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

Standing with a bike near the festival was Frantz Jerome, 65. — Finnegan Belleau, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026

Based on the 2021 short of the same name, whose festival run included New Directors/New Films, it’s produced by microFILM, 2Pilots Filmproduction, Frakas Prods. — Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 6 Sep. 2026

Adjective

Vendors were also stationed throughout the area, serving snacks, drinks and other festival-style treats to fans making their way toward the stadium. — Gabby Sartori, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2026

Watching the Lilith documentary and hearing about how two women can be played back-to-back on a radio or two women can be on a festival bill. — Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 3 Sep. 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