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

The city will soon be holding advisory meetings to develop the list of events and festivals that will occur in the next 12 months. — John Ramos, CBS News, 8 Nov. 2026

Indians kick off Diwali festivities The Associated Press Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India, particularly for Hindus, and widely marked by prayers, family gatherings and the lighting of fireworks. — Arkansas Online, 8 Nov. 2026

Adjective

The festival favorite horror film, which was acquired by IFC Films and Shudder, follows a dog’s mission to protect his sickly owner from a sinister supernatural force. — Jack Dunn, Variety, 6 Nov. 2026

Lokk ran her own distribution company, FilmaMAX, back then and had built an international network that ended up encouraging her to follow her festival dream. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 5 Nov. 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