All traditions
2,281 traditions so far, best known first. 12,321 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
🇩🇪 Nuremberg, Germany and 5 moreChristmas marketWeihnachtsmarkt
A seasonal street market held during Advent in German-speaking regions and beyond, featuring stalls, food, and crafts.Festival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇦🇹 Vienna, Austria and 4 moreLipizzanerLipicanec
A gray riding horse breed and centuries-old tradition of classical dressage kept by the Spanish Riding School.Performance
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreImbolcLá Fhéile Bríde
A Gaelic festival heralding spring and honoring Saint Brigid with woven rush crossesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Spain and 1 moreTapasTapa
Small Spanish snacks or appetizers served hot or cold, often shared among friends.Table custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreBoxing Day
A public holiday on 26 December in Commonwealth nations for gifts and shopping.Festival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreAdvent calendarAdventskalender
A daily countdown to Christmas using doors, images, or small gifts.Festival
🇦🇹 Austria and 4 moreDirndl
A fitted dress with apron from the German-speaking Alps, worn for festivals and weddings.Dress
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreSt John's Eve
Bonfires, feasting and worship on the short night before John the Baptist's feastSpiritual
🇮🇹 Venice, ItalyCarnival of VeniceCarnevale di Venezia
A historic festival in Italy famous for elaborate masks and anonymous social gatherings.Festival
🇪🇸 Valls, SpainCastell
A Catalan tradition of building multi-level human towers at festivals, requiring strength, balance, and community solidaPerformance
🇩🇪 Germany and 7 moreSt. Martin's DayMartinstag
A November feast of lantern walks, bonfires, roast goose and new wineSpiritual
🇪🇸 Pamplona, SpainFestival of San FermínSanfermines
An annual nine-day festival in Pamplona featuring bull runs, parades, and street music.Festival
🇷🇺 Kazan, Russia and 2 moreSabantuyСабан туе (Saban tuyı)
A summer festival of folk sports and feasting celebrated by Tatar, Bashkir, Chuvash, and Kazakh communities.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇩🇪 Hamburg, Germany and 2 moreAdvent wreathAdventskranz
An evergreen ring of candles lit week by week in the lead-up to ChristmasSeasonal
🇸🇪 Stockholm, Sweden and 4 moreSaint Lucy's Day
A December festival of light and song held across Scandinavia and Italy to honour a Christian martyr.Festival · Breakfast
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 moreDefender of the Fatherland DayДень защитника Отечества
A national holiday honouring military service and male relatives, observed across several post-Soviet states.Festival
🇳🇱 Amsterdam, NetherlandsKing's DayKoningsdag
A Dutch national holiday celebrating the monarch's birthday with street markets and orange attire.Festival
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreKupala Night
A summer solstice folk festival marked by bonfires, water rituals and herbal gatherings across Eastern Europe.Festival
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreFat Thursday
A Thursday before Lent when doughnuts, grilled meat and Carnival take overFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 Oslo, Norway and 3 moreConstitution DaySyttende mai
A national public holiday in Norway marked by children's parades, flags, and traditional food.Festival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇧🇪 Belgium and 5 moreSaint Nicholas Day
The feast day of Saint Nicholas, kept in Advent with gifts, shoes and church servicesSpiritual
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreWake
A gathering before a funeral, where family and friends keep watch over the deadRite of passage
🇬🇷 Athens, Greece and 1 moreOhi DayΕπέτειος του Όχι
A Greek national holiday on October 28 that marks the refusal of an Italian ultimatum in 1940.Ceremony
🇸🇪 Stockholm, SwedenNational Day of SwedenSveriges nationaldag
A public holiday on 6 June marking the election of King Gustav Vasa in 1523.Ceremony
🇫🇷 FranceFest nozfest noz (pl. festoù noz)
A Breton night festival of group dancing and live acoustic music, kept in Brittany and its diaspora.Festival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇺🇦 Kyiv, Ukraine and 7 morePysankaписанка
A wax-resist egg decorating tradition kept by Slavic communities for Easter and spring renewal.Festival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreSaint Stephen's Day
A Christian feast day celebrating the first martyr with feasts, rides and folk customs.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyPalio di SienaIl Palio
A bareback horse race held twice a year in Siena's Piazza del Campo, representing the city's historic wards.Festival
🇷🇸 SerbiaSlavaСлава
An annual Serbian family feast honouring their patron saint with blessed bread and wineSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Siena, ItalyFerragosto
A public holiday on 15 August marking the Assumption of Mary and the traditional start of the Italian summer break.Festival · Lunch
🇷🇸 Serbia and 1 moreVidovdanВидовдан
A Serbian church feast on 28 June, kept in memory of those who died at KosovoSpiritual
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 5 moreBloomsdayLá Bloom
A celebration of James Joyce and his novel Ulysses, observed on 16 June in Dublin and worldwide.Festival · Breakfast
🇫🇮 Helsinki, FinlandIndependence Day of FinlandSuomen itsenäisyyspäivä
