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
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainSeville FairFeria de Abril de Sevilla
A week-long spring festival in Seville of carriage parades, marquee tents and dancingFestival · Dinner
🇧🇪 Aalst, BelgiumAalst CarnivalAalst Carnaval
A three-day street carnival of satire, costumed parades and folk rituals in AalstFestival
🇮🇪 Killorglin, IrelandPuck FairAonach an Phoic
An annual Kerry gathering centred on the crowning of a mountain goat.Festival
🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreYuleġēol (Old English); jól (Old Norse)
The Germanic midwinter festival that Christmas grew out of, kept today by HeathensSpiritual
🇱🇻 Riga, Latvia and 4 moreLatvian Song and Dance FestivalVispārējie latviešu Dziesmu un Deju svētki
A grand gathering of choirs, dancers and folk artists held every five years in LatviaPerformance
🇨🇭 Basel, Switzerland and 4 moreSwiss National DaySchweizer Bundesfeiertag
Switzerland's annual national holiday, celebrated with bonfires, fireworks, and lanternsCeremony
🇱🇹 LithuaniaSaint Jonas's FestivalJoninės
A Lithuanian midsummer night of bonfires, wreaths, song and morning dewSeasonal
🇮🇹 Naples, Italy and 5 moreNativity scene
A seasonal set of figures showing Jesus's birth, put up by Christians at ChristmasFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomLong sword dance
A Yorkshire winter sword dance kept by village teams at Christmas and Plough MondayPerformance
🇪🇸 Madrid, Spain and 5 moreTwelve GrapesLas doce uvas de la suerte
A grape for every chime at midnight on 31 December, welcoming the new yearFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainFlamenco
The song, guitar and dance of Andalusia, kept by gitano and other Spanish families.Performance
🇮🇹 Venice, ItalyFesta del RedentoreFesta del Redentor
Venice's July festival of fireworks over the water, kept in thanks for the plague's endFestival
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreCompadre
A ritual kinship made at a child's baptism, binding parents and godparents for lifeSpiritual
🇱🇹 LithuaniaUžgavėnės
A Lithuanian winter-ending festival of masks, mock battles and pancakesFestival
🇬🇧 United KingdomCalennig
Welsh children carry a decorated apple door to door and sing for New Year giftsFestival
🇦🇹 Austria and 5 moreKrampus
Saint Nicholas's horned companion, who comes for misbehaving children on 5 DecemberFolklore
🇷🇺 RussiaRussian wedding traditions
A Russian wedding runs two days to a week, with ransom games, crowns and toastsRite of passage
🇮🇸 IcelandYule LadsJólasveinarnir
Thirteen mischievous brothers who visit Icelandic homes in the nights leading to Yule.Folklore
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreMartenitsaмартеница
Red and white yarn dolls worn from 1 March until spring shows itselfFestival
🇫🇮 Helsinki, FinlandKalevala DayKalevalan päivä
A Finnish national flag day celebrating the country's epic poetry and living artsCeremony
🇭🇺 Hungary and 1 morePentecostπεντηκοστή (pentēkostē)
The Christian feast of the Holy Spirit, kept fifty days after EasterSpiritual
🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα
A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇱 PolandWigilia
Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 3 moreMalankaМаланка
A Ukrainian folk celebration of masked mummers, feasting and New Year blessingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreElevenses
A short mid-morning pause for a drink and a small bite, kept in many countriesTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreTuvan throat singing
A style of singing from Tuva where one voice sounds a drone and a melody at oncePerformance
🇷🇴 RomaniaDoina
A free-rhythm Romanian song of longing, sung alone or played to open a dancePerformance
🇩🇪 Saalfeld, Germany and 5 moreEaster egg treeOstereierbaum
A German springtime custom of dressing living trees and branches with blown eggsFestival
🇪🇸 Buñol, SpainLa Tomatina
A one-hour tomato fight in Buñol on the last Wednesday of AugustFestival
🇪🇸 Spain and 2 moreLas arras
Thirteen gold coins, blessed at a wedding and given by the groom to the brideRite of passage
🇦🇱 Albania and 2 moreBesaBesë
A pledge of honour that an Albanian gives once and must never breakEtiquette
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 6 moreBoishakhi Melaবৈশাখী মেলা
A Bengali New Year fair in London each May, with a parade, music and food stallsFestival
🇱🇺 Luxembourg and 3 moreBuergbrennen
A bonfire festival marking the end of winter on the first Sunday of Lent in LuxembourgSeasonal
🇭🇷 Konavle, Croatia and 2 moreOjkanje
A throat-shaking style of folk singing from Croatia's Dinaric highlandsPerformance
🇱🇻 Riga, LatviaZiemassvētki
Latvia's midwinter festival of solstice customs, mumming and tree decorationSeasonal
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 2 moreGerman CarnivalKarneval
