festival

1 of 2

adjective

fes·​ti·​val ˈfe-stə-vəl 

: of, relating to, appropriate to, or set apart as a festival

festival

2 of 2

noun

1

a

: a time of celebration marked by special observances

b

: feast sense 2

2

: an often periodic celebration or program of events or entertainment having a specified focus

a daffodil festival

a Greek festival

3

: gaiety, conviviality

Synonyms

Noun

• carnival
• celebration
• fest
• festivity
• fete
• fête
• fiesta
• gala
• jubilee

Examples of festival in a Sentence

Noun

Each year, a festival was held to celebrate the harvest.

The town has a summer festival in the park.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

With less than a month to go until Christmas, there is still plenty of time for a few of the four-legged residents to enjoy a festival miracle of their own. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2024

Satter worked alongside festival founder Robert Redford since 1981. —Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 22 Nov. 2024

Noun

Running from December 5 to 14, the festival opened with Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s feel-good drama The Tale Of Daye’s Family and will showcase some 120 features and shorts from 81 territories over the course of the coming nine days. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024

The festival just announced a second wave of talent, including comedy royalty like Aziz Ansari, Tiffany Haddish and Michael Yo. —Ana Gutierrez, Austin American-Statesman, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin festivus festive

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing festival

• mooncake festival
• moon festival

Kids Definition

festival

noun

fes·​ti·​val

ˈfes-tə-vəl

1

: a time of celebration in honor of a special occasion

2

: an often regularly occurring program of events or entertainment

festival adjective

Etymology

Noun

from earlier festival (adjective), derived from early French festival "festive," from Latin festivus "festive," from festum (noun) "festival, feast" — related to feast, fiesta