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
🇲🇼 Malawi and 2 moreGule Wamkulu
A masked Chewa dance of the Nyau society, danced at funerals and chief installationsPerformance
🇿🇦 South AfricaUlwaluko
A Xhosa rite that takes a boy into manhood through seclusion and teachingRite of passage
🇬🇭 Bonwire, Ghana and 1 moreKente clothNwentoma
Hand-woven Ghanaian cloth of silk and cotton strips, worn for ceremonies and graduationsDress
🇺🇬 UgandaGomesi
A floor-length, brightly coloured dress tied with a sash, worn by women in UgandaDress
🇳🇬 Abuja, NigeriaNew Yam FestivalIri ji
A yearly harvest thanksgiving across Nigeria, when the first new yams may be eatenFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria and 2 moreAso ebiAsọ-Ẹbí
Matching cloth worn by family and friends at Yoruba weddings, funerals and partiesDress
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South AfricaCape Town Minstrel CarnivalKaapse Klopse
Cape Town's 2 January parade of minstrel troupes, ghoema drums and bright umbrellasFestival
🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreTimkatጥምቀት
The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Epiphany celebrating the baptism of JesusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreEthiopian Christmasገና
The Christian Nativity feast, marked by night vigils, white garments and field hockeySpiritual
🇬🇭 Accra, GhanaChale Wote Street Art Festival
An annual street art festival in Accra featuring murals, theater, and music.Performance
🇰🇪 Nairobi, KenyaMadaraka Day
Kenya's annual public holiday marking the start of self-governance on 1 June 1963Ceremony
🇲🇬 MadagascarLamba
A rectangular cloth wrapped around the body, worn across Madagascar and at burialsDress
🇪🇹 EthiopiaWedding customs in Ethiopia
Weddings across Ethiopia's many peoples, arranged by families and sealed in local ritesRite of passage
🇬🇭 GhanaAdowa
A Ghanaian Akan dance where hands and feet carry the mood of the occasionPerformance
🇸🇨 SeychellesMoutya
A Seychellois evening dance of drum, song and bolder movement, listed by UNESCO in 2021Performance
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreBurial
Placing the dead in the ground or a structure to honor them and guide their journey.Rite of passage
🇲🇱 MaliWuduوضوء
The Islamic ritual washing with water before prayer and sacred actsSpiritual
🇲🇱 MaliTayammumتيمم
A dry ritual purification using clean earth or stone when water is unavailable or harmful.Spiritual
🇲🇱 Mali and 1 moreKhumsخُمْس
The Islamic practice of giving a one-fifth share of certain wealth to designated causesSpiritual
🇿🇦 Pretoria, South AfricaNational Women's Day
South Africa's public holiday on 9 August, remembering the women who marched in 1956Ceremony
🇸🇳 Dakar, Senegal and 4 moreWorld Festival of Black ArtsFestival Mondial des Arts Nègres
A recurring month-long gathering of arts, music and writing from Africa and its diasporaFestival
🇳🇬 Lagos, Nigeria and 2 moreIndependence Day
Nigeria's national day, marking the end of British rule on 1 October 1960Ceremony
🇳🇬 Kagoro, NigeriaAfan FestivalBwok Ǎfan
A New Year's Day festival of hunting and dances among the Oegworok peopleFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇬🇭 Anloga, Ghana and 1 moreHogbetsotso festival
An Anlo Ewe festival in Anloga recalling an escape from NotsieFestival
🇬🇭 Winneba, GhanaAboakyer festival
A deer hunt kept by the people of Winneba, Ghana, on the first Saturday in MayFestival
🇦🇴 Angola and 2 moreLusona
Sand drawings from Angola and Zambia that carry proverbs, fables and animalsCraft
🇰🇪 KenyaHarambee
Kenya's tradition of community self-help, where people gather to raise funds togetherCeremony
🇿🇲 Lundazi, ZambiaZengani
An annual October gathering of Tumbuka and Ngoni communities in eastern Zambia to celebrate unity through traditional daFestival
🇪🇹 EthiopiaFichee-Chambalaalla
A moveable new year festival of the Sidama people in Ethiopia.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇼 Bolero, MalawiGonapamhanya festival
An annual gathering of the Tumbuka people honouring their first paramount chiefFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇿🇲 Muyombe, ZambiaVinkhakanimba
An annual gathering and dance celebration of the Tumbuka people in northeastern ZambiaFestival
🇳🇬 NigeriaKwagh-Hir
A Tiv puppet theatre and masquerade performance from central Nigeria that uses masks and marionettes to tell moral storiPerformance
🇳🇬 Nigeria and 1 moreAso Olona
A patterned Yoruba cloth, woven with symbols and worn as a mark of rank and identityDress
🇹🇿 Tanzania and 4 moreKanga
