All traditions
2,300 traditions so far, best known first. 12,290 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
🇵🇭 San Fernando, Philippines and 3 moreParolparól
A Filipino star lantern of bamboo and paper, hung at Christmas from September to JanuaryFestival
🇧🇪 Antwerp, Belgium and 2 moreOmmegangommegang (Dutch)
Medieval town processions of the Low Countries, with giants, guilds and horsesCeremony
🇮🇷 Ashtian, Iran and 5 moreSamanuسمنو
A sweet sprouted-wheat paste stirred through the night for NowruzTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇯🇵 Osaka, Japan and 1 moreBunraku文楽
Osaka's puppet theatre, with chanters, shamisen players and puppeteers in plain sightPerformance
🇪🇬 Cairo, EgyptFanousفانوس
An Egyptian lantern of metal and glass, hung in streets and homes through RamadanFestival
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreShofarשׁוֹפָר
A ram's horn blown in synagogue to mark the Jewish new year and the end of Yom KippurSpiritual
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShinto wedding神前結婚
A short purification ceremony before the kami, sealed by three cups of sakeRite of passage
🇲🇽 Mexico City, MexicoOfrenda
A home altar of food, flowers and candles that welcomes the dead home at Día de MuertosSpiritual
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreBento弁当
A single-portion packed meal in a lidded box, carried to school, work or on a trainTable custom · Lunch
🇦🇹 Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria and 2 moreSilent NightStille Nacht, heilige Nacht
A Christmas carol composed in Austria in 1818, now sung worldwide as a symbol of peace.Performance
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaTumpengꦠꦸꦩ꧀ꦥꦼꦁ (Javanese); ᬢᬸᬫ᭄ᬧᭂᬂ (Balinese)
A tall cone of rice ringed with side dishes, central to Javanese ceremonies and partiesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇹 Lisbon, PortugalFado
Portugal's song of fate and longing, sung in Lisbon and CoimbraPerformance
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreSwabian-Alemannic FastnachtFastnacht
A late-winter carnival of masks and jesters kept before Lent in the Alemannic landsFestival
🇮🇳 Baripada, IndiaChhau dance
A masked dance of eastern India, blending martial steps with epic storiesPerformance
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomRoyal Maundy
A Church of England service where the monarch gives silver Maundy coins to older peopleSpiritual
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 4 moreBeshbarmakбешбармак
Boiled meat and noodles, eaten by hand from one platter, with a set cut for each guestTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇽 Mexico and 1 moreCalaca
Skull and skeleton figures made for the Day of the Dead, joyful rather than sadCraft
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEpiphany
A January feast of the Magi, the Jordan baptism and the Cana miracle, kept by ChristiansSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreSeharane
A Kurdish Jewish festival of campfires, circle dances and shared foodFestival
🇬🇷 Greece and 4 moreVasilopitaΒασιλόπιτα
A New Year bread or cake with a coin baked inside, shared out slice by sliceTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean tea ceremony다례 (茶禮)
Tea served in Korea as a rite of courtesy, now mostly grain and herbal brewsTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇺🇸 United StatesPotluck
A shared meal where every guest brings a dish, kept by churches, clubs and neighborsTable custom · Dinner
🇨🇳 Beijing, China and 1 morePeking opera京剧 / 京劇 (Jīngjù)
China's main opera form: song, dance and acrobatics tell the story on a bare stagePerformance
🇹🇭 ThailandWai khruพิธีไหว้ครู
A Thai ceremony of thanks to teachers, held in schools and in the artsSpiritual
🇧🇩 BangladeshEid prayersصلاة العيد
The yearly festival prayer of the two Eids, offered in the morning by MuslimsSpiritual
🇬🇧 Llangollen, United Kingdom and 5 moreEisteddfod
A Welsh festival of poetry and music competitions, featuring the chairing and crowning of winning bards.Festival
🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria and 2 moreAso ebiAsọ-Ẹbí
Matching cloth worn by family and friends at Yoruba weddings, funerals and partiesDress
🇵🇸 Bethlehem, PalestineTatreezتَطْرِيز
Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery, stitched onto dresses and read for its regionCraft
🇵🇾 Paraguay and 3 moreTereré
Paraguay's cold yerba mate drink, passed around in one cup with a metal strawTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇸🇪 Nusnäs, Sweden and 1 moreDala horseDalahäst
A carved painted wooden horse from Dalarna, a children's toy that became a national symbolCraft
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 5 moreSuhurسحور
The pre-dawn meal Muslims eat before a day of fasting in RamadanTable custom · Breakfast
🇬🇧 Cardiff, United KingdomGorsedd CymruGorsedd Cymru (yr Orsedd)
A Welsh society of poets and writers that holds ceremonies at the National Eisteddfod to honour cultural achievements.Festival
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreCantonese opera粵劇
One of the major forms of Chinese opera, sung in Cantonese in southern ChinaPerformance
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEasterΠάσχα
