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
🇨🇭 SwitzerlandSchwingen
A traditional Swiss folk wrestling style fought in sawdust ringsGame
🇬🇭 Accra, GhanaFantasy coffinsAbebuu adekai
Custom hand-carved burial caskets shaped as animals, tools and symbols in southern GhanaRite of passage
🇳🇬 Onitsha, NigeriaAgbogho MmuoAgbọghọ Mmụọ
An Igbo masked dance celebrating maidenhood and the female spiritPerformance
🇦🇺 Sydney, AustraliaCorroboreegaraabara
A gathering of Australian Aboriginal peoples featuring dance, music and storytellingFestival
🇲🇲 MyanmarYoke théရုပ်သေး
A classical Burmese string puppet theatre performed with complex marionettes and music.Performance
🇪🇬 Luxor, EgyptTahtibتحطيب
An Egyptian stick dance and martial art kept by men and women in Upper Egypt.Performance
🇬🇧 Cardiff, United KingdomNational Eisteddfod of WalesEisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru
An annual week-long festival of Welsh music, poetry and culture held across different locations in Wales.Festival
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomChelsea Flower Show
A five-day May horticultural festival held in London by the Royal Horticultural SocietyFestival
🇧🇸 Nassau, BahamasRake-and-scrape
A traditional Bahamian music style featuring saws, guitars and drums.Performance
🇨🇳 ChinaHong Kong tea culture
Morning tea with dim sum and milk tea through the day, in Hong Kong's teahousesTable custom · Breakfast
🇺🇸 United StatesGrass dance
A fast-paced men's pow wow dance from the Northern Great Plains featuring sweeping movements and bright fringe regalia.Performance
🇮🇷 Isfahan, Iran and 3 morePersian gardenباغ ایرانی
An ancient tradition of creating walled, geometric sanctuaries of shade and flowing waterCraft
🇭🇳 Honduras and 4 morePunta
A lively dance and music style of the Garifuna people, celebrated in Central America and the Caribbean.Performance
🇬🇧 Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom and 5 moreRapper sword
A fast-paced five-person sword dance from the coalfields of North East England, kept alive by teams worldwide.Performance
🇹🇻 TuvaluFatele
A traditional dance song of Tuvalu performed at community events and celebrations.Performance
🇺🇸 United StatesFancy dance
A fast-paced, athletic Indigenous dance kept at powwows across North America and beyond.Performance
🇹🇷 TurkeyRamadan in Turkey
A holy month of fasting, prayer, and community meals, observed across Turkey with unique local customs.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇰 Galičnik, North Macedonia and 1 moreTeškotoТешкото
A Macedonian line dance that expresses the hardship and resilience of people in western Macedonia.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaSaptapadiसप्तपदी (Sanskrit), सात फेरे (Marathi)
The seven-step ritual that finalizes a Hindu marriage, observed across India.Rite of passage
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreGrihapraveshगृहप्रवेश (Gṛhapravēśa)
A Hindu housewarming ritual to purify a new home and invite blessings.Home
🇪🇸 Ronda, Spain and 5 moreBullfightingCorrida de toros
A ritual contest between a bullfighter and a bull, kept in Spain and Latin AmericaGame
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreAttanاتڼ
A Pashtun circle dance of drums and clapping, kept at weddings and gatherings.Performance
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainHoly Week in SevilleSemana Santa de Sevilla
A week of solemn processions and floats through the streets of Seville to mark the Passion of Christ.Spiritual
🇦🇹 Vienna, Austria and 2 moreViennese waltzWiener Walzer
A fast rotary partner dance kept across Austria and Europe, celebrated in ballrooms and social halls.Performance
🇬🇷 Athens, Greece and 1 moreTsamikoΤσάμικος
A slow Greek folk dance performed in a line or circle to 3/4 time music.Performance
🇦🇺 AustraliaThe Dreaming
A living spiritual worldview and law connecting Aboriginal Australians to ancestors, land, and community.Spiritual
🇲🇱 San, Mali and 1 moreBògòlanfinibɔgɔlanfini
A handmade Malian cotton textile dyed with iron-rich mud, worn for protection and identity.Dress
🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaTemplestay템플스테이
A program that invites visitors to live in South Korean Buddhist temples and join the daily routines of monastic life.Spiritual · Dinner
🇧🇯 Porto-Novo, Benin and 3 moreZangbeto
A traditional security institution and night-guardian cult among the Ogu people of West Africa.Ceremony
🇲🇻 MaldivesBoduberuބޮޑުބެރު
A Maldivian drumming and dance tradition performed by groups of common citizens.Performance
🇵🇭 Manila, Philippines and 1 moreSimbang Gabi
A nine-day series of early morning Masses held in the Philippines to prepare for Christmas.Festival
🇵🇱 Kraków, PolandKrakowiak
A lively Polish folk dance from Kraków that became a popular ballroom style across Europe.Performance
🇹🇲 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and 2 moreTurkmen rugTürkmen haly
Handmade textiles woven by Turkmen tribes, featuring geometric patterns and natural dyes.Craft
🇺🇸 United StatesNalukataq
A spring whaling festival of the Iñupiat in Northern Alaska, featuring a blanket toss and communal feast.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇸 Seville, SpainSevillanas
