festival - Definition | Dictionary definition of festival

Definition of festival

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

an organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place)

"a drama festival"

Types:: show 11 types...; hide 11 types...; carnival
a festival marked by merrymaking and processions; Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras
a carnival held in some countries on Shrove Tuesday (the last day before Lent) but especially in New Orleans; 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); Royal National Eisteddfod
an eisteddfod with competitions in music and drama and poetry and the fine arts; 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