All traditions
2,291 traditions so far, best known first. 12,310 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
🇪🇹 Addis Ababa, EthiopiaIrreechaIrreessa
A thanksgiving festival at sacred lakes in Oromia, Ethiopia, at the end of the rainsFestival
🇨🇻 Boa Vista, Cape Verde and 5 moreMorna
Cape Verde's guitar-and-voice song, danced in pairs, listed by UNESCO in 2019Performance
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaWeddings in India
Weddings across India, each shaped by faith, region and familyRite of passage
🇪🇹 EthiopiaWedding customs in Ethiopia
Weddings across Ethiopia's many peoples, arranged by families and sealed in local ritesRite of passage
🇦🇺 Melbourne, AustraliaBoxing Day Test
Cricket's annual Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, starting each 26 DecemberGame
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreCompadre
A ritual kinship made at a child's baptism, binding parents and godparents for lifeSpiritual
🇯🇵 Tokyo, Japan and 5 moreTaiko太鼓 (taiko)
Japanese drums, and the ensemble style of playing themPerformance
🇦🇲 Armenia and 1 moreTrndezտրնդեզ
An Armenian fire feast forty days after Christmas, kept with bonfires and shared sweetsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 1 moreLaba congee腊八粥
A ceremonial Chinese porridge of rice, beans and dried fruit, eaten at the Laba FestivalTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreSimchat Torahשִׂמְחַת תּוֹרָה
The day Jewish communities finish the Torah reading and start it again, with dancingSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreKoulourakiaΚουλουράκια
Sweet butter pastries baked for Greek Easter and shaped into rings and braidsTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreReunion dinner團圓飯
A family gathering meal on lunar new year's eve, kept in China and VietnamTable custom · Dinner
🇮🇱 Israel and 4 moreTorah readingקריאת התורה
The public reading of the Torah scroll in synagogue, chanted to a special tuneSpiritual
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreBachelor party
A send-off for a groom-to-be, kept in the days and weeks before a weddingRite of passage
🇯🇵 JapanTango no sekku端午の節句
A Japanese seasonal festival for children marked with carp streamers and iris leaves.Festival · Sweets given and shared
🇻🇳 Hanoi, Vietnam and 5 morePhophở
A Vietnamese noodle soup of broth and rice noodles, served hot with beef or chicken.Table custom · Breakfast
🇹🇷 Edirne, TurkeyKırkpınar
A three-day Turkish oil wrestling contest near Edirne, held each June since 1360Game
🇩🇪 Munich, Germany and 3 moreSchuhplattler
An Alpine folk dance of stomps, claps and flat-hand slaps on shoes, knees and thighsPerformance
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 4 moreKorovaiкоровай (Ukrainian), каравай (Russian)
A round wedding bread of Eastern Europe, baked with songs and shared by all the guestsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 NorwayBunad
Norway's festive dress, tied to a home district and worn from weddings to 17 MayDress
🇹🇷 Istanbul, TurkeyTurkish folk dance
Regional line and circle dances of Turkey, each with its own step and rhythmPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaVision quest
A coming-of-age fast and vigil, kept by some Native American peoplesRite of passage
🇷🇴 Bucharest, Romania and 7 moreHorahoră (Romanian), хоро (Bulgarian), оро (Macedonian), הורה (Hebrew)
A circle dance from Southeast Europe, danced at weddings and festivalsPerformance
🇷🇺 Pavlovsky Posad, RussiaPavlovo Posad shawlПавловопосадский платок
A woolen Russian shawl printed with flowers, made in the town of Pavlovsky PosadDress
🇺🇸 Hilo, United StatesMerrie Monarch Festival
A spring week of hula in Hilo, closing with three nights of competitionFestival
🇵🇸 Palestine and 5 moreKeffiyehكُوفِيَّة (kūfīyah)
A square cotton headscarf worn by men in arid parts of the Middle East and North AfricaDress
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreIomanteイオマンテ
An Ainu rite that sends a hand-raised bear cub's spirit home to the god-worldSpiritual
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 moreIrish dance
Ireland's traditional solo and group dances, from social halls to world competitionsPerformance
🇮🇳 Ahobilam, IndiaNarasimha Jayantiनरसिंहजयंती
A one-day Hindu festival marking Vishnu's man-lion avatar and the rescue of PrahladaSpiritual
🇮🇷 Mashhad, Iran and 7 moreIftarإفطار
The sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and communityTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreWedding reception
The party after a wedding, where the couple greet guests over food, cake and dancingFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 Yining, China and 1 moreMeshrepمەشرەپ
A Uyghur gathering of music, poetry, dance and moral counsel at harvest and weddingsPerformance
🇵🇰 Multan, Pakistan and 3 moreShalwar kameez
Loose trousers and a long tunic, worn as one outfit across South AsiaDress
🇰🇷 Honam, South Korea and 2 morePansori판소리