The day Christians mark the resurrection, kept with vigils, feasts and eggsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇳 Tunis, TunisiaSafseriسفساري
A cream cloth wrapped around a woman's whole body, worn by Tunisian women for modestyDress
🇨🇳 Meizhou Island, China and 5 moreMazu媽祖
A sea goddess of the Chinese coast, asked for calm water and a safe returnSpiritual
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town Minstrel CarnivalKaapse Klopse
Cape Town's 2 January parade of minstrel troupes, ghoema drums and bright umbrellasFestival
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelRosh Chodeshרֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ
The start of each Hebrew month, marked by the new moon and kept with prayerSpiritual
🇨🇺 Santiago de Cuba, CubaTumba francesa
An Afro-Cuban art of dance, song and drumming kept by societies in eastern CubaPerformance
🇷🇺 Kazan, Russia and 2 moreValenkiва́ленки
Russian winter boots of felted wool, worn on dry snow and often paired with galoshesDress
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreLast Post
A bugle call sounded at military funerals and remembrance services across the Commonwealth to honour those who died in sPerformance
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreWinter solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked with fire, feasting and poetrySeasonal
🇵🇹 Coimbra, PortugalPraxePraxe Académica
A set of student initiation rituals and traditions in Portuguese universities.Rite of passage
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreEvil eye
A belief in harm cast by envious glares, met with protective charms and spoken blessingsFolklore
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas dinner
The festive family meal of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, with roast meats and puddingsTable custom · Dinner
🇭🇹 Port-au-Prince, HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval
Haiti's annual street festival of music, satirical plays and costumed paradesFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇫🇷 FranceConfirmation
A Christian rite of laying on of hands that completes baptism and strengthens faithRite of passage
🇦🇷 Mendoza, ArgentinaFiesta Nacional de la Vendimia
Argentina's national grape harvest festival, celebrated each year in MendozaSeasonal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- High Holy Days: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Queima das Fitas: Fotografía realizada por: Ángel Serrano Sánchez de León, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Parol: Ervin Malicdem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ommegang: Zorro2212, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bunraku: 氏子, CC0, source
- Samanu: Myone63, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fanous: Ibrahim.ID, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ofrenda: Eneas de Troya, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shinto wedding: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bento: Blue Lotus, CC BY 2.0, source
- Silent Night: Franz Xaver Gruber (1787–1863), Public domain, source
- Tumpeng: brother-harahap, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fado: Pedro Simões, CC BY 2.0, source
- Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- Chhau dance: Skasish, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Royal Maundy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Beshbarmak: NataAllice, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Epiphany: Gentile da Fabriano, Public domain, source
- Calaca: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Korean tea ceremony: Mai-Linh Doan, CC BY-SA 1.0, source
- Vasilopita: Μυρμηγκάκι, Public domain, source
- Potluck: Mack Male, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Wai khru: seetefl on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Peking opera: Art Poskanzer, CC BY 2.0, source
- Eid prayers: Azimronnie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eisteddfod: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aso ebi: SUPREME LACE, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tatreez: Ma'moun Othman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tereré: Genialnico, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Suhur: Hussein Alazaat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dala horse: User:Mysid, Public domain, source
- Gorsedd Cymru: Els Pam Pels, CC0, source
- Cantonese opera: Roland Tanglao, CC BY 2.0, source
- Safseri: Eleuuchi Mohamed, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
- Cape Town Minstrel Carnival: George Duff, Public domain, source
- Mazu: Prince Roy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rosh Chodesh: beth woodrum, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tumba francesa: Christian Pirkl, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Valenki: akk_rus, CC BY 2.0, source
- Last Post: User:EnEdC, Public domain, source
- Winter solstice: Image by Przemyslaw " Blueshade " Idzkiewicz, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Christmas dinner: Austin McGee, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Haitian Carnival: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Confirmation: Unknown author, CC BY 2.0, source
- Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia: Javinaselli, CC BY-SA 4.0, source