Finland's national day on 6 December, marked with window candles and a presidential ballCeremony
🇬🇧 Edinburgh, United KingdomHogmanay
The Scottish celebration of New Year's Eve and the first days of the new year.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreJoik
A Sámi song that evokes a person, animal or place instead of telling about themPerformance
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 3 moreMay Day
A traditional European festival welcoming summer with greenery, dances and bonfiresSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇪 Ireland and 2 moreMichaelmas
A Christian festival honouring the archangels, marked by autumn harvest foods and legal terms in the British Isles.Festival · Dinner
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomTrooping the Colour
The annual British military parade marking the official birthday of the monarch.Ceremony
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomNotting Hill Carnival
An annual London street carnival celebrating British Caribbean culture and musicFestival
🇷🇴 Romania and 3 moreCălușariCălușarii
An acrobatic Romanian spring dance and ritual brotherhood tied to folklore and healingPerformance
🇬🇧 Dunoon, United Kingdom and 5 moreHighland gamesgeamannan Gàidhealach
A series of Scottish athletic and cultural competitions held in Scotland and across the diaspora.Festival
🇮🇹 Rome, ItalyFesta della Repubblica
Italy's national day marking the 1946 public vote to establish a democratic republicCeremony
🇸🇪 Gävle, SwedenGävle goatGävlebocken
A towering straw Yule goat built each Advent in the central square of GävleFestival
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreWhit Monday
The Christian feast and public holiday held on the day after PentecostSpiritual
🇺🇦 Kyiv, UkraineChristmas in UkraineРіздво (Rizdvo)
A Ukrainian Christmas celebration with a twelve-dish vegan supper on Christmas Eve and observance on January 6 or DecembFestival · Supper
🇭🇺 Mohács, HungaryBusójárás
A six-day winter carnival of carved wooden masks, folk music, and parades in MohácsFestival
🇸🇪 Gävle, Sweden and 1 moreYule goatJulbocken
A straw goat of northern Christmas, once a harvest spirit, now a tree ornamentFestival
🇬🇧 Cardiff, United Kingdom and 1 moreSaint David's DayDydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant
The national feast day of Wales, marked with parades, poetry contests and daffodilsFestival
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Christmas in Ukraine: Halyna Kuchmanych, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Imbolc: Culnacreann, CC BY 3.0, source
- Castell: Pcm, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boxing Day: Sigismund von Dobschütz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saint Lucy's Day: Fredrik Magnusson, CC BY 2.0, source
- St John's Eve: Jules Breton, Public domain, source
- Festival of San Fermín: SanchoPanzaXXI, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Slava: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Constitution Day: evelinagustafsson@live.se, Public domain, source
- King's Day: Carmelrmd, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Defender of the Fatherland Day: И. Мартынов, Public domain, source
- Kupala Night: Ivan Sokolov, Public domain, source
- National Day of Sweden: Bengt Nyman, CC BY 2.0, source
- Advent calendar: Andrea Schaufler, CC BY 2.5, source
- Pysanka: Lubap, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Palio di Siena: Mirco, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Michaelmas: Julian P Guffogg, CC BY 2.0, source
- May Day: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bloomsday: No machine-readable author provided. Flapdragon assumed (based on copy, Public domain, source
- Advent wreath: Burkhard Mücke, CC BY 4.0, source
- Saint Stephen's Day: Carlo Crivelli, Public domain, source
- Călușari: El bes, CC BY 3.0, source
- Hogmanay: Robbie Shade, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ferragosto: Ra Boe, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Independence Day of Finland: Wikimedia Commons: LPfi, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gävle goat: Sinikka Halme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Busójárás: User:Themightyquill, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Notting Hill Carnival: Diliff, CC BY 2.5, source
- Festa della Repubblica: Anthony Majanlahti, CC BY 2.0, source
- Whit Monday: Eloquence, Public domain, source
- Trooping the Colour: Carfax2, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Highland games: marsupium photography, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Saint David's Day: National Assembly for Wales, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ohi Day: Tigroinikos, CC BY 2.5, source
- Dirndl: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Wake: Julio Romero de Torres, Public domain, source
- Fat Thursday: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Saint Nicholas Day: Chmee2, CC BY 3.0, source
- Vidovdan: Радосав Стојановић at Serbian Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Yule goat: John Bauer, Public domain, source
- Tapas: Elemaki, CC BY 3.0, source
- Carnival of Venice: Roberto Vicario, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Christmas market: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fest noz: Man vyi, Public domain, source
- Sabantuy: Якупов Рамиль, CC BY 3.0, source
- St. Martin's Day: Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Public domain, source
- Lipizzaner: Srdjan Živulovič, Attribution, source