Pre-Lenten street parades, costume balls and local revels across German-speaking lands.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreHarvest festival
A thanks for the gathered crop, kept with church meals, songs and shared foodSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇱🇮 Vaduz, LiechtensteinLiechtenstein National DayStaatsfeiertag Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein's national holiday celebrated with castle speeches, bonfires and fireworksCeremony
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreBank holiday
Official days of rest and financial closure across the British IslesCeremony
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 4 moreKukeriкукери (kukeri)
Masked and belled figures who tour Bulgarian villages at New Year to drive off harmSpiritual
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 3 moreBanitsaБаница
A layered Bulgarian cheese pastry baked for morning meals and holiday fortunesTable custom · Breakfast
🇩🇪 Germany and 3 moreTashlikhתשליך
A Jewish new year rite of casting sins into flowing water, kept by the watersideSpiritual
🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary and 3 moreTáncház
A Hungarian folk dance gathering where anyone can learn the steps and dance to live musicPerformance
🇩🇪 Aachen, Germany and 4 moreStraw bearStrohbär
A carnival figure wrapped in straw, paraded through German towns to mark the end of winter.Festival
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreKoulourakiaΚουλουράκια
Sweet butter pastries baked for Greek Easter and shaped into rings and braidsTable custom · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom and 4 moreAfternoon tea
A late-afternoon spread of tea, small sandwiches and cakes, kept across BritainTable custom · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇮🇹 Foligno, ItalyGiostra della Quintana
A June and September joust in Foligno, where ten knights spear ringsFestival
🇺🇦 Chernivtsi, Ukraine and 1 moreVyshyvankaвишиванка (Ukrainian), вышыванка (Belarusian)
An embroidered shirt of Ukraine and Belarus, its patterns marking region and familyDress
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Harvest festival: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, source
- Tuvan throat singing: Johanna Kovitz, Public domain, source
- Banitsa: Sheku80, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Liechtenstein National Day: Förkle, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- German Carnival: Neva Micheva, CC BY 2.5, source
- Buergbrennen: luxpim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Easter egg tree: Frank schubert, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Malanka: Viktoriyasechkar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kalevala Day: Vladimir Menkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yule Lads: Lusinemarg, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Užgavėnės: Algirdas at Lithuanian Wikipedia, GFDL, source
- Flamenco: John Singer Sargent, Public domain, source
- Saint Jonas's Festival: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Swiss National Day: Vincent de Groot, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Latvian Song and Dance Festival: Laima Gūtmane (simka), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Puck Fair: Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Aalst Carnival: Wikisid, CC BY 3.0, source
- Seville Fair: Sevilla Congress & Convention Bureau, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tashlikh: Yaakov Saar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Boishakhi Mela: Ripon Miah, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Elevenses: Sam Hood, Public domain, source
- Pentecost: See The Holy Land, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Martenitsa: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Koulourakia: foodistablog, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kukeri: Nenko Lazarov, CC BY 2.5, source
- Straw bear: Photo: Andreas Praefcke, CC BY 3.0, source
- La Tomatina: Graham McLellan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Long sword dance: donald judge, CC BY 2.0, source
- Twelve Grapes: Ralf Roletschek, GFDL 1.2, source
- Festa del Redentore: Photographer: Riccardo Speziari, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yule: Robert Chambers, Public domain, source
- Las arras: penny, CC BY 2.0, source
- Afternoon tea: joyosity, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nativity scene: Yvonne Bentele, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Giostra della Quintana: Alb.Maur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Krampus: Naturpuur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Russian wedding traditions: GeorgeLouis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vyshyvanka: Vasily Andreevich Tropinin, Public domain, source