festival

See also: Festival

English

Alternative forms

• feastiuall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English festival (adjective), from Old French festival (“festive”), from Late Latin fēstīvālis, from Latin fēstīvus (“festive”). By surface analysis, festive +‎ -al. Displaced native Old English frēols. The noun is shortened from festival day, from Middle English festival dai, festiuall day (“feast day, festival”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛstɪvəl/, [ˈfɛstɪvl̩]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛstəvəl/, [ˈfɛstəvl̩], /ˈfɛstɪvəl/, [ˈfɛstɪvl̩]

  • Audio (General American):

    (file)

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈfestəvəl/, [ˈfestəvl̩] ~ [ˈfe̞stəvl̩]
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈfestəvəl/, [ˈfe̝stəvl̩] ~ [ˈfɪstəvl̩]
• Hyphenation: fes‧tiv‧al

Adjective

festival (comparative more festival, superlative most festival)

1. Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     the temple of the Gods […] / Whom all the people decke with girlands greene, / And honour in their festiuall resort […]

Noun

festival (countable and uncountable, plural festivals)

2. (biblical) A feast or feast day.
   • 2009, “Deuteronomy 16:16”, in Holman Christian Standard Bible:

     All your males are to appear three times a year before the Lord your God in the place He chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Booths. No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed.

4. An event or series of special events centred on the celebration or promotion of some theme or aspect of the community, often held at regular intervals.

   The Reading and Leeds festivals take place on the August bank holiday.

   A Welsh eisteddfod is a literary festival.

6. In mythology, a set of celebrations in the honour of a god.
8. (Caribbean, Jamaica, uncountable) Fried cornbread.

Derived terms

• Bon Festival
• Car Festival
• Chung Yueng Festival
• Da Jiu Festival
• Double Fifth Festival
• Double Ninth Festival
• Double Seventh Festival
• Dragon Boat Festival
• Dumpling Festival
• festie
• festivalgoer
• festivalist
• festivalization
• festivalize
• festivally
• Festival of Light
• Festival of Lights
• Festival of the Rosary
• Festival of Weeks
• festival seating
• festivalwear
• festy
• Ghost Festival
• harvest festival
• Harvest Festival
• Hungry Ghost Festival
• Kaul festival
• Laba Festival
• Lantern Festival
• macrofestival
• Magpie Festival
• megafestival
• Mid-Autumn Festival
• minifestival
• nonfestival
• prefestival
• pride festival
• pseudofestival
• Pure Brightness Festival
• Qingming Festival
• Renaissance festival
• rocket festival
• snow festival
• Spring Festival
• Sweet Festival
• teknival
• Tomb Sweeping Festival
• Tuen Ng Festival
• winter festival
• Winterval
• Zhongqiu Festival

Related terms

• festal
• festive
• festivity
• festivities

Translations

event or community gathering

• Afrikaans: fees (af)
• Albanian: festival (sq) m, festë (sq) f
• Arabic: عِيد (ar) m (ʕīd), مَهْرَجَان m (mahrajān)
• Armenian: տոն (hy) (ton), փառատոն (hy) (pʻaṙaton)
• Azerbaijani: festival (az), bayram (az)
• Bashkir: байрам (bayram)
• Basque: jai
• Belarusian: фестыва́ль m (fjestyválʹ), свя́та n (svjáta)
• Bengali: উৎসব (bn) (utśob)
• Bulgarian: пра́зненство (bg) n (práznenstvo), фестива́л (bg) m (festivál), пра́зник (bg) m (práznik)
• Burmese: ပွဲတော် (my) (pwai:tau), ပွဲ (my) (pwai:)
• Catalan: festival (ca) m
• Chamicuro: meesa
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 節慶 / 节庆 (zh) (jiéqìng), 節日 / 节日 (zh) (jiérì), 節 / 节 (zh) (jié), 會演 / 会演 (zh) (huìyǎn), 匯演 / 汇演 (zh) (huìyǎn)

• Czech: festival (cs), svátek (cs) m
• Danish: festival c
• Dutch: festival (nl) n, feest (nl) n
• Egyptian: (ḥꜣb)
• Esperanto: festivalo
• Estonian: pidustused pl, festival (et)
• Faroese: hátíð f
• Finnish: juhlat (fi) pl, festivaali (fi)
• French: festival (fr) m, fête (fr) f
• Galician: festival m, festa (gl) f
• Georgian: ფესტივალი (pesṭivali), ფესტი (pesṭi), დღესასწაული (dɣesasc̣auli)
• German: Festival (de) n, Fest (de) n

  Alemannic German: Fäscht n

• Greek: φεστιβάλ (el) (festivál)

