A free guide to the traditions of the world
Every tradition in the world, from every country and city.
How people marry, name a child, bury their dead, mark the new year, bring in the harvest, greet a guest and lay the table. Filed by country, city, meal, faith and spice, with the calendar for what is happening today.
- 806
- traditions so far
- 178
- countries
- 741
- cities and towns
- 315
- days on the calendar
Tradition of the day, Monday 5 OctoberPolonaiseA traditional Polish partner dance in triple metre, kept as a national custom and UNESCO heritage.🇵🇱 Poland and 2 more
Right nowMonday 5 October
Happening today
Around the world
- Breakfast in 🇰🇬 Bishkek, 🇰🇭 Phnom Penh, 🇹🇼 Taipei: Thai funeral
- Lunch in 🇹🇴 Nukuʻalofa, 🇼🇸 Apia, 🇰🇮 South Tarawa: Barn raising
- Dinner in 🇳🇮 Managua, 🇹🇹 Port of Spain, 🇪🇨 Quito: Christmas
- Supper in 🇧🇲 Hamilton, 🇧🇷 Brasília, 🇺🇾 Montevideo: Réveillon
Customs of the table
How people open the day, share a meal, welcome a guest and break a fast: the customs, not the recipes. For the dishes themselves, see Thali.
BreakfastHow the day is opened: the first gathering, the blessing, the first drink for a guest.18LunchThe midday pause: the siesta, the shared table and the carried meal.19DinnerThe evening table: who sits where, who is served first, what is said.48SupperThe late, light meal: the last gathering of the day and the vigil meal.10Tea-time and snacking customsThe bite offered to a visitor, the market stop and the tea-time visit.36Tea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesThe rituals and rules of what is poured and how it is received.36Sweets given and sharedSweets handed out at a birth, a wedding or a festival, and offered at a shrine.48Feasts and festival mealsThe meal that marks a day, a rite or a season, and how it is kept.126Fasting and breaking the fastRamadan iftar, Lent, Ekadashi: the rules of the fast and how it ends.29
Live, Monday 5 October
On now and next
Festivals, holy days and seasonal customs, with this year's dates worked out.
On now, about 20 Sept to 19 Oct 2026RtveliThe Georgian grape harvest in Kakheti: whole families pick, press and ferment the wine in buried qvevri jars.
On now, 1 to 7 Oct 2026National Day of ChinaThe founding of the People's Republic in 1949, kept with a flag-raising and the week-long Golden Week holiday.
On now, about 1 to 7 Oct 2026OdwiraThe Akan festival of purification and thanksgiving, with a cleansing of stools and a durbar of chiefs, strongest at Akropong.
In 3 days, 8 Oct 2026MehreganThe ancient autumn festival of Mithra: harvest, friendship and love, kept by Zoroastrians and in Persian culture.
In 4 days, 9 Oct 2026Hangul DayThe proclamation of the Korean alphabet by King Sejong in 1446, with calligraphy shows and ceremonies in Seoul.
In 5 days, 10 to 18 Oct 2026BathukammaTelangana's flower festival: women stack seasonal flowers into a cone and sing around it for nine evenings.
On now, 1 to 7 Oct 2026National Day of ChinaThe founding of the People's Republic in 1949, kept with a flag-raising and the week-long Golden Week holiday.
On now, about 1 to 7 Oct 2026OdwiraThe Akan festival of purification and thanksgiving, with a cleansing of stools and a durbar of chiefs, strongest at Akropong.
In 3 days, 8 Oct 2026MehreganThe ancient autumn festival of Mithra: harvest, friendship and love, kept by Zoroastrians and in Persian culture.
In 4 days, 9 Oct 2026Hangul DayThe proclamation of the Korean alphabet by King Sejong in 1446, with calligraphy shows and ceremonies in Seoul.
