festival
Americannoun
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festivals
plural
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a day or time of religious or other celebration, marked by feasting, ceremonies, or other observances.
the festival of Christmas; a Roman festival.
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a periodic commemoration, anniversary, or celebration.
an annual strawberry festival.
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a period or program of festive activities, cultural events, or entertainment.
a music festival.
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gaiety; revelry; merrymaking.
adjective
noun
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a day or period set aside for celebration or feasting, esp one of religious significance
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any occasion for celebration, esp one which commemorates an anniversary or other significant event
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an organized series of special events and performances, usually in one place
a festival of drama
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archaic a time of revelry; merrymaking
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(modifier) relating to or characteristic of a festival
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of festival
1300–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin fēstivālis ( diēs ) holy (day). See festive, -al 1
Explanation
A festival might be an all-day series of music performances or a weekend of short plays or films. Any program made up of many different acts, especially lasting an entire day or several days, can be called a festival. Another meaning of the word festival is "big party," again most often a celebration that lasts for a long period of time. Some festivals are religious, and others are seasonal or cultural, like a city's Italian Heritage Festival. Some famous festivals include the Fringe Festival in Scotland, Carnivale in Brazil, Oktoberfest in Germany and Burning Man in the United States. You could travel the world as a festival hopper.
Vocabulary lists containing festival
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Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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Aztec, Maya, and Inca Empires - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Alongside him, Cristian Lara, a 50-year-old merchant, thanked the festival organizers for "blessing" his house with a mural, and stated that there are "new winds of change" in El Salvador.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
More than 200 murals have been created since the festival began, which, in addition to Salvadoran artists, has also featured artists from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Argentina.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
The 2026 festival exceeded expectations, bringing 1.6m visits to the city over eight days of celebrations.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis has said the festival has booked its headliners for next summer - but scotched rumours that Madonna will be among them.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Things were really coming together for the festival.
From "Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus" by Dusti Bowling
Gabi Bradbury, who has been sober for three years, described much the same life: bars, concerts, festivals and nights out with friends, only without alcohol in her glass.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
Weddings are the new headliner at music festivals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Mala Wangzi has opened pop-up museums around the country, held more than 4,000 latiao-themed weddings for superfan couples, and sponsored e-sport events, music festivals, and animation conventions.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Classical musicians are not native species of massive pop festivals in the desert.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Is this...your thing? Art festivals in parks? Like, how come you don't go to the park to play ball or something?”
From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
