Last year, we covered that a whopping 50 traditions had earned their place on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, but for 2024? 66 new ones have been included.
Each year, the organisation (which stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation btw) meet to discuss and agree new items to add to their list of ‘intangible cultural heritage’, and it can include songs, dances, rituals, dress, festivals, celebrations, ceremonies, dishes, crafts, artworks and more from all over the globe.
So what’s now under protection? Well, the items that have been deemed worthy of protection include ‘the traditional knowledge and skills’ of sake-making that is ‘deeply rooted in Japanese culture’, French and Belgian funfair culture ‘dating back to medieval fairs’ and the ‘rituals, aesthetic and social practices’ associated with henna, ‘linked to centuries-old societal rules and traditions.’
Colourful, hand-painted Ukrainian Easter eggs, known as pysanky which are ‘deeply rooted in Ukrainian identity’, also made the list, alongside the ‘skills of Parisian zinc roofers’ and the tradition of making Nabulsi soap, a hand-crafted soap made from olive oil, water and lye, in Palestine.
UNESCO also placed Reog Ponorogo Performing Art, an Indonesian, centuries-old theatrical dance, and Botswana’s Wosana rainmaking ritual on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, which means the practise is dwindling or at risk of being neglected.
You can check out the full list for 2024 here, and see what was added to the last back in 2023 here.
Did you see that Christmas in Lapland might have been cancelled?
Plus: The 14 best winter destinations in Europe.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.