In 5 days, 10 to 18 Oct 2026BathukammaTelangana's flower festival: women stack seasonal flowers into a cone and sing around it for nine evenings.Every kind of tradition
Thirteen ways of sorting what people do, each with its own colour.
Spiritual and religiousRites, prayers, pilgrimages, fasts and sacred days.362Festivals and celebrationsThe days a community stops, gathers and celebrates.599Life-cycle ritesBirth, naming, coming of age, marriage and death.43Customs of food and drinkThe customs around eating and drinking: feasts, fasts, hosting and ceremony. Not recipes.125Seasons, harvest and the calendarCustoms tied to a season, a harvest, a moon or a day of the week.267Dress and adornmentClothes, jewellery, henna, tattoo and hair.29Music, dance and storytellingSongs, dances, theatre, epic poetry and oral history.229Greetings, manners and hospitalityHow people greet, host, give gifts and behave at the table.20Crafts and makingWeaving, pottery, carving and other handed-down skills.61Games, sport and playTraditional sport, children's games, martial arts and contests.49Folklore and beliefLegends, superstitions, charms and customs of luck.126Home and family lifeThe house, the hearth, the family and the neighbourhood.45Royal, civic and national ceremonyCoronations, courts, parades, oaths and national days.150
Around the world
Eleven regions, about two hundred countries. Shaded by how many traditions each has so far.
South AsiaDiwali, Holi, Eid and Vesak, saptapadi and mehndi: the densest calendar of living traditions anywhere.142 traditionsSoutheast AsiaSongkran, Tet, Nyepi and Pchum Ben, rice rituals and temple offerings.56 traditionsEast AsiaLunar New Year, tea ceremony, hanami, chuseok and the ancestors.91 traditionsCentral Asia and the CaucasusNowruz, the yurt, felt and falconry, and the supra table of Georgia.16 traditionsMiddle EastRamadan, hospitality of coffee and dates, Shabbat, Nowruz and the hajj.42 traditionsNorth AfricaMint tea, couscous Fridays, henna nights, moussems and Coptic feasts.23 traditionsSub-Saharan AfricaNaming ceremonies, initiation, kente and the harvest yam, Timkat and Ethiopian coffee.63 traditionsEuropeCarnival, Midsummer, Christmas markets, Easter, the village fête and the long Sunday lunch.222 traditionsNorth AmericaThanksgiving, powwow, Dia de Muertos, the Fourth of July and the Canadian maple season.73 traditionsLatin America and the CaribbeanCarnaval, Inti Raymi, quinceañera, mate, asado and the Day of the Dead.52 traditionsOceaniaHaka and hangi, Dreamtime and corroboree, kava, tapa and the umu oven.26 traditions
One idea, many places
Weddings, birth, funerals, new year, harvest and more, compared across countries side by side.
WeddingsNo celebration is kept in more ways than the wedding.20 placesBirth and new babiesA birth is welcomed by every culture, and nearly all of them wrap the first days in special customs.18 placesNaming ceremoniesA name is a first gift, and many cultures mark it with a ceremony.20 placesComing of ageAround the world, a young person's step into adulthood is marked by a ceremony.19 placesDeath and mourningEvery culture has a way to say goodbye.18 placesNew YearThe new year is celebrated on more days than any other festival.20 placesHarvest and thanksgivingWhen the crop is in, people celebrate.18 placesHospitality and welcomeGuests are treated as a blessing in most of the world, and many cultures have elaborate rules for welcoming them.20 placesGreetings and farewellsHow people say hello and goodbye tells you a great deal about a culture.18 placesPilgrimageMillions of people travel every year to a place they hold sacred.20 placesFasting and feastingFasting and feasting belong together.19 placesNew homes and beginningsMoving into a new home is a threshold in life, and cultures all over the world mark it with a ritual.18 placesSpring and renewalWhen the days lengthen and the ground softens, people around the world celebrate.20 placesMidwinter and the longest nightIn the far north the year turns on its darkest day.20 placesRemembering the ancestorsAlmost every society keeps a way of staying in touch with those who came before.19 placesHealing, luck and protectionPeople everywhere have made charms, rites and habits to keep harm away and bring good fortune.18 placesRoyalty and coronationKings, queens, emperors and chiefs have been crowned, enthroned and anointed in ceremonies that are among the oldest in the world.20 placesTea, coffee and the drinking ceremonyA cup of tea or coffee is more than a drink.19 places
See a few
A different handful every few minutes.