  Ancient Greek: πανήγυρις f (panḗguris)

• Gujarati: ઓચ્છવ (gu) m (occhav), મહોચ્છવ m (mahocchav), તહેવાર m (tahevār)
• Hebrew: פֶסטִיבָל (he) m (festivál), חַג (he) m (khag)
• Hindi: त्योहार (hi) m (tyohār), जश्न (hi) m (jaśn), उत्सव (hi) m (utsav), पर्व (hi) m (parv), मेला (hi) m (melā), ईद (hi) f (īd) (Muslim)
• Hmong:

  White Hmong: rooj noj mov

• Hungarian: fesztivál (hu), ünnepség (hu)
• Icelandic: hátíð (is) f
• Ido: festivalo (io)
• Indonesian: festival (id), pesta (id), perayaan (id)
• Ingrian: guljanja
• Irish: fleá f
• Italian: festival (it) m, mostra (it) f, rassegna (it) f, sagra (it) f, festivale (it) m (rare)
• Japanese: 祭り (ja) (まつり, matsuri), 祭典 (ja) (さいてん, saiten), 祝祭 (ja) (しゅくさい, shukusai)
• Jingpho: poi
• Kannada: ಹಬ್ಬ (kn) (habba)
• Kazakh: мейрам (meyram), мереке (mereke), фестиваль (festiyvalʹ)
• Khmer: បុណ្យ (km) (bon), មហោស្រព (km) (mĕəʼhaosrɑp), ពិធីបុណ្យ (pithii bon)
• Korean: 축제(祝祭) (ko) (chukje), 축일(祝日) (ko) (chugil)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: فێستیڤاڵ (fêstîvall)

• Kyrgyz: майрам (ky) (mayram), фестиваль (ky) (festival)
• Lao: ງັນ (ngan), ງານ (ngān), ມະຫະກຳ (ma ha kam), ງານບຸນ (ngān bun), ກອງບຸນ (kǭng bun), ມື້ພັກ (lo) (mư̄ phak), ເທດສະການ (thēt sa kān)
• Latin: feria f, festum n, festivitas f
• Latvian: festivāls m, svētki m pl
• Lithuanian: festivalis m, šventė (lt) f
• Lü: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: фестива́л m (festivál), празник (mk) m (praznik)
• Malay: perayaan (ms), festival (ms)
• Malayalam: ഉത്സവം (ml) (utsavaṁ), മേള (ml) (mēḷa), പെരുന്നാൾ (ml) (perunnāḷ)
• Manx: ard-laa m
• Māori: taiopenga, hui taurima
• Mòcheno: fest n
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: баяр ёслол (bajar joslol)

• Naga:

  Khiamniungan Naga: sǖmaī

• Nepali: पर्व (parva), चाड (ne) (cāḍ)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: festival m

  Nynorsk: festival m

• Old English: frēols m
• Pali: mahussava
• Pashto: عيد (ps) m ('id), جشن (ps) m (ǰašᶕn), فستيوال m (festiwāl)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: جَشْنْوارِه (jašnvâre), فِسْتیوال (festivâl), عِیْد (eyd), جَشْن (jašn)

• Polish: festiwal (pl) m, święto (pl) n
• Portuguese: festival (pt) m
• Quechua: raymi (qu)
• Romanian: festival (ro) n
• Russian: фестива́ль (ru) m (festiválʹ), пра́здник (ru) m (prázdnik), пра́зднество (ru) n (prázdnestvo)
• Sanskrit: उत्सव (sa) m (utsava), महोत्सव (sa) m (mahotsava)
• Scottish Gaelic: fèis f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фестѝва̄л m, пра̑знӣк m