A folk dance and song from Seville, kept at fairs and festivals across Andalusia.Performance
🇹🇷 Turkey and 5 moreNazarnazar boncuğu
A blue glass eye amulet worn and displayed to deflect the evil eye.Folklore
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 4 moreDikir baratDikir Hulu / Dikir Barat
A group singing art from the Malay Peninsula where verses are traded back and forth in a witty lyrical duel.Performance
🇺🇸 Honolulu, United StatesLei Day
A statewide celebration in Hawaii honoring the art of lei making and the aloha spirit.Festival
🇳🇪 In-Gall, Niger and 2 moreGuérewol
A week-long courtship ritual where Wodaabe men dance and sing to win the attention of marriageable women.Festival
🇪🇸 Spain and 5 moreArbor Day
An annual secular observance dedicated to planting and caring for trees around the worldCeremony
🇫🇯 FijiMeke
A traditional Fijian dance and song form performed by groups at celebrations.Performance
🇸🇪 Sweden and 3 moreAdventadventus
A four-week Christian season of waiting and preparation for Christmas and the Second Coming.Festival
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreBeating Retreat
A military ceremony of music and drill held at sunset to mark the end of a day or a festival.Ceremony
🇫🇷 France and 5 moreCheek kissingfaire la bise
A greeting gesture where people touch cheeks or lips to cheeks to show friendship or respect.Etiquette
🇹🇿 Zanzibar City, Tanzania and 2 moreSwahili doorMlango wa Kiswahili
A carved wooden entrance from the East African coast, adorned with metal studs and intricate motifs.Craft
🇲🇦 Marrakesh, Morocco and 5 moreGnawa musicڭْناوة or كْناوة
A spiritual musical tradition of Morocco that blends West African rhythms with Islamic ritual to heal and connect communPerformance
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalKumariकुमारी
A living goddess tradition in Nepal where a young girl embodies the divine feminine.Spiritual
🇲🇦 Morocco and 1 moreHamadsha
A Moroccan possession rite kept by Muslim fraternities to cure affliction and restore social balance through music and dSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Schwingen: Quejaytee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fantasy coffins: Regula Tschumi, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Agbogho Mmuo: Vivian Amalachukwu, CC BY 4.0, source
- Yoke thé: Uthantofburma ( talk ) 05:15, 30 November 2010 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tahtib: Yasser Elrasoul, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- National Eisteddfod of Wales: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chelsea Flower Show: Nzfauna, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Grass dance: Smithsonian Institute: Cynthia Frankenburg, Public domain, source
- Persian garden: dynamosquito, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Punta: Pitxiquin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fatele: JialiangGao, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fancy dance: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ramadan in Turkey: Wiki leylek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Teškoto: This illustration was made by Rašo . An email to Rašo would be appreci, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saptapadi: Bhumish143, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Grihapravesh: Aruna at ml.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bullfighting: No machine-readable author provided. Manuel González Olaechea assumed, CC BY 3.0, source
- Holy Week in Seville: Sevilla Congress & Convention Bureau, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Viennese waltz: Sigismund von Dobschütz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- The Dreaming: September 1985, Public domain, source
- Bògòlanfini: BluesyPete, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Templestay: (c)한국불교문화사업단, culturalcorpsofkoreanbuddhism, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zangbeto: Grete Howard, CC BY 3.0, source
- Boduberu: Suvalex, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Simbang Gabi: Avito C. Dalan for the Philippine News Agency, Public domain, source
- Krakowiak: Władysław Bakałowicz, Public domain, source
- Turkmen rug: AltynAsyr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nalukataq: Floyd Davidson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sevillanas: Anual, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nazar: Alev Akın, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dikir barat: SMK SERI MAHKOTA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lei Day: Janine, CC BY 2.0, source
- Guérewol: Dan Lundberg, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Arbor Day: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Meke: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Beating Retreat: Beating Retreat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Advent: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cheek kissing: D. Sharon Pruitt, CC BY 2.0, source
- Swahili door: Halidtz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gnawa music: Lucyin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kumari: Nirmal Dulal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source