Festival

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Festival

A festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on some unique aspect of that community.

Among many religion

Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
s, a feast or festival is a set of celebrations in honour of God

God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
or gods

Polytheism

Polytheism is the belief in or worship of multiple deities, such as gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a Pantheon , along with their own mythology and rituals....
.

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Village Feast Fac Simile of A Woodcut of the Sandrin Ou Verd Galant Facetious Work of the End of the Sixteenth Century Edition of 1609

A festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on some unique aspect of that community.

Among many religion

Religion

God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
or gods

Polytheism

Polytheism is the belief in or worship of multiple deities, such as gods and goddesses. These are usually assembled into a Pantheon , along with their own mythology and rituals....
. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. However, the term "feast" has also entered common secular parlance

Idiom

An idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be determined by the literal definition of the phrase itself, but refers instead to a figurative language meaning that is known only through common use....
as a synonym for any large or elaborate meal

Meal

A meal is an instance of eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes specific, prepared food.Meals occur primarily at homes, restaurants, and cafeterias, but may occur anywhere....
. When used as in the meaning of a festival, most often refers to a religious festival

Religious festival

A religious festival is a time of special importance marked by adherents to that religion. Religious festivals are commonly celebrated on recurring cycles in a calendar year or lunar calendar....
rather than a film or art festival.

In the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
liturgical calendar there are two principal feasts, properly known as the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas

Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
) and the Feast of the Resurrection, (Easter

Easter

Easter is the most important religious feast in the Christianity liturgical year.Christians believe that Jesus was Resurrection of Jesus from the dead three days after his Crucifixion of Jesus, and celebrate this resurrection on Easter Day or Easter Sunday , two days after Good Friday....
). In the Catholic

Catholic

Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek language adjective , meaning "whole" or "complete". In the context of Christianity ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages....
, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican liturgical calendars there are a great number of lesser feasts throughout the year commemorating saints, sacred events, doctrines, etc.

For a list of festivals in the USA, please see List of festivals in the United States

List of festivals in the United States

This is a list of festivals in the United States....
.

Etymology

The word fest derives from the Middle English

Middle English

Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman conquest of England of 1066 and about 1470, when the #Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the introduction of the printing press into England by William...
, from Middle French

Middle French

Middle French is an historical division of the French language which covers the period from 1340 to 1611 . It is a period of transition during which:...
word festivus, from the Latin word festivus. Festival was first recorded as a noun in 1589. Before it had been used as an adjective from the fourteenth century, meaning to celebrate a church holiday. The etymology of feast is very similar to that of festival. The word "feste" (one letter different from "fest") comes from Middle English, from Middle French, from the Latin word festa. Feast first came into usage as a noun circa 1200, and feast was used as a verb circa 1300.A festival is a special occasion of feasting or celebration, that is usually religious. There can be many different types of festival, like Halloween and Christmas.(not)

Function

Festivals, of many types, serve to meet specific needs, as well as to provide entertainment. These times of celebration
Celebration

Celebration may refer to:*Party, a social gathering*The celebration of the Eucharist*The observance of a feast day or holidayCelebration may also be:...
offer a sense of belonging for religious, social, or geographical groups. Modern festivals that focus on cultural or ethnic topics seek to inform members of their traditions. In past times, festivals were times when the elderly shared stories and transferred certain knowledge
Knowledge

Knowledge is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation....
to the next generation. Historic feasts often provided a means for unity among families
Family

Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
and for people to find mate
Mating

In biology, mating is the pairing of same-sex, opposite-sex or hermaphrodite organisms for copulation and, in social animals, also to raise their offspring....
s. Select anniversaries
Anniversary

An anniversary is a day that commemorates and/or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event....
have annual festivals to commemorate previous significant occurrences.

Types of festivals

There are numerous types of festivals in the world. Though many have religious origins, others involve seasonal change or have some cultural significance. Also certain institutions celebrate their own festival (often called "fests") to mark some significant occasions in their history. These occasions could be the day these institutions were founded or any other event which they decide to commemorate periodically, usually annually.

Seasonal festivals

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Seasonal festivals are determined by the solar
Solar calendar

A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun ....
and the lunar calendar
Lunar calendar

A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the moon phase. The only widely used purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar, whose year always consists of 12 lunar months....
s and by the cycle of the season
Season

A season is one of the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the Axial tilt....
s. The changing of the season was celebrated because of its effect on food supply. Ancient Egyptians would celebrate the seasonal inundation caused by the Nile River, a form of irrigation
Irrigation

Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. In crop production it is mainly used in dry areas and in periods of rainfall shortfalls, but also to protect plants against frost....
, which provided fertile land for crops. In the Alps
Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, in autumn the return of the cattle from the mountain pasture
Pasture

Pasture is land with herbaceous vegetation cover used for grazing of ungulate livestock as part of a farm or ranch. Prior to the advent of factory farming, pasture was the primary source of food for grazing animals such as cattle and horses....
s to the stables in the valley is celebrated as Almabtrieb

Almabtrieb

The Almabtrieb is an annual event in the Alps in Europe, referring to a cow train in autumn.During summer, all over the Alps cow herds feed on alpine pastures high up in the mountains ....
. A recognized winter festival, the Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China and Taiwan....
, is set by the lunar calendar, and celebrated from the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice

Dongzhi

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms . Dongzh? or Toji is the 22nd solar term, and marks the winter solstice....

