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
🇺🇸 United StatesJingle dress
A healing dance and regalia worn by First Nations women at pow wows across North America.Performance
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBihu dance
A folk dance from Assam that celebrates spring, fertility and the new year with energetic movement and music.Performance
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan and 1 moreKyz kuu
A horse racing game where a man chases a woman to win a kiss or faces her whip if he fails.Game
🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사 (Jesa)
A Korean ancestral memorial ceremony held on death anniversaries and major holidays.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇻🇺 Port Vila, VanuatuNakamal
A traditional meeting house in Vanuatu for community gatherings and the drinking of kava.Ceremony · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreKhordad Salخرداد روز
A Zoroastrian festival marking the birth of the prophet Zarathushtra with prayers and feasts.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 JapanEma絵馬
Small wooden plaques left at Japanese shrines and temples for prayers and wishes.Spiritual
🇮🇳 Lucknow, IndiaChikankariچِکن کاری / चिकन की कढ़ाई / चिकनकारी
Delicate hand embroidery from Lucknow, India, featuring white-on-white floral patterns and intricate shadow-work stitcheCraft
🇲🇦 MoroccoChaabiشعبي
A North African music and dance tradition meaning 'of the people', played at weddings and festivals.Performance
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaPenjorᬧᬾᬜ᭄ᬚᭀᬃ
A curved bamboo pole decorated with leaves and offerings, raised in Bali to mark Galungan and invite prosperity.Spiritual
🇦🇺 AustraliaGarma Festival of Traditional Cultures
A four-day cultural gathering in northeast Arnhem Land celebrating Yolngu traditions and fostering two-way learning.Festival
🇭🇷 Dubrovnik, CroatiaLinđo
A circle dance from Dubrovnik played to the lijerica, where a leader sets the rhythm and calls the steps.Performance
🇱🇷 LiberiaDan maskgle or ge
A sacred wooden mask worn by the Dan people of Liberia to embody forest spirits during masquerade.Spiritual
🇮🇳 Vrindavan, IndiaRaslilaरासलीला (Rāsalīlā)
A traditional Indian dance and folk theatre performance depicting the divine love of Krishna and the gopis.Performance
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreZaffaزفّة
A musical wedding procession common in Arab cultures, featuring music and dancing.Festival
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 moreDay of the VowGeloftedag
A religious public holiday in South Africa kept by Afrikaners to honour a vow made before the Battle of Blood River.Festival
🇬🇧 Lerwick, United KingdomUp Helly Aa
A Shetland fire festival with torch processions and a burning Viking ship to close the winter season.Festival
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFleadh CheoilFleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
An annual gathering of Irish traditional music and dance, featuring competitions, public sessions, and concerts across IPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreGiddhaਗਿੱਧਾ
A lively circle dance of women from the Punjab region, performed with clapping and call-and-response songs.Performance
🇸🇴 SomaliaBuraanbur
A traditional Somali poetic form composed by women, recited with drums and dance at weddings and gatherings.Performance
🇮🇶 IraqMudhifالمضيف
A traditional reed guest house kept by the Ahwari people of southern Iraq for ceremonies and hospitality.Home
🇹🇹 Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago and 1 moreDivali Nagar
An annual cultural exposition in Trinidad and Tobago celebrating Hindu traditions during the Diwali season.Festival
🇺🇸 New York, United StatesRockefeller Center Christmas Tree
A towering spruce lit annually in New York City to mark the start of the holiday season.Festival
🇲🇦 MoroccoAhidusaḥidous (ⴰⵃⵉⴷⵓⵙ)
A collective Berber dance and song tradition from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.Performance
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreSweat lodge
A purification ceremony kept by Indigenous peoples of the Americas using a heated hut and steam.Spiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreKol Nidreכָּל נִדְרֵי
An Aramaic declaration of vow annulment that opens the Yom Kippur evening service in Jewish synagogues.Spiritual
🇳🇪 Agadez, NigerAgadez Crosstanaghilt
A silver pendant cast by Tuareg blacksmiths in Niger, worn as jewelry and a symbol of protection.Dress
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 2 moreNgajatTanda Ngajat
A traditional folk dance of the Iban people in Sarawak and Borneo, mimicking birds and warriors.Performance
🇭🇺 Hungary and 5 moreCsárdás
A Hungarian folk dance that moves from a slow start to a fast finish, kept in Hungary and neighboring regions.Performance
🇵🇹 Lisbon, PortugalMarchas Populares
Neighbourhood teams march, dance and sing through Lisbon's June nights for St AnthonyFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇲🇲 Mandalay, Myanmar and 2 moreSand pagodaသဲပုံစေတီ (Burmese), พระเจดีย์ทราย (Thai)
Temporary sand or mud structures built by Theravada Buddhists to cultivate merit and honor the Buddha.Spiritual
🇧🇲 Hamilton, BermudaGombey
A Bermudian masquerade of dance and drumming with African and British rootsPerformance
🇯🇵 Fukuoka, JapanHakata Gion Yamakasa博多祇園山笠
A July festival in Fukuoka featuring heavy float races through the streets of Hakata.Festival
🇮🇩 North Sumatra, IndonesiaUlosᯥᯞᯘᯬ᯲
