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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
The directive, a new addition to standard protocol, comes as labor activists from the unofficial union of festival temporary workers, Sous Les Écrans La Dèche, staged protests on opening night over working conditions. Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2025 In late 2015, Spain’s subsidy rules changed, ditching domestic box office performance as a main criteria in favor of a multi-point system, which for artier films prized a producer or director’s festival track-record, plus first features. John Hopewell, Variety, 14 May 2025
Noun
The festival will unfold across the Qatari capital of Doha. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 17 May 2025 Fans shared several videos of Pascal’s antics at the famed festival, where the actor could be seen laughing and playfighting with Phoenix, 50, smiling with Stone, 36, and — as per usual — being the life of the party. Bailey Richards, People.com, 17 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for festival

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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Festival.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/festival. Accessed 25 May. 2025.

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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