  Latin: festìvāl (sh) m, prȃznīk (sh) m

• Shan: ပွႆး (shn) (páui)
• Sholaga: ಹಬ್ಬ (habba)
• Sinhalese: උත්සවය (si) (utsawaya), සැණකෙලිය (si) (sæṇakeliya)
• Slovak: festival (sk) m, sviatok m
• Slovene: festival (sl) m, praznik (sl) m
• Spanish: festival (es) m
• Swahili: tamasha (sw)
• Swedish: festival (sv) c
• Tajik: ид (tg) (id), фестивал (festival), ҷашн (tg) (jašn), ҷашнвора (jašnvora)
• Tatar: бәйрәм (tt) (bäyräm)
• Telugu: పండుగ (te) (paṇḍuga)
• Thai: งานฉลอง (ngaan-chà-lɔ̌ɔng), มหกรรม (th) (má-hà-gam)
• Tibetan: དུས་ཆེན (dus chen)
• Turkish: festival (tr), şenlik (tr), bayram (tr)
• Turkmen: festiwal, baýram (tk)
• Ukrainian: фестива́ль m (festyválʹ), свя́то n (svjáto)
• Ulithian: boong
• Urdu: تِہْوار m (tihvār), عِید f ('īd), جَشْن m (jaśn), میلَہ m (mela)
• Uyghur: بايرام (bayram), فېستىۋال (fëstiwal)
• Uzbek: festival (uz), bayram (uz)
• Vietnamese: ngày hội, đại hội liên hoan, hội diễn (vi), lễ hội (vi), lễ tết (vi) (禮節)
• Welsh: gŵyl (cy) m or f
• Yakut: бырааһынньык (bïraahïnńïk)
• Yiddish: יאָמטעוו (yomtev), פֿעסטיוואַל m (festival)
• Yucatec Maya: chaʼan
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

See also

• heortology (study of festivals), festilogy (treatise on festivals)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French festival, from Latin fēstīvālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [fəs.tiˈβal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [fəs.tiˈval]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [fes.tiˈval]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [fes.tiˈβal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

festival m (plural festivals)

1. festival

Derived terms

• festival de cinema (“film festival”)

Related terms

• festa

Further reading

• “festival”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

Czech

Etymology

Via French festival, from Latin fēstīvālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈfɛstɪval]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fe‧s‧ti‧val

Noun

festival m inan

1. festival (an event or community gathering)

Declension

Declension of festival (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	festival	festivaly
genitive	festivalu	festivalů
dative	festivalu	festivalům
accusative	festival	festivaly
vocative	festivale	festivaly
locative	festivale, festivalu	festivalech
instrumental	festivalem	festivaly

Further reading

• “festival”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “festival”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “festival”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Danish

Etymology

Via English festival, from Latin festivalis.

Noun

festival c (singular definite festivalen, plural indefinite festivaler)

1. a festival

Declension

Declension of festival

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	festival	festivalen	festivaler	festivalerne
genitive	festivals	festivalens	festivalers	festivalernes

Derived terms

• festivalarrangør
• festivaldeltager
• festivalgænger
• festivalgæst
• festivalplads
• filmfestival
• jazzfestival
• kortfilmfestival
• kulturfestival
• litteraturfestival
• musikfestival
• rockfestival
• teaterfestival

References

• “festival” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English festival, from Old French festival, from Late Latin fēstīvālis, from Latin fēstīvus (“festive”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.tiˌvɑl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fes‧ti‧val

Noun

festival n (plural festivals, diminutive festivalletje n)

1. a festival (festive event or gathering)

Derived terms

• dorpsfestival
• festivalganger
• festivalisering
• festivalpubliek
• filmfestival
• kunstfestival
• muziekfestival
• rockfestival
• songfestival
• theaterfestival
• zomerfestival

Estonian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfestivɑl/, [ˈfestʲivɑl]

Noun

festival (genitive festivali, partitive festivali)

1. festival

Declension

Declension of festival (ÕS type 19/seminar, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		festival	festivalid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	festivali
genitive			festivalide
partitive		festivali	festivale festivalisid
illative		festivali festivalisse	festivalidesse festivalesse
inessive		festivalis	festivalides festivales
elative		festivalist	festivalidest festivalest
allative		festivalile	festivalidele festivalele
adessive		festivalil	festivalidel festivalel
ablative		festivalilt	festivalidelt festivalelt
translative		festivaliks	festivalideks festivaleks
terminative		festivalini	festivalideni
essive		festivalina	festivalidena
abessive		festivalita	festivalideta
comitative		festivaliga	festivalidega

Derived terms

• filmifestival

Further reading

• “festival”, in [PSV] Eesti keele põhisõnavara sõnastik [Dictionary of Estonian Basic Vocabulary] (in Estonian) (online version, not updated), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2014
• “festival”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “festival”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
• festival in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

French

Etymology

English festival, from Old French festival.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛs.ti.val/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Noun

festival m (plural festivals)

1. festival

Descendants

• → Greek: φεστιβάλ (festivál)
• → Turkish: festival

Further reading

• “festival”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Noun

festival (plural festival-festival)

1. festival

Italian

Alternative forms

• festivale

Etymology

Borrowed from English festival.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛs.ti.val/, (traditional) /fes.tiˈval/
• Rhymes: -ɛstival, (traditional) -al
• Hyphenation: fè‧sti‧val, (traditional) fe‧sti‧vàl

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

festival m (invariable)

1. festival
2. worker's festival

Synonyms

• mostra
• rassegna

Related terms

• festivaliere
• festivaliero

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin festivalis, via English festival.

