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
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The three-day Thai New Year festival marked by water rituals and blessings for eldersFestival
🇳🇬 Kano, NigeriaKofar Mata Dye Pits
Hand-dyed indigo cloth from centuries-old earthen pits in the heart of KanoCraft
🇨🇦 Canada and 2 moreMummering
A festive midwinter custom of disguised visits, music and playful guessing gamesFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineVertepвертеп
A two-tiered Ukrainian puppet theatre that mixes the nativity story with satirical comedy and folk music.Performance
🇵🇭 Bacolod, PhilippinesMassKara FestivalPista sang MassKara
A street festival of smiling masks, parades and music in Bacolod, PhilippinesFestival
🇱🇰 Sri LankaPoya
A monthly full moon Buddhist holiday of observance and fasting in Sri LankaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇽 Mexico City, MexicoMexican Revolution DayDía de la Revolución Mexicana
A Mexican civic holiday marking the 1910 uprising with parades and public ceremoniesCeremony
🇮🇹 Florence, ItalyScoppio del Carro
An Easter Sunday fireworks display ignited by a flying dove in FlorenceFestival
🇯🇵 JapanHigan彼岸
A Japanese Buddhist week of reflection and ancestor remembrance at the equinoxesSpiritual
🇲🇽 Puebla, Mexico and 1 moreCinco de Mayo
May 5 observance honoring the 1862 Mexican victory over French troops near Puebla.Ceremony
🇯🇵 Osaka, JapanTenjin Matsuri天神祭
A major Shinto festival in Osaka featuring a street procession and a river boat parade on the Okawa River.Festival
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanSanja Matsuri三社祭
A loud three-day Shinto festival in Tokyo honoring the founders of Sensō-ji temple.Festival
🇺🇸 Washington, United StatesUnited States presidential inauguration
The formal swearing-in ceremony and celebrations for a new United States presidentCeremony
🇰🇷 South KoreaGimjang김장
Korea's late-autumn work of making enough kimchi to last the winterTable custom
🇯🇵 Chichibu, JapanChichibu Night Festival秩父夜祭
A December shrine gathering in Chichibu featuring historic Japanese festival floats.Festival
🇺🇸 Philadelphia, United StatesMummers Parade
An annual New Year's Day street parade in Philadelphia featuring music and costumed clubsFestival
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanGozan no Okuribi五山送り火
Five giant bonfires lit across Kyoto's hills to bid farewell to ancestor spirits.Spiritual
🇦🇹 Salzburg, Austria and 5 morePerchta
A midwinter Alpine figure who checks spinning and tests good behaviourFolklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreCarol service
A Christmas church service of seasonal hymns, scripture readings and candlelightSpiritual
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreBaul traditionবাউল
A Bengali devotional minstrel path uniting mystic poetry, music and dancePerformance
🇯🇵 Japan and 2 moreJoya no Kane除夜の鐘
A Japanese Buddhist New Year's Eve ritual where temple bells are struck to cleanse the year of worldly desires.Spiritual
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomRemembrance Sunday
A day of solemn remembrance for military and civilian service members in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth.Ceremony
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 3 moreObonお盆 (Obon)
A Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of ancestors through dance, light, and family reunion.Festival
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreChapchar KutChapchâr Kût
A spring festival of dance and food kept by the Mizo people in Mizoram, India.Festival
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreThimithiதீமிதி
A South Indian firewalking festival honouring Draupadi Amman before DeepavaliSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaSanjhi
Autumn devotion honoring a mother goddess and sacred floor art of Radha and KrishnaSpiritual
🇮🇳 Ahmedabad, India and 1 moreGarbaगर्भ
A Gujarati circle dance performed around a sacred flame during the festival of NavratriPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaKoodiyattamകൂടിയാട്ടം
An ancient Sanskrit temple drama and dance tradition from Kerala, IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Barsana, IndiaLathmar Holi
A playful spring festival in two Uttar Pradesh towns where women strike men with sticks to reenact a divine legend.Festival
🇮🇳 IndiaGanga Dussehra
A ten-day Hindu river festival celebrating the descent of the Ganges to earthSpiritual
🇲🇲 Yangon, Myanmar and 1 moreShinbyuရှင်ပြု
A Burmese Buddhist rite in which a boy goes forth as a novice monk, often at New YearRite of passage
🇮🇳 Kochi, IndiaVallam Kalivaḷḷaṃ kaḷi
A traditional canoe racing festival held across the waters of Kerala during OnamGame
🇻🇺 VanuatuSand drawingsandroing
One unbroken line drawn in sand with a finger, used to tell stories in VanuatuCraft
🇮🇳 Puri, IndiaNabakalebaraନବ କଳେବର (Navakalevara)
A rare ritual in Puri where the wooden idols of four Hindu deities are replaced with new carvings every twelve to nineteSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaSarhul
A spring new year festival honoring nature and Sal blossoms across JharkhandSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Sambalpur, IndiaSitalsasthiଶୀତଳ ଷଷ୍ଠୀ