A hand-woven textile of the Batak people in Indonesia, worn for warmth and ceremony.Dress
🇳🇿 New ZealandWaka
Traditional Māori canoes used for fishing, transport, and ceremony, built from single logs or stitched planks.Craft
🇺🇸 New York, United StatesWampum
Shell beads woven into belts by Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands for record-keeping and ceremony.Folklore
🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilJongo
A nightlong dance and music gathering kept by Afro-Brazilian communities in the southeast of Brazil.Performance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreNazar battuनज़र बट्टू / نظر بٹو
A protective custom in South Asia using deliberate flaws or charms to deflect the evil eye.Spiritual
🇵🇷 Ponce, Puerto RicoVejigante
A masked folkloric character in Puerto Rican festivals, wearing ornate masks and performing a role of mischief or resistFestival
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreTrunk-or-treating
A safer Halloween alternative where treats are handed out from decorated car trunks in parking lots.Festival
🇸🇳 Dakar, Senegal and 1 moreSenegalese wrestlingLaamb (Wolof), Njom (Serer)
A striking folk wrestling sport from Senegal that blends combat with oral poetry and music.Game
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreHabesha coffee ceremonyቡና ማፍላት
A daily ritual of roasting, grinding and serving coffee to welcome guests in Ethiopia and EritreaEtiquette
🇧🇷 São Paulo, BrazilMaculelê
An Afro-Brazilian stick dance from Bahia that blends rhythm, mock combat, and song.Performance
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreTisha B'Avתשעה באב
A solemn fast day in July or August to mourn the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples and other Jewish tragedies.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 London, United KingdomLord Mayor's Show
An annual civic parade in London marking the inauguration of the Lord Mayor with a procession and pageantry.Ceremony
🇧🇷 Recife, Brazil and 1 moreMaracatu
A set of Afro-Brazilian performance traditions from Pernambuco and Ceará featuring drumming, dance, and royal pageantry.Performance
🇹🇭 Thailand and 7 moreSpirit house
A small roofed shrine on a pillar, kept in homes and villages across Southeast Asia to honour protective spirits.Spiritual
🇳🇿 Wellington, New ZealandHaka
A ceremonial dance of the Māori people in New Zealand, performed with vigorous movement and chant for welcome, mourning,Performance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Chuseok: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Jingle dress: Montanabw, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bihu dance: Digantatalukdar, CC0, source
- Kyz kuu: SSGT JEREMY T. LOCK, Public domain, source
- Nakamal: Phillip Capper, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ema: No machine-readable author provided. Fg2 assumed (based on copyright c, Public domain, source
- Chikankari: Joey Berzowska, CC BY 2.0, source
- Penjor: Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Linđo: Sasa.mazinjanin, Public domain, source
- Dan mask: Unknown author, CC BY 3.0, source
- Raslila: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matsukin/, CC BY 2.0, source
- Day of the Vow: South African Railways and Harbours public relations department, Public domain, source
- Up Helly Aa: Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Fleadh Cheoil: Gfitz122, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Giddha: University of the Fraser Valley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mudhif: Hassan Janali, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Public domain, source
- Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree: Praneeth Thalla, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ahidus: Fotograaf / photographer: Drs. F.M. (Frits) Cowan (1931 - 2010), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sweat lodge: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kol Nidre: אליעזר ב"ר רבי אליהו הלוי שבט סופר, Public domain, source
- Agadez Cross: Amadouibrahim2, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ngajat: Menuaibansarawak, CC0, source
- Csárdás: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Marchas Populares: Taisir85, CC BY 4.0, source
- Sand pagoda: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
- Gombey: Smithsonian Institution, No restrictions, source
- Hakata Gion Yamakasa: Pontafon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ulos: Boy Lawson, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Waka: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wampum: Museuvalenciaetnologia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jongo: Vanessa Freitas, Public domain, source
- Nazar battu: Wiki-uk, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vejigante: Oscar Rohena, CC BY 2.0, source
- Trunk-or-treating: Lance Cpl. Scott L. Tomaszycki, Public domain, source
- Senegalese wrestling: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Habesha coffee ceremony: sameffron, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Maculelê: Joel Zimmer, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tisha B'Av: shlomi kakon, CC BY 2.5, source
- Lord Mayor's Show: Yamen, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maracatu: Prefeitura de Olinda, CC BY 2.0, source
- Spirit house: Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Haka: Merrett, Joseph Jenner, 1816-1854., Public domain, source