival blessing the tools, vehicles, books and instruments of daily workSpiritual
🇮🇳 Cuttack, IndiaBali Jatraବାଲିଯାତ୍ରା
An Odia festival and vast open fair commemorating ancient voyages across the seaFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaParyushana
An annual Jain holy period of intense fasting, reflection, and asking for forgivenessSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇪 Tbilisi, GeorgiaTbilisobaთბილისობა
An annual October festival celebrating the culture, harvest, and history of TbilisiFestival
🇨🇦 CanadaThanksgivingAction de grâce
An annual Canadian autumn holiday celebrating the harvest with family feastsFestival · Dinner
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesNational Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation
An annual White House ceremony in which the American president spares a holiday turkey.Ceremony
🇹🇳 Douz, TunisiaInternational Festival of the Sahara
A four-day gathering celebrating desert life, horse racing and poetry in Douz, TunisiaFestival
🇸🇿 Ludzidzini, EswatiniIncwala
The national kingship and first-fruits ritual of Eswatini, held at the summer solsticeCeremony · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇭 Cape Coast, GhanaFetu Afahye
A harvest festival of cleansing, boat races and royal durbars in Cape Coast, GhanaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇦🇺 AustraliaWalkabout
A rite of passage involving travel through the Australian landscape to learn ancestral lore.Rite of passage
🇵🇭 Kalibo, PhilippinesAti-Atihan
A week of drumbeats, street dancing, and devotion to the Infant Jesus in AklanFestival
🇮🇳 Chidambaram, India and 1 moreThiruvathira
A Hindu festival celebrating Shiva's cosmic dance, observed in Tamil Nadu and Kerala with fasting, processions, and dancFestival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreHandfastingceangal na lámh (Irish); pòsadh-bliadhna (Scottish Gaelic)
A couple's promise made with joined or bound hands, kept from betrothal to weddingRite of passage
🇳🇬 Lagos, NigeriaEyo FestivalAdamu Orisha Play
A Yoruba masquerade procession honouring departed leaders and royalty in LagosFestival
🇬🇭 Akropong, GhanaOdwira Festival
An annual harvest and purification festival celebrated by the Akuapem in GhanaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇭 Kumasi, GhanaAkwasidae Festival
A Sunday gathering of the Ashanti people to honour ancestors and the kingSpiritual
🇬🇭 Odumase Krobo, GhanaDipo
An annual Ghanaian coming-of-age ceremony welcoming Krobo girls into womanhoodRite of passage
🇨🇲 Douala, CameroonNgondo
An annual coastal water festival celebrated by the Sawa people in CameroonFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaMagh Bihu
A harvest festival of bonfires, feasts and winter games in AssamSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 NigeriaIgbo New Yam FestivalIri ji
A harvest thanksgiving and feast marking the first yam crop among the Igbo of NigeriaSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇿 Bukhara, UzbekistanNavruzNavroʻz
The spring equinox festival celebrated across Uzbekistan with sumalak and family visits.Seasonal · Sweets given and shared
🇵🇭 Baguio, PhilippinesPanagbenga Festival
A month-long flower festival and parade in the mountain city of BaguioFestival
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaAmbubachi Melaঅম্বুবাচী মেলা
An annual gathering at Kamakhya Temple marking the earth's seasonal fertility.Spiritual
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreWangala
A post-harvest thanksgiving festival of drums, dance and song among the Garo peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇩 IndonesiaSlametan
A short communal meal on Java where neighbours share food, prayer and a wish for peaceSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 Oyo, Nigeria and 3 moreSango Festival
An annual Yoruba gathering in Nigeria honoring the deity of thunder and lightningFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaSekatenꦱꦼꦏꦠꦺꦤ꧀
A week-long Javanese royal festival and market honouring the birth of the ProphetFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomSwan Upping
An annual five-day royal census and health check of swans along the River ThamesCeremony
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreGawai DayakAri Gawai
An annual harvest and thanksgiving festival of the Dayak peoples in BorneoSeasonal
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreRéveillon
A luxurious late-night feast that stretches until dawn across the winter holidaysTable custom · Dinner
🇮🇩 IndonesiaBau Nyale
An annual night-time gathering on Lombok to collect spawning sea worms from the shoreFestival
🇪🇸 Valencia, SpainCremà
The ceremonial burning of large artistic street monuments across the Valencian communityFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaGaye holudগায়ে হলুদ
A Bengali pre-wedding ceremony where turmeric paste is applied to the bride and groomRite of passage
🇷🇴 RomaniaSorcova
Children tap people with a flowered twig on New Year's morning, wishing health and luckSeasonal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation: Trump White House Archived, Public domain, source
- Dol Purnima: Satyabrata sahoo369, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fetu Afahye: Kofiarkohbaidoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Incwala: iulian circo, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Dita e Verës: Bibiomn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Galungan: Davidelit, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sham Ennessim: Ikonact, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Durbar festival: Omotayo Tajudeen, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Odwira Festival: Duncanoff, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sekaten: Kembangraps, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gawai Dayak: Zahirulnukman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tartan Day: daniel2177, CC BY 2.0, source
- Cremà: Paula Ramírez Morant, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Akwasidae Festival: Nkansahrexford, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Durga Puja in Kolkata: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Dipo: FatawuY1, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ati-Atihan: Bernardo "Berniemack" Arellano III, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bohag Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nuakhai: Mamata Padhi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ngondo: Photokadaffi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magh Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Thiruvathira: Kalakki at Malayalam Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, source
- Norigae: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Handfasting: Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- New Yam Festival: Adimora chidinma, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hornbill Festival: Vikramjit Kakati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Raja: Saroj Bal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Navruz: dalbera, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sorcova: The original uploader was Alex:D at Romanian Wikipedia ., Public domain, source
- Swan Upping: Philip Allfrey, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bau Nyale: Focusfeel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Panagbenga Festival: lolay, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ambubachi Mela: Kunal Dalui, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sho Dun Festival: No machine-readable author provided. John Hill assumed (based on copyr, CC BY 2.5, source
- Esala Perahera: Ashan96, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eyo Festival: Slashme, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ayudha Puja: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gaye holud: Arr4, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Slametan: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bali Jatra: Kamalakanta777, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Paryushana: Aayush18, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tbilisoba: DDohler, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sango Festival: Demola Ajayi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Lars Plougmann, CC BY-SA 2.0, source