A festival in western Odisha re-enacting the divine wedding of Shiva and ParvatiFestival
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 5 moreAll Souls' Day
A Christian observance on 2 November for prayer and remembrance of those who have died.Spiritual
🇬🇧 Abbots Bromley, United KingdomAbbots Bromley Horn Dance
A September folk dance in an English village featuring dancers with reindeer antlers and a hobby horse.Performance
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreTashlikhתשליך
A Jewish new year rite of casting sins into flowing water, kept by the watersideSpiritual
🇨🇳 ChinaMuqamمۇقام
A Uyghur modal system of melody types, and the twelve long cycles built on itPerformance
🇯🇲 Kingston, Jamaica and 5 moreReggae
A Jamaican music of the late 1960s: a slow beat, a deep bass line and Rastafari rootsPerformance
🇭🇷 Konavle, Croatia and 2 moreOjkanje
A throat-shaking style of folk singing from Croatia's Dinaric highlandsPerformance
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 6 moreBoishakhi Melaবৈশাখী মেলা
A Bengali New Year fair in London each May, with a parade, music and food stallsFestival
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreKitenge
A printed cloth tied at the waist or chest, worn as a wrap, head cover or baby slingDress
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreElevenses
A short mid-morning pause for a drink and a small bite, kept in many countriesTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanDaijō-sai大嘗祭
The emperor's once-in-a-reign Shinto rite of thanks for the rice harvestSpiritual
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreGreat LentΜεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή
The forty-day fast before Easter, kept by Eastern Christians as a season of prayerSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 morePentecostπεντηκοστή (pentēkostē)
The Christian feast of the Holy Spirit, kept fifty days after EasterSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Songkran: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, CC BY 3.0, source
- Kofar Mata Dye Pits: Solasly, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mummering: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jerry_curtis/, CC0, source
- Vertep: Микола Василечко, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- MassKara Festival: Ceslou, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mexican Revolution Day: Ute Hagen, CC BY 2.0, source
- Higan: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cinco de Mayo: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Tenjin Matsuri: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, source
- Sanja Matsuri: View_of_mikoshi_from_sensoji_Sanja_Matsuri_2006-2.jpg : * View_of_miko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gimjang: USAG- Humphreys, CC BY 2.0, source
- United States presidential inauguration: The White House, Public domain, source
- Chichibu Night Festival: ちちびあん, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mummers Parade: Tyler McHenry at English Wikipedia ( Original text: Tyler McHenry (Thi, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gozan no Okuribi: J_o, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Perchta: Holger Uwe Schmitt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Baul tradition: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Joya no Kane: Leung Ming Ho (Michael) (MHLeung), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Remembrance Sunday: Philip Stevens, Public domain, source
- Obon: Batholith, Public domain, source
- Chapchar Kut: Ramesh Lalwani, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sanjhi: Veer jindal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Garba: anurag agnihotri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Lathmar Holi: Original: Sachinghai09 Derivative work: Radomianin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Koodiyattam: Sreekanthv at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ganga Dussehra: Barry Silver, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shinbyu: Lionslayer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vallam Kali: Arun Sinha, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sand drawing: PhillipC, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nabakalebara: Jitpattnaikpuri, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sarhul: Gurpreet Singh Ranchi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- All Souls' Day: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Public domain, source
- Abbots Bromley Horn Dance: Caeciliusinhorto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tashlikh: Yaakov Saar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Muqam: Liang Li, CC0, source
- Reggae: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Boishakhi Mela: Ripon Miah, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kitenge: Fanny Schertzer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Elevenses: Sam Hood, Public domain, source
- Daijō-sai: Abasaa, Public domain, source
- Great Lent: Stalinsunnykvj, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pentecost: See The Holy Land, CC BY-SA 2.0, source