A colourful printed cotton wrap bearing proverbs, worn across East AfricaDress
🇳🇪 Niger and 1 moreSitta min Shawwalستة من شوال
A voluntary six-day Islamic fast observed during the month following RamadanSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇿🇦 Cape Town, South Africa and 5 moreTooth ablation
A global custom of deliberately removing healthy teeth for social, ritual, or aesthetic reasons.Rite of passage
🇸🇿 EswatiniBuganu Festival
A three-day festival in Eswatini where women brew buganu from marula fruitFestival · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇿🇦 Durban, South AfricaPoetry Africa
A week or more of readings, music and workshops in Durban, with poets from AfricaPerformance
🇨🇲 Bangangté, CameroonMedumba Arts and Culture FestivalFestival des arts et de la culture medumba
A two-week biennial festival in Cameroon celebrating Medumba heritage and language.Festival
🇨🇲 Bafoussam, CameroonNyang Nyang FestivalNyan-Nyang
A four-month Bamileke harvest festival and initiation rite in western CameroonFestival
🇿🇼 Harare, ZimbabweHarare International Festival of the Arts
An annual week-long celebration of music, dance, theatre and art in Harare, ZimbabwePerformance
🇿🇲 Lundazi, Zambia and 1 moreKulonga
An annual harvest festival of thanksgiving celebrated by Tumbuka communitiesSeasonal
🇳🇦 Outapi, NamibiaOlufuko
A seven-day Aawambo initiation rite and festival held annually in Outapi, NamibiaRite of passage
🇲🇬 Antananarivo, MadagascarRencontres du Film Court MadagasikaraRencontres du Film Court Madagascar
Madagascar's annual short film festival, held in Antananarivo with free screeningsFestival
🇲🇼 Chonde, MalawiMulhako wa Alhomwe
An annual gathering in Malawi where the Lhomwe people celebrate their language, dance and heritage.Festival
🇱🇸 Morija, LesothoMorija Arts & Cultural Festival
Lesotho's yearly festival of music, dance, drama and poetry, with schools competingFestival
🇺🇬 Mbale, UgandaImbalu
The biennial rite of passage into adulthood observed by the Bamasaaba of UgandaRite of passage
🇧🇼 BotswanaBogwera and bojale
Tswana coming-of-age initiation for boys and girls, held over several monthsRite of passage
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
- Independence Day: AMISOM Public Information, CC0, source
- Ulwaluko: Dingeman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kente cloth: ZSM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gomesi: sarahemcc, CC BY 2.0, source
- New Yam Festival: Adimora chidinma, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aso ebi: SUPREME LACE, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cape Town Minstrel Carnival: George Duff, Public domain, source
- National Women's Day: K. Kendall, CC BY 2.0, source
- Aboakyer festival: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burial: Rama , commissioned by Wikimédia France, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
- Wudu: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY 4.0, source
- Fichee-Chambalaalla: User:Kebede asefa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gonapamhanya festival: Tumbuka Arch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tayammum: عامر شاہین, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kwagh-Hir: Wilses, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aso Olona: Oramfe, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kanga: Petr Berka ( Petrberka ), Public domain, source
- Tooth ablation: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Khums: 'Uthman ibn Husayn al-warraq (the copyist), Public domain, source
- Hogbetsotso festival: JY midey, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Medumba Arts and Culture Festival: Djenrode, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nyang Nyang Festival: Zacharie Ngnogue, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Olufuko: Pemba.mpimaji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rencontres du Film Court Madagasikara: Natsuyasumi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Morija Arts & Cultural Festival: VirtualSteve, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Imbalu: Dixon099, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Timkat: Jean Rebiffé, CC BY 4.0, source
- Ethiopian Christmas: Tanjagari, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chale Wote Street Art Festival: Fquasie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lamba: Lemurbaby at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Adowa: Quami43, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Moutya: Gerard Larose, Seychelles Tourism Board, CC BY 4.0, source