A Korean art of sung storytelling, with one singer, one drummer and a listening crowdPerformance
🇮🇹 ItalyCantu a tenorecantu a tenòre
Four men singing in a tight circle, a vocal art of Sardinia's Barbagia hillsPerformance
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreHigh Holy Daysיָמִים נוֹרָאִים
The Jewish year's ten days of repentance, from Rosh Hashanah to Yom KippurSpiritual
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreKukeriкукери (kukeri)
Masked and belled figures who tour Bulgarian villages at New Year to drive off harmSpiritual
🇷🇴 RomaniaDoina
A free-rhythm Romanian song of longing, sung alone or played to open a dancePerformance
🇪🇸 Buñol, SpainLa Tomatina
A one-hour tomato fight in Buñol on the last Wednesday of AugustFestival
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaNgaben
A Balinese Hindu cremation rite held to free the soul of the deadRite of passage
🇯🇵 JapanKintsugi金継ぎ
Mending broken pottery with lacquer and gold, so the repair stays visibleCraft
🇵🇱 PolandWigilia
Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaAhoi Ashtami
A day of fasting by Hindu mothers before Diwali, for their children's wellbeingFestival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇦🇺 AustraliaBush ballad
Verse and song that tell stories of life in the Australian bushPerformance
🇲🇼 Malawi and 2 moreGule Wamkulu
A masked Chewa dance of the Nyau society, danced at funerals and chief installationsPerformance
🇮🇱 IsraelKiddushקידוש
A blessing over wine or grape juice that marks Shabbat and festivals as holySpiritual · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇨🇳 Shanghai, ChinaTangzhuang唐裝 (traditional), 唐装 (simplified)
A Chinese jacket with a Mandarin collar, worn for formal occasions and holidaysDress
🇬🇧 United KingdomLong sword dance
A Yorkshire winter sword dance kept by village teams at Christmas and Plough MondayPerformance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Nyau: Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Irreecha: Mohammed Kassahun, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Morna: Original uploader was Kotoviski at sv.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Weddings in India: Psoni2402, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boxing Day Test: Flickr user, mugley, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Taiko: Ohno.A, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Trndez: Armineaghayan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Laba congee: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Simchat Torah: No machine-readable author provided. Merlin assumed (based on copyrigh, CC BY 2.5, source
- Koulourakia: foodistablog, CC BY 2.0, source
- Torah reading: Sagie Maoz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bachelor party: Derek Springer, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pho: Phương Huy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tango no sekku: tiseb, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kırkpınar: anonymous Greek artist, ca. 1809, Public domain, source
- Schuhplattler: Harald Bischoff, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bunad: Wolfmann, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Korovai: Olli Niemitalo, CC0, source
- Turkish folk dance: quinn.ayna, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Hora: Chajeshukarie ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Pavlovo Posad shawl: Svetlov Artem, CC0, source
- Keffiyeh: Copyright World Economic Forum ( www.weforum.org ) swiss-image.ch/Phot, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Merrie Monarch Festival: Allanbcool, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Iomante: Murase Yoshinori, Public domain, source
- Irish dance: U.S. Army, Public domain, source
- Narasimha Jayanti: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Wedding reception: Konstantin Makovsky, Public domain, source
- Iftar: Shariful Islam (Masum), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Meshrep: https://www.flickr.com/photos/travelingmipo/, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pansori: Steve46814, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shalwar kameez: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cantu a tenore: Sardegnabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- High Holy Days: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Kukeri: Nenko Lazarov, CC BY 2.5, source
- La Tomatina: Graham McLellan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ngaben: by kibitan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kintsugi: Daderot, CC0, source
- Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ahoi Ashtami: आशीष भटनागर, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bush ballad: A. B. Paterson, Public domain, source
- Kiddush: Dimitri, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tangzhuang: Gobierno de Chile, CC BY 2.0, source
- Long sword dance: donald judge, CC BY 2.0, source