Tradition · Surkhandarya, Kashkadarya +2
Bakhshi art
Epic poems sung from memory to the dombra, kobyz or dutar — the performers of Alpamysh and Go‘ro‘g‘li; UNESCO-listed since 2021.
Tradition · Surkhandarya
The cultural space of Boysun
Baysun in the Surkhandarya mountains, where rituals keep traces of shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Islam; a UNESCO Masterpiece since 2001.
Layers of time
Boysun (Baysun) district lies in south-eastern Uzbekistan on the ancient route from Asia Minor to India and is one of the oldest inhabited areas of Central Asia. As the Silk Road declined the area grew isolated — which helped preserve ancient traditions bearing traces of shamanistic beliefs, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Islam.
The rituals are still alive: on the eve of Navruz a sowing ritual is held with offerings of food; forty days after a birth evil spirits are chased away with fire and ashes; boys’ circumcision feasts come with goat fights, wrestling and horse races. Old wedding, funeral and healing rites survive, along with seasonal chants, epics and dances.
UNESCO and Boysun Bahori
In 2001 UNESCO proclaimed the cultural space of Boysun a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and in 2008 it joined the Representative List. Since 2002 Boysun has hosted the Boysun Bahori (‘Boysun Spring’) international folklore festival — annual at first, then paused, and revived in 2017; the 13th edition ran on 1–7 May 2026 at the Boysun Bahori complex in Bibishirin mahalla. In spring the mountains turn green, the best time to visit the villages, carpet weavers and kupkari games.
Sources (3)
Tradition · Nationwide
Hospitality and the dastarkhan
‘A guest ranks above your father’: the seat of honour, a dastarkhan that is never left bare, and table manners from breaking the bread to the closing blessing.
Tradition · Nationwide
Tea culture and the choyxona
Green tea ‘returned’ to the pot, a bowl filled only halfway, and the choyxona at the heart of every mahalla: the Uzbek day begins and ends with tea.
Tradition · Nationwide
The Uzbek wedding
From matchmaking to the bride’s bow: an Uzbek wedding is not a one-day party but a chain of rites that unites two families.
Tradition · Nationwide
Beshik to‘yi (cradle feast)
The rite in which a first-born baby is laid in its cradle for the first time; the cradle and gifts arrive from the mother’s family to the sound of karnay and surnay.
Tradition · Nationwide
The mahalla
‘A little town within the town’: the neighbourhood community gathered around its guzar, teahouse, mosque and elder — the basic unit of Uzbek life.
Tradition · Nationwide
Hashar
Unpaid communal work by neighbours: once used to dig canals and raise houses, today a clean-up of the mahalla before holidays.
Tradition · Nationwide
Navruz customs
The spring-equinox festival: hashar clean-ups and new clothes, sumalak stirred all night, ko‘k somsa, the ‘Boychechak’ song, kurash and kupkari.
Tradition · Bukhara
Shashmaqom and the maqom tradition
‘Six maqoms’ — a classical suite of instrumental and vocal music that took shape in Bukhara; joint UNESCO heritage of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan since 2008.
Tradition · Khorezm
Lazgi
Khorezm’s fiery folk melody and dance, evoking the sounds of nature, love and joy; UNESCO-listed since 2019.