All traditions
2,350 traditions so far, best known first. 12,186 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
🇬🇧 Orkney, United KingdomNuckelaveeknoggelvi
A horse-like sea demon of Orkney folklore, blamed for drought, plague and sick livestock.Folklore
🇪🇹 EthiopiaFichee-Chambalaalla
A moveable new year festival of the Sidama people in Ethiopia.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaNational costume of IndonesiaPakaian Nasional Indonesia
The formal attire worn by Indonesians to represent the nation's diverse cultural heritage.Dress
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFive Grains五穀
A sacred grouping of staple crops honoured as the bedrock of East Asian civilizationFolklore
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelAliya la'regelעלייה לרגל
A Jewish commandment to appear at the Temple in Jerusalem during three annual festivals.Spiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomWedding breakfast
The meal shared after a British wedding, called breakfast though it rarely is oneTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 York, United KingdomYorkshire Day
A yearly civic observance on 1 August to honour the historic county of Yorkshire and its people.Festival
🇨🇦 CanadaDalbec
A boastful Quebec hunter hero whose tall tales were written down in the 1890sFolklore
🇷🇸 Belgrade, Serbia and 5 moreSerbian traditional clothingсрпска народна ношња (srpska narodna nošnja)
The regional folk attire of Serbs, featuring wool, linen, and leather, worn for celebrations and cultural identity.Dress
🇮🇳 IndiaBommalattam
A shadow puppetry tradition from Tamil Nadu using carved dolls and oil lamps to tell stories.Performance
🇯🇵 Shuri, JapanKumi Odori組踊 (Okinawan: Kumi wudui)
A narrative dance from Okinawa that blends East Asian styles to tell stories of Confucian virtue.Performance
🇹🇳 La Goulette, TunisiaOur Lady of Trapani procession (Tunis)
A Catholic festival in La Goulette honoring the Virgin Mary, once shared by Christians and Muslims.Festival
🇮🇳 Goa, IndiaVeerabhadra
A ritual dance of a fierce figure performed in Goa during the Shigmo festival and on Chaitra Poornima.Performance
🇷🇺 RussiaStalin tunicсталинка
The plain jacket Soviet officials adopted as a political uniformDress
🇰🇷 Jindo Island, South KoreaNamdo Field Songs남도 들노래
Farmers' choral work songs from South Jeolla, sung through the rice field yearPerformance
🇵🇰 Peshawar, PakistanPeshawari chappal
A leather sandal hand-stitched in Pakistan, worn with shalwar kameez and to weddingsDress
🇩🇪 Überlingen, GermanyÜberlinger HänseleHänsele
A masked carnival figure kept by male citizens in Überlingen, Germany, during Fasnet and summer processions.Festival
🇹🇷 Turkey and 3 moreYashmakyaşmak
A traditional face and head veil worn in Turkey, Egypt and TurkmenistanDress
🇬🇧 Ashbourne, United Kingdom and 1 moreRoyal Shrovetide Football
A medieval mob football game played in Ashbourne on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.Game
🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaJultagi줄타기 (eoreum)
A traditional Korean tightrope performance that combines acrobatics with music and storytelling.Performance
🇬🇷 Athens, GreecePeplosπέπλος
A draped woolen tunic worn by women in ancient Greece, central to Athenian religious festivals.Dress
🇰🇪 Kenya and 2 moreBeni
A competitive dance with brass horns and drums, from the Swahili coastPerformance
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanAnma按摩
Japanese massage given through the clothes, long practised by blind therapistsFolklore
🇺🇸 United StatesUnity candle
A modern wedding ritual where two flames join to ignite a single central candleRite of passage
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaPadusan
A Javanese purification bath kept by the Abangan community before Ramadan begins.Spiritual
🇨🇳 ChinaSanfutie三伏贴
A seasonal Chinese medicine practice applying herbal patches during peak summer heatSeasonal
🇮🇸 Reykjavík, IcelandIceland Noir
An annual November literature and storytelling festival held in central ReykjavíkPerformance
🇯🇵 JapanKappōgi割烹着
A Japanese smock worn over a kimono to keep it clean while cooking and cleaningDress
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreTsiknopemptiΤσικνοπέμπτη
A Greek Carnival feast of grilled meats held on the second to last Thursday before Lent.Festival · Dinner
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreReynard the FoxRoman de Renart
A medieval European beast fable cycle starring a cunning trickster foxFolklore
🇨🇿 CzechiaName days in the Czech RepublicSvátek
A daily custom where people celebrate on the calendar date assigned to their given name.Seasonal
🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreMemphre
