festival

/ˈfɛstəvəl/

/ˈfɛstɪvəl/

Other forms: festivals

A festival might be an all-day series of music performances or a weekend of short plays or films. Any program made up of many different acts, especially lasting an entire day or several days, can be called a festival.

Another meaning of the word festival is "big party," again most often a celebration that lasts for a long period of time. Some festivals are religious, and others are seasonal or cultural, like a city's Italian Heritage Festival. Some famous festivals include the Fringe Festival in Scotland, Carnivale in Brazil, Oktoberfest in Germany and Burning Man in the United States. You could travel the world as a festival hopper.

Definitions of festival

1. noun

   an organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place)
   “a drama festival”

   synonyms: fete

   types:

   carnival

   a festival marked by merrymaking and processions

   Bacchanalia, Dionysia

   an orgiastic festival in ancient Greece in honor of Dionysus (= Bacchus)

   eisteddfod

   any of several annual Welsh festivals involving artistic competitions (especially in singing)

   film festival

   a cinematic festival that features films (usually films produced during the past year)

   jazz festival

   a festival that features performances by jazz artists

   Kwanza, Kwanzaa

   a festival featuring African-American culture; celebrated between Christmas and New Year

   Oktoberfest

   an autumn festival that involves merrymaking and drinking beer

   Saturnalia

   an orgiastic festival in ancient Rome in honor of Saturn

   sheepshearing

   a festival held at the time sheep are normally sheared

   Royal National Eisteddfod

   an eisteddfod with competitions in music and drama and poetry and the fine arts

   Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras

   a carnival held in some countries on Shrove Tuesday (the last day before Lent) but especially in New Orleans

   type of:

   celebration, festivity

   any joyous diversion
2. noun

   a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration
   types:

   church festival, religious festival

   a festival having religious significance

   Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles, Succos, Succoth, Sukkoth, Tabernacles

   a major Jewish festival beginning on the eve of the 15th of Tishri and commemorating the shelter of the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness

   octave

   a feast day and the seven days following it

   type of:

   period, period of time, time period

   an amount of time