festival

1 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

festival

2 of 2

adjective

fes·​ti·​val ˈfe-stə-vəl 

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

Synonyms of festival

Noun

• celebration
• festivity
• fiesta

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

Noun

Introduced in 2014, the award is the festival’s top honor and recognizes lasting contributions to Asian cinema. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Oct. 2026

Unlike other modern culinary festivals, there was no peeking behind the curtain, because, in fact, there is no curtain. — Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Oct. 2026

Adjective

The change of location has had a mixed response, with many citing Edinburgh’s charm and proximity to annual comedy festival the Edinburgh Fringe as reason’s for the festival success. — K.j. Yossman, Variety, 22 Oct. 2026

Iron Boy also won the features audience award, voted on by the festival public. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

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

First Known Use

Noun

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

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined above

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