A creature of Quebec and Vermont folklore, reported at Lake Memphremagog since 1816Folklore
🇮🇸 Skálholt, IcelandThorlak's MassÞorláksmessa
Iceland's feast of its patron saint on 23 December, the last day before ChristmasSpiritual
🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaZangfu脏腑
The traditional Chinese medical model of interconnected organ networks and vital energyFolklore
🇿🇦 South Africa and 2 moreMadiba shirt
A loose batik-print shirt that Mandela wore to formal occasionsDress
🇮🇹 Rome, Italy and 2 moreInsufflation
A ritual of blowing and breathing, used at baptism to drive out evil and breathe in graceSpiritual
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Broad
A Cotswold Christmas figure: a bull's head on a pole, carried by a hidden performerFolklore
🇧🇳 BruneiBrunei Malay wedding
A multi-stage marriage ritual of the Brunei Malay community, blending Islamic vows with traditional blessings and publicRite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaIndian wedding clothes
Traditional attire worn by couples and guests during Indian wedding ceremonies across various regions.Dress
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreScottish folk music
Traditional ballads, fiddle tunes and bagpipe melodies from Scotland and its diasporaPerformance
🇨🇳 ChinaTraditional Chinese wedding dress
The ceremonial bridal garments worn in Han Chinese marriage ceremoniesDress
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreNude wedding
A marriage ceremony where the couple and guests gather without clothingRite of passage
🇮🇹 Palermo, ItalyFeast of Saint RosaliaFestino di Santa Rosalia
An annual July festival in Palermo honouring the patron saint who ended the plague.Festival
🇧🇬 BulgariaSurvakaneСурвакане
A Bulgarian New Year ritual where children tap family members with decorated branches to wish them health and prosperityFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomThe Knight's Ghost
A traditional folk ballad of grief, captive soldiers and a midnight spectral visitationPerformance
🇻🇳 VietnamÁo gấm
A brocade tunic worn by Vietnamese men at ceremonies and festivalsDress
🇯🇵 JapanNōgaku能楽
A traditional Japanese theater form combining the lyric drama noh and the comic interludes kyōgen.Performance
🇪🇸 Valencia, Spain and 2 morePeineta
A curved decorative comb worn by women beneath a lace mantilla in the Hispanic worldDress
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Beni: National Archives of Malawi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wedding breakfast: Arpingstone, Public domain, source
- Padusan: Muhammad Khafidz Riza, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jultagi: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Our Lady of Trapani procession (Tunis): IssamBarhoumi, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kumi Odori: Bunkakaikan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yorkshire Day: Buttons0603, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- National costume of Indonesia: President of Indonesia, Public domain, source
- Nuckelavee: Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Stalin tunic: shakko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Thorlak's Mass: Orf3us, Public domain, source
- Iceland Noir: TommyBee, CC0, source
- Kappōgi: 賢太郎 森川, CC BY 2.0, source
- Memphre: Jean-Philippe Boulet, CC BY 3.0, source
- Áo gấm: White House photo by Eric Draper, Public domain, source
- Zangfu: Foristslow, CC BY 4.0, source
- Peineta: Hiart, CC0, source
- Nōgaku: Daderot, CC0, source
- Feast of Saint Rosalia: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nude wedding: Peter Paul Rubens, Public domain, source
- Traditional Chinese wedding dress: Tunere, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Scottish folk music: Kim Traynor, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Indian wedding clothes: Lee Jordan, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tsiknopempti: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Peplos: No machine-readable author provided. Harrieta171 assumed (based on cop, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fichee-Chambalaalla: User:Kebede asefa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Five Grains: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bommalattam: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Yashmak: Jean-Léon Gérôme, Public domain, source
- Royal Shrovetide Football: Adrian Roebuck, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Serbian traditional clothing: Kolega2357, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Überlinger Hänsele: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 4.0, source
- Unity candle: Dvillasmil, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Anma: Ogawa Kazumasa, Public domain, source