🇱🇺 Luxembourg and 3 moreBuergbrennen
A bonfire festival marking the end of winter on the first Sunday of Lent in LuxembourgSeasonal
🇺🇸 United States and 5 moreChristmas
A major Christian festival marking the birth of Jesus, celebrated globally with feasts and gift-giving.Festival · Dinner
🇫🇮 Helsinki, FinlandKalevala DayKalevalan päivä
A Finnish national flag day celebrating the country's epic poetry and living artsCeremony
🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanShichi-Go-San七五三
A Japanese festival celebrating the growth of three-year-old girls, five-year-old boys, and seven-year-old girls.Rite of passage
🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany and 3 moreRosenmontag
The peak of German carnival, celebrated with satirical street parades and sweetsFestival
🇮🇱 IsraelTallitטלית
A four-cornered Jewish prayer shawl with ritual fringes worn during worshipSpiritual
🇺🇸 United StatesFeast of the Seven FishesFesta dei sette pesci
An Italian-American Christmas Eve seafood dinner marking abstinence from meat.Table custom · Dinner
🇸🇴 Somalia and 1 moreDhaanto
A Somali folk dance and music style used for morale and celebration in the Horn of Africa.Performance
By faith and belief
Hindu 118Buddhist 76Jain 11Muslim 51Jewish 21Christian 210Sikh 15Zoroastrian 13Shinto, Taoist and folk Chinese 37Indigenous and traditional 113Pagan and ancient 36Secular and civic 209
By spice
Heritage news
- Cambodian Lakhon Khol showcased at UNESCO Heritage Festival in South KoreaKhmer Times, Heritage
- Williston celebrates its peanut culture and community traditions at annual festivalWUFT, Festivals
- Singapore Joins Regional Bid to Get Zapin Inscribed on UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ListAlvinology, Heritage
- Multicultural Folk Dance HouseTAPinto, Arts
- A local Illinois festival is celebrating community and toffeeMyWabashValley.com, Seasons
The words
219 terms in plain language.
Newly added
🇫🇯 FijiTabua
A polished sperm whale tooth traded as a sacred gift in Fijian ceremonies and negotiations.Ceremony
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreTibetan prayer flagLung ta / Darchog
Colorful cloth banners printed with mantras, hung in high places to spread blessings on the wind.Spiritual
🇹🇱 Dili, Timor-Leste and 1 moreTais
Traditional hand-woven cloth of East Timor, worn as dress or used in ceremonies and exchange.Dress
🇧🇧 BarbadosTuk band
A Barbadian musical ensemble with costumed figures that blends African drumming and British military traditions.Performance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Christmas: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Public domain, source
- Mehregan: PersianDutchNetwork, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rosenmontag: Aymx, Public domain, source
- Shichi-Go-San: Bergmann at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Odwira Festival: Duncanoff, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Buergbrennen: luxpim, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kalevala Day: Vladimir Menkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bathukamma: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feast of the Seven Fishes: GW Fins, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dhaanto: aflaanta std, CC BY 3.0, source
- Tallit: Mushki Brichta, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Polonaise: Korneli Szlegel, Public domain, source
- Tuk band: Ronaldwalcott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tais: Daderot, CC0, source
- Tibetan prayer flag: Wotan, CC BY 2.5, source
- Tabua: Hannes Grobe /AWI, CC BY 3.0, source
- National Day China: me ( w:User:pfctdayelise ), CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Hangul Day: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0, source