festival

1 of 2

adjective

fes·​ti·​val ˈfe-stə-vəl How to pronounce festival (audio)
: 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
2
: an often periodic celebration or program of events or entertainment having a specified focus
a daffodil festival
a Greek festival
3

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
Opening the award ceremony, festival general director Elise Jalladeau gave an emphatic statement on behalf of her team’s commitment to creating an open and inclusive space for dialogue. Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 14 Mar. 2024 Sting's other 2024 appearances include festival dates and shows across Europe. Brian McCollum, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2024 Cullen swooped in to buy the festival rights from organizers in December 2022 for $250,000, relocating the celebration to his hometown. Heather Mundt, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2024 Piet Levy It's been four months since Summerfest announced a festival show for the American Family Insurance Amphitheater. Journal Sentinel, 4 Mar. 2024 In total, nearly 150 music acts will be part of the festival weekend along with Louisville’s finest spirits and top local cuisine. Kirby Adams, The Courier-Journal, 21 Feb. 2024 And, as signified by the Harley-Davidson news, festival season is nearly upon us. Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 25 Jan. 2024 Metrics like charting or sales can factor in, but more important are festival identities, cultural knowledge and a little diplomacy. Shelly Tan, Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2024 Meanwhile, festival revelers are eagerly anticipating the any-day-now announcement of the food lineup at this year’s Coachella after years of eating specialties from KazuNori (a restaurant that launched at Coachella) and buzzworthy chefs like Roy Choi in the desert. Andy Wang, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
Noun
Regular presences at major film festivals, the two women have specialized in documentary, international, genre and independent films of both the theatrical and streaming variety. Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Mar. 2024 The documentary premiered recently at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2024 But as torrential rain pummeled the 86-acre open-air festival grounds, one artist’s performance was canceled, and others had their sets cut short. Jessica Roiz, Billboard, 18 Mar. 2024 Once again, the festival grounds cover Embarcadero Marina Park North, Ruocco Park and Seaport Village. Spin Contributor, SPIN, 18 Mar. 2024 And a day goes by, and tanks, and the sky a festival of kids flying kites, and blood flowed behind a panting car. Nasser Rabah, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024 While walking across a bridge at a hot air balloon festival in August 2019, fireworks went off. Jeff Seidel, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2024 As before, Pepsi — the festival’s inaugural partner — will also bring back its popular Pepsi Dig In platform, featuring an array of food from local Black female restaurateurs. Gail Mitchell, Billboard, 6 Mar. 2024 Road House will open the festival, which also featured the Ryan Gosling action comedy The Fall Guy and Netflix series 3 Body Problem. Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'festival.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of festival was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near festival

Cite this Entry

“Festival.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/festival. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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

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