"Fests"

Certain institutions decide to annually commemorate certain special events significant to their history. These institutions are usually educational institutes such as college

College

File:Government college for Women Dhoke Kala Khan.JPGCollege is a term most often used today to denote an education institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of collegialitys, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals....
s and senior secondary, secondary, or high schools. Such festivals are usually called "fests". Examples of such a fest is Saarang

Saarang

Saarang is the annual cultural festival of IIT Madras, Chennai. One of the biggest culfests in India, it is a five day festival, usually held in the fourth week of January in the plush and green IIT Madras campus....
at IIT Madras, Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly Indian renaming controversy , is the fourth largest metropolitan area of India and the capital city of the Indian states and territories of India of Tamil Nadu....
, Engineer at NITK Surathkal, MoodIndigo at IIT Bombay

General

Ancient Egyptian festivals

Most Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
ian festivals were religious, but others were not such as one festival established by Rameses III to celebrate his victory over the Libyans

Libyans

The Libyans are a female-fronted hardcore punk band formed in early 2007 in Somerville, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. The band uses a completely-DIY approach to music, having self-released every recording....
. When feasts occurred, they were either determined by lunar cycles or the Egyptian calendar. Festivals were large celebrations with plenty of food available. In one festival in the 12th century BC, 11,341 loaves of bread and 385 jars of beer were given to the public. The Sed festival

Sed festival

The sed festival was an ancient Egyptian ceremony which was held to celebrate the continued rule of a pharaoh. The name derives from the name of an Egyptian wolf god, one of whose names was Wepwawet or Sed....
celebrated the thirtieth year of a pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
s rule and then every three (or four in one case) years after that. Iranian traditional festivals: Mehregan festival, Norooz or nuroz festival, qadir festival, Chahar shanbehesori festival . Islamic festivals : EId festival ( biggest Islamic festival), Ide fiter festival is another Islamic festival, Ide qadir festival is also an Irano-Islamic festival .

Chinese traditional festivals

Spring Festival (Chinese New Year, Agriculture Calendar January 1)
Bhutan Festival (Unique Festival )
Lantern Festival
Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival is a China festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar year in the Chinese calendar. It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also sometimes known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore, Malaysia....
(Community Day, Agriculture Calendar January 15)
Wild Festival (Agriculture Calendar March 3)
Cold Food Festival
Cold Food Festival

The Cold Food Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated for three consecutive days starting the day before the Qingming Festival in the Chinese Calendar, which falls on the 105th day after dongzhi ....
(Agriculture Calendar one day before Solar term Qingming)
Mourning Festival (Ancestor Worship, Agriculture Calendar Solar term Qingming around Apr.5)
Dragon-boat Festival (Rice-Wrap Day, Agriculture Calendar May 5)
Magpie Festival (Chinese Valentine, Agriculture Calendar July 7)
Mid-Year Festival (Chinese Halloween, Agriculture Calendar July 15)
Mid-Autumn Festival
Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiu Jie , is a popular harvest festival celebrated by Han Chinese people and Vietnamese people , dating back over 3,000 years to moon worship in China's Shang Dynasty....
(Moon-Cake Day, Agriculture Calendar August 15)
Dual-Yang Festival
Double Ninth Festival

The Double Ninth Festival , observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar , is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the East Han period ....
(Healthy long life Day and Hill-Climbing Day, Agriculture Calendar September 9)
Mid-Winter Festival (Solar term Mid-Winter, around December 23)
Soup Festival (Buddhist Festival, Agriculture Calendar December 8)
Kitchen Festival (Chinese Thanksgiving, Agriculture Calendar December 23)
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is on , the final day of the Gregorian calendar year, and the day before New Year's Day.New Year's Eve is a separate observance from the observance of New Year's Day....
(the last day of the Agriculture Calendar)
Mothers Day Festival 2008 (May 11, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. South Park Recreation Center, 51st. St. & San Pedro St., South Central Los Angeles, 90011)

Festival

Etymology

Function

Types of festivals

Seasonal festivals

"Fests"

General

Ancient Egyptian festivals

Chinese traditional festivals

See also