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cultural festival

cultural festival

1 2.4
An event that celebrates a community's traditions, music, dance, food, and art
  • noun
  • /ˈkʌltʃərəl ˈfɛstɪvəl/
translation icon : festival cultural
  • Visitors from across the region come to experience the vibrant cultural festival featuring local crafts and delicious cuisines.
  • an annual cultural festival

Examples

  • Summer in New England is a plethora of cultural festivals.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Also, I wanted to draw your attention to our annual cultural festival, Trialogos.

    Blog text (13)
  • The country's premier cultural festival has it all: music and dance.

    Blog text (18)
  • Grassroots cultural festivals are currently an important component of the island's informal economic sector.

    Academic text (1999)
  • The four-day cultural festival celebrates Mexican food, art, music, and film and was co-produced by NOMAD and The Embassy of Mexico.

    Blog text (1)
  • In size, breadth of coverage, and variety of participation, there has been no cultural festival like FESTAC 77, and there has been none since then in Africa.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The Kauai Japanese Cultural Society presents the 27th annual Matsuri Kauai, a Japanese cultural festival, on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012, at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall in Lihue from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

    Blog text (7)
  • Every year, our town hosts a cultural festival that showcases traditional music, dance, and food from different communities.

  • The annual cultural festival celebrates the diverse heritage of our city with art exhibits and live performances.

Synonyms

festival
vscultural festival
178 1.0

An event with many shows like music or theatre

focuses on community traditions and customs rather than any art or theme
fest
vscultural festival
  • Informal
108 3.1

A public party with music, food, and events

emphasizes community traditions and arts rather than casual entertainment
carnival
vscultural festival
30 2.8

A public festival with parades, music, and dancing in the streets

focuses on community traditions beyond a seasonal or pre-Lent celebration
fiesta
vscultural festival
30 4.8

A lively outdoor party with music, dancing, and food

is broader, celebrating any community's traditions, arts, and customs
festa
vscultural festival
7.6

A public celebration with music, dancing, and special food

focuses on celebrating a community's traditions, arts, and customs

How Big

regional
29 3.3
cultural festival
1 2.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

cultural + festival

The phrase 'cultural festival' is a straightforward composition of 'cultural' (relating to a society's arts and customs) and 'festival' (an occasion marked by gatherings or celebrations), so its meaning as an event celebrating a community's traditions is directly derivable. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows basic adjective + noun semantics, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Cultural festival comes from old village gatherings where people shared music, food and dance that showed their culture. Because cultural means 'about community customs and art' and festival means a public party, the phrase now means an event to 'celebrate' those traditions.