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
Along with the festival atmosphere and activities, Polaris aims to keep riders safe and happy by providing an on-site service garage. Kristin Shaw, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024 Some ‘90s rock bands reunite for the paycheck of a festival appearance or an alternative rock package tour. Glenn Peoples, Billboard, 30 Oct. 2024
Noun
It was celebrated as a harvest festival at the end of October, but also marked a day when the veil between this world and the next was at its thinnest. Tithi Bhattacharya / Made By History, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024 For now, however, Haynes has a solo in-store appearance set for Nov. 2 at Looney Tunes in West Babylon, N.Y., with his band and Gov’t Mule set to play at the Island Exodus 15 festival during January in Jamaica. Gary Graff, Billboard, 31 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for festival 

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 4 Nov. 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

More from Merriam-Webster on festival

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