Noun

festival m (definite singular festivalen, indefinite plural festivaler, definite plural festivalene)

1. a festival

References

• “festival” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin festivalis, via English festival.

Noun

festival m (definite singular festivalen, indefinite plural festivalar, definite plural festivalane)

1. a festival

References

• “festival” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

From French festival, ultimately from Latin fēstīvālis.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /fes.t͡ʃiˈvaw/ [fes.t͡ʃiˈvaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /fes.t͡ʃiˈvaw/ [fes.t͡ʃiˈvaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /feʃ.t͡ʃiˈvaw/ [feʃ.t͡ʃiˈvaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨʃ.tiˈval/ [fɨʃ.tiˈvaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨʃ.tiˈval/ [fɨʃ.tiˈvaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨʃ.tiˈbal/ [fɨʃ.tiˈβaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /fɨʃ.tiˈva.li/

Noun

festival m (plural festivais)

1. festival

Further reading

• “festival”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “festival”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French festival.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

festival n (plural festivaluri)

1. festival

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	festival	festivalul	festivaluri	festivalurile
genitive-dative	festival	festivalului	festivaluri	festivalurilor
vocative	festivalule		festivalurilor

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

festìvāl m inan (Cyrillic spelling фестѝва̄л)

1. festival

Declension

Declension of festival

	singular	plural
nominative	festìvāl	festivali
genitive	festivála	festivala
dative	festivalu	festivalima
accusative	festival	festivale
vocative	festivale	festivali
locative	festivalu	festivalima
instrumental	festivalom	festivalima

See also

• praznik

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /festival/, [ˈfestiʋal]
• Rhymes: -ival
• Hyphenation: fes‧ti‧val

Noun

festival m inan (declension pattern of dub)

1. festival

Declension

Declension of festival
(pattern dub)

	singular	plural
nominative	festival	festivaly
genitive	festivalu	festivalov
dative	festivalu	festivalom
accusative	festival	festivaly
locative	festivale	festivaloch
instrumental	festivalom	festivalmi

Further reading

• “festival”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /festiˈbal/ [fes.t̪iˈβ̞al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: fes‧ti‧val

Noun

festival m (plural festivales)

1. festival

Further reading

• “festival”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swedish

Noun

festival c

1. a festival (event)

   gå på festival

   go to a festival

Declension

Declension of festival

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	festival	festivals
	definite	festivalen	festivalens
plural	indefinite	festivaler	festivalers
	definite	festivalerna	festivalernas

Derived terms

• pridefestival

References

• “festival”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “festival”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from French festival.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [festiˈval]
• Hyphenation: fes‧ti‧val

Noun

festival (definite accusative festivali, plural festivaller)

1. festival

   Synonym: şenlik

Declension

Declension of festival

singular plural nominative festival festivaller definite accusative festivali festivalleri dative festivale festivallere locative festivalde festivallerde ablative festivalden festivallerden genitive festivalin festivallerin Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular festivalim festivallerim 2nd singular festivalin festivallerin 3rd singular festivali festivalleri 1st plural festivalimiz festivallerimiz 2nd plural festivaliniz festivalleriniz 3rd plural festivalleri festivalleri definite accusative singular plural 1st singular festivalimi festivallerimi 2nd singular festivalini festivallerini 3rd singular festivalini festivallerini 1st plural festivalimizi festivallerimizi 2nd plural festivalinizi festivallerinizi 3rd plural festivallerini festivallerini dative singular plural 1st singular festivalime festivallerime 2nd singular festivaline festivallerine 3rd singular festivaline festivallerine 1st plural festivalimize festivallerimize 2nd plural festivalinize festivallerinize 3rd plural festivallerine festivallerine locative singular plural 1st singular festivalimde festivallerimde 2nd singular festivalinde festivallerinde 3rd singular festivalinde festivallerinde 1st plural festivalimizde festivallerimizde 2nd plural festivalinizde festivallerinizde 3rd plural festivallerinde festivallerinde ablative singular plural 1st singular festivalimden festivallerimden 2nd singular festivalinden festivallerinden 3rd singular festivalinden festivallerinden 1st plural festivalimizden festivallerimizden 2nd plural festivalinizden festivallerinizden 3rd plural festivallerinden festivallerinden genitive singular plural 1st singular festivalimin festivallerimin 2nd singular festivalinin festivallerinin 3rd singular festivalinin festivallerinin 1st plural festivalimizin festivallerimizin 2nd plural festivalinizin festivallerinizin 3rd plural festivallerinin festivallerinin

Further reading

• “festival”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010), “festival”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı