Organised series of acts and performances
"Festivity" redirects here. For the ship, see
MV Festivity
.
Musikfest
, an eleven-day outdoor music festival held annually each August in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
, is the largest free music festival in the
United States
, drawing over 1.3 million attendees.
[1]
The
Hindu
festival of
Holi
at
Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple
in
Utah
, U.S.
A
festival
is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its
religion
or
cultures
. It is often marked as a local or national
holiday
,
mela
, or
eid
. A festival constitutes typical cases of
glocalization
, as well as the high culture-low culture interrelationship.
[2]
Next to religion and
folklore
, a significant origin is
agricultural
. Food is such a vital resource that many festivals are associated with
harvest
time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in
autumn
, such as
Halloween
in the northern hemisphere and
Easter
in the southern.
Festivals often serve to fulfill specific communal purposes, especially in regard to commemoration or thanking to the gods, goddesses or saints: they are called
patronal festivals
. They may also provide
entertainment
, which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced entertainment. Festivals that focus on cultural or ethnic topics also seek to inform community members of their traditions; the involvement of
elders
sharing stories and experience provides a means for unity among
families
.
[3]
Attendants of festivals are often motivated by a desire for escapism, socialization and camaraderie; the practice has been seen as a means of creating geographical connection, belonging and adaptability.
[4]
[5]
Etymology
[
edit
]
The annual
Met Gala
at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
in
Manhattan
is a
haute couture
festival celebrating the global
fashion industry
.
A country festival in
Swabia
Procession in Honor of Isis
, a 1903 depiction of the Egyptian
Navigium Isidis
festival by
Frederick Arthur Bridgman
The word "festival" was originally used as an adjective from the late fourteenth century, deriving from
Latin
via
Old French
.
[6]
In
Middle English
, a "festival dai" was a religious holiday.
[7]
The first recorded used of the word "festival" as a noun was in 1589 (as "Festifall").
[6]
Feast first came into usage as a noun
c.
1200
,
[8]
and its first recorded use as a verb was circa 1300.
[9]
The word
gala
comes from
Arabic
word
khil'a
, meaning robe of honor.
[10]
The word gala was initially used to describe "festive dress", but came to be a synonym of "festival" starting in the 18th century.
[11]
History
[
edit
]
A festival at
Antwerp
, Belgium, in the 17th century
Festivals have long been significant in human culture and history and are found in virtually all cultures.
[13]
The importance of festivals, to the present, is found in private and public; secular and religious life.
[14]
Ancient Greek
and
Roman
societies relied heavily upon festivals, both communal and administrative.
[15]
Saturnalia
was likely influential to Christmas and
Carnival
.
[16]
Celebration of social occasions, religion and nature were common.
[16]
Specific festivals have century-long histories and festivals in general have developed over the last few centuries ? some traditional festivals in
Ghana
, for example, predate European
colonisation
of the 15th century.
[5]
[16]
[17]
Festivals prospered following the Second World War.
[16]
Both established in 1947,
Avignon Festival
and the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
have been notable in shaping the modern model of festivals.
[18]
Art festivals became more prominent by the turn of the 21st century.
[14]
In modern times, festivals are
commodified
as a global tourist prospect although they are commonly
public
or
not-for-profit
.
[19]
[20]
Traditions
[
edit
]
Many festivals have religious origins and entwine cultural and religious significance in traditional activities. The most important religious festivals such as
Christmas
,
Rosh Hashanah
,
Diwali
,
Eid-al-Fitr
and
Eid-al-Adha
serve to mark out the year. Others, such as
harvest festivals
, celebrate seasonal change. Events of historical significance, such as important
military
victories or other nation-building events also provide the impetus for a festival. An early example is the festival established by
Ancient Egyptian
Pharaoh
Ramesses III
celebrating his victory over the Libyans.
[21]
In many countries, royal holidays commemorate dynastic events just as agricultural holidays are about harvests. Festivals are often commemorated annually.
There are numerous
types of festivals
in the world and most countries celebrate important events or traditions with traditional cultural events and activities. Most culminate in the consumption of specially prepared food (showing the connection to "feasting") and they bring people together. Festivals are also strongly associated with national holidays. Lists of national festivals are published to make participation easier.
[22]
Types of festivals
[
edit
]
The scale of festivals varies; in location and attendance, they may range from a local to national level.
[16]
Music festivals, for example, often bring together disparate groups of people, such that they are both localised and global.
[24]
The "vast majority" of festivals are, however, local, modest and populist.
[25]
The abundance of festivals significantly hinders quantifying the total there of.
[14]
There exists significant variation among festivals, beyond binary dichotomies of sacred and secular, rural and urban, people and establishment.
[25]
Religious festivals
[
edit
]
Among many
religions
, a feast is a set of celebrations in honour of
God
or
gods
.
[26]
A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. Most religions have festivals that recur annually and some, such as
Passover
, Easter, and Eid al-Adha are
moveable feasts
? that is, those that are determined either by lunar or agricultural cycles or the calendar in use at the time. The
Sed festival
, for example, celebrated the thirtieth year of an Egyptian
pharaoh
's rule and then every three (or four in one case) years after that.
[27]
Among the
Ashantis
, most of their traditional festivals are linked to gazette sites which are believed to be sacred with several rich biological resources in their pristine forms. Thus, the annual commemoration of the festivals helps in maintaining the buoyancy of the conserved natural site, assisting in biodiversity conservation.
[28]
In the
Christian
liturgical calendar
, there are two principal feasts, properly known as the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas) and the Feast of the Resurrection (Easter), but minor
festivals in honour of local patron saints
are celebrated in almost all countries influenced by Christianity. In the
Catholic
,
Eastern Orthodox
, and
Anglican
liturgical calendars there are a great number of lesser feasts throughout the year commemorating saints, sacred events or doctrines. In the
Philippines
, each day of the year has at least one specific religious festival, either from Catholic, Islamic, or indigenous origins.
[29]
Buddhist
religious festivals, such as
Esala Perahera
are held in Sri Lanka and Thailand.
[30]
Hindu festivals
, such as
Holi
are very ancient. The
Sikh
community celebrates the
Vaisakhi
festival marking the new year and birth of the
Khalsa
.
[31]
Arts festivals
[
edit
]
Among the many offspring of general arts festivals are also more specific types of festivals, including ones that showcase intellectual or creative achievement such as
science festivals
,
literary festivals
and
music festivals
.
[32]
Sub-categories include
comedy festivals
,
rock festivals
,
jazz festivals
and
buskers festivals
;
poetry
festivals,
[33]
theatre festivals
, and
storytelling festivals
; and re-enactment festivals such as
Renaissance fairs
. In the
Philippines
, aside from numerous art festivals scattered throughout the year, February is known as national arts month, the culmination of all art festivals in the entire archipelago.
[34]
The modern model of music festivals began in the 1960s-70s and have become a lucrative global industry.
[4]
Predecessors extend back to the 11th century and some, such as the Three Choirs Festival, remain to this day.
[35]
Film festivals
involve the screenings of several different films, and are usually held annually. Some of the most significant film festivals include the
Berlin International Film Festival
, the
Venice Film Festival
and the
Cannes Film Festival
.
A food festival is an event celebrating food or drink. These often highlight the output of producers from a certain region. Some food festivals are focused on a particular item of food, such as the
National Peanut Festival
in the United States, or the
Galway International Oyster Festival
in Ireland. There are also specific beverage festivals, such as the famous
Oktoberfest
in Germany for
beer
. Many countries hold festivals to celebrate
wine
. One example is the global celebration of the arrival of
Beaujolais nouveau
, which involves shipping the new wine around the world for its release date on the third Thursday of November each year.
[36]
[37]
Both Beaujolais nouveau and the Japanese rice wine
sake
are associated with harvest time. In the Philippines, there are at least two hundred festivals dedicated to food and drinks.
[
citation needed
]
-
Soweto
Wine Festival, South Africa (2009)
-
-
La Tomatina
, Spain (2010)
-
Beer horse cart from the Hofbrauhaus brewery at
Oktoberfest
Germany (2013)
Seasonal and harvest festivals
[
edit
]
Seasonal festivals, such as
Beltane
, are determined by the
solar
and the
lunar calendars
and by the cycle of the
seasons
, especially because of its effect on food supply, as a result of which there is a
wide range
of ancient and modern
harvest festivals
. Ancient Egyptians relied upon the seasonal
inundation
caused by the
Nile River
, a form of
irrigation
, which provided fertile land for crops.
[38]
In the
Alps
, in autumn the return of the cattle from the mountain
pastures
to the stables in the valley is celebrated as
Almabtrieb
. A recognized winter festival, the
Chinese New Year
, is set by the lunar calendar, and celebrated from the day of the second new moon after the
winter solstice
.
Dree Festival
of the Apatanis living in Lower Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh is celebrated every year from July 4 to 7 by praying for a bumper crop harvest.
[39]
Midsummer
or St John's Day, is an example of a seasonal festival, related to the
feast day
of a Christian saint as well as a celebration of the time of the
summer solstice
in the northern hemisphere, where it is particularly important in Sweden.
Winter carnivals
also provide the opportunity to utilise to celebrate creative or sporting activities requiring snow and ice. In the
Philippines
, each day of the year has at least one festival dedicated to harvesting of crops, fishes, crustaceans, milk, and other local goods.
[
citation needed
]
Seasonal and harvest festivals
Politics
[
edit
]
Scholarly literature notes that festivals functionally disseminate political values and meaning, such as ownership of place, which undergoes transformation in accordance with the festival.
[5]
[25]
Furthermore, a festival may act as an artefact which allows citizens to achieve "certain ideals", including those of identity and ideology.
[40]
Festivals may be used to rehabilitate or elevate the image of a city; the
ephemerality
of festivals means that their impact is often incorporeal, of name, memory and perception.
[14]
[25]
In deviating from routine, festivals may reinforce the convention, be it social, cultural or economic.
[16]
[25]
Study of festivals
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"By the numbers: Musikfest 2023"
.
WFMZ.com
. August 15, 2023.
- ^
Caves, R. W. (2004).
Encyclopedia of the City
. Routledge. p. 264.
ISBN
978-0-415-25225-6
.
- ^
"Why festivals are important"
.
www.thenews.com.pk
. Retrieved
February 10,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
Davies, Karen (2021).
"Festivals Post Covid-19"
.
Leisure Sciences
.
43
(1?2): 184?189.
doi
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10.1080/01490400.2020.1774000
.
ISSN
0149-0400
.
S2CID
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.
- ^
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b
c
Quinn, Bernadette (2003).
"Symbols, practices and myth-making: Cultural perspectives on the Wexford Festival Opera"
.
Tourism Geographies
.
5
(3): 329?349.
doi
:
10.1080/14616680309710
.
ISSN
1461-6688
.
S2CID
143509970
.
Archived
from the original on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
August 21,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
"festival, adj. and n."
OED Online
. Oxford University Press. March 2014. Archived from
the original
on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
April 16,
2014
.
- ^
"festival (adj.)"
.
Middle English Dictionary
. Archived from
the original
on July 2, 2014
. Retrieved
April 16,
2014
.
- ^
"feast, n."
OED Online
. Oxford University Press. March 2014. Archived from
the original
on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
April 16,
2014
.
- ^
"feast, v."
OED Online
. Oxford University Press. March 2014. Archived from
the original
on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
April 16,
2014
.
- ^
James E Glevin (2020).
The Modern Middle East: A History
.
Oxford University Press
. p. 21.
ISBN
978-0-19-007406-7
.
- ^
"gala (n.)"
.
Online Etymology Dictionary
.
Archived
from the original on June 27, 2020
. Retrieved
June 27,
2020
.
- ^
Falassi, Alessandro, ed. (1987).
Time Out of Time: Essays on the Festival
.
University of New Mexico Press
. p. 1.
ISBN
0-8263-0932-1
.
OCLC
15017471
.
Archived
from the original on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
August 21,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Quinn, Bernadette (2005).
"Arts Festivals and the City"
.
Urban Studies
.
42
(5?6): 927?943.
Bibcode
:
2005UrbSt..42..927Q
.
doi
:
10.1080/00420980500107250
.
ISSN
0042-0980
.
S2CID
154354884
.
- ^
Brandt, J. Rasmus; Iddeng, Jon W., eds. (2012).
Greek and Roman Festivals: Content, Meaning, and Practice
(1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1.
ISBN
978-0-19-969609-3
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Cudny, Waldemar (2014).
"The Phenomenon of Festivals: Their Origins, Evolution, and Classifications"
.
Anthropos
.
109
(2): 640?656.
doi
:
10.5771/0257-9774-2014-2-640
.
ISSN
0257-9774
.
JSTOR
43861801
.
Archived
from the original on August 23, 2022
. Retrieved
August 23,
2022
.
- ^
Odotei, Irene (2002).
"Festivals in Ghana: Continuity, Transformation and Politicisation of Tradition"
.
Transactions of the Historical Society of Ghana
(6): 17?34.
ISSN
0855-3246
.
JSTOR
41406666
.
Archived
from the original on August 24, 2022
. Retrieved
August 24,
2022
.
- ^
Bartie, Angela (2013).
The Edinburgh Festivals: Culture and Society in Post-war Britain
. Edinburgh University Press. p. 6.
doi
:
10.3366/edinburgh/9780748670307.001.0001
.
ISBN
978-0-7486-7030-7
.
Archived
from the original on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
August 24,
2022
.
- ^
Prentice, Richard; Andersen, Vivien (2003).
"Festival as creative destination"
.
Annals of Tourism Research
.
30
(1): 7?30.
doi
:
10.1016/S0160-7383(02)00034-8
.
Archived
from the original on June 23, 2022
. Retrieved
August 21,
2022
.
- ^
Andersson, Tommy D.; Getz, Donald (2008).
"Stakeholder Management Strategies of Festivals"
.
Journal of Convention & Event Tourism
.
9
(3): 199?220.
doi
:
10.1080/15470140802323801
.
ISSN
1547-0148
.
S2CID
154831702
.
Archived
from the original on August 27, 2022
. Retrieved
August 28,
2022
.
- ^
Berrett, LaMar C.; Ogden D. Kelly (1996).
Discovering the world of the Bible
(3rd ed., rev. ed.). Provo, Utah: Grandin Book Co. p. 289.
ISBN
0-910523-52-5
.
- ^
See for example:
List of festivals in Australia
;
Bangladesh
;
Canada
;
China
;
Colombia
;
Costa Rica
;
Fiji
;
India
;
Indonesia
;
Iran
;
Japan
;
Laos
;
Morocco
;
Nepal
;
Pakistan
;
Philippines
;
Romania
;
Tunisia
;
Turkey
;
United Kingdom
;
United States
;
Vietnam
.
- ^
Hondros, Konstantin; Silva, Glaucia Peres da, eds. (2019).
Music Practices Across Borders : (E)Valuating Space, Diversity and Exchange
. Transcript. p. 86.
ISBN
978-3-8394-4667-6
.
OCLC
1105916920
.
Archived
from the original on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
August 24,
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Waterman, Stanley (1998).
"Carnivals for elites? The cultural politics of arts festivals"
.
Progress in Human Geography
.
22
(1): 54?74.
doi
:
10.1191/030913298672233886
.
ISSN
0309-1325
.
S2CID
144867877
.
- ^
Bleeker, Claas Jouco (1967).
Egyptian Festivals: Enactments of Religious Renewal
. Brill Archive.
Archived
from the original on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
August 27,
2022
.
- ^
"Heb-Sed (Egyptian feast)"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
.
Archived
from the original on May 4, 2015
. Retrieved
April 16,
2014
.
- ^
Robson, James P. (2007). "Local approaches to biodiversity conservation: lessons from Oaxaca, southern Mexico".
International Journal of Sustainable Development
.
10
(3): 267.
doi
:
10.1504/ijsd.2007.017647
.
ISSN
0960-1406
.
- ^
"Calendar of Philippine Festivals and Monthly Observances / Theme | Tourism Promotions Board"
.
www.tpb.gov.ph
. Retrieved
February 10,
2023
.
- ^
Gerson, Ruth (1996).
Traditional festivals in Thailand
. Kuala Lumpur; New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN
967-65-3111-1
.
- ^
Roy, Christian (2005).
"Sikh Vaisakhi: Anniversary of the Pure"
.
Traditional Festivals, Vol. 2 [M ? Z]: A Multicultural Encyclopedia
. ABC-CLIO. p.
480
.
ISBN
978-1-57607-089-5
.
- ^
See
List of music festivals
.
- ^
Some such as such as
Cuirt International Festival of Literature
started as a poetry festival and then broadened in scope.
- ^
Kasilag, Giselle P. (February 1999). "Performances, exhibits around the country mark National Arts Month".
BusinessWorld (SanJuan, Philippines)
: 1.
ISSN
0116-3930
– via Nexis Uni.
- ^
Frey, Bruno S. (1994).
"The Economics of Music Festivals"
.
Journal of Cultural Economics
.
18
(1): 29?39.
doi
:
10.1007/bf01207151
.
ISSN
0885-2545
.
S2CID
153806851
.
Archived
from the original on August 28, 2022
. Retrieved
August 25,
2022
.
- ^
Hyslop, Leah (November 21, 2013).
"Beaujolais Nouveau day: 10 facts about the wine"
.
The Telegraph
.
Archived
from the original on January 11, 2022.
- ^
Haine, W. Scott (2006).
Culture and Customs of France
. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 103.
ISBN
978-0-313-32892-3
.
Archived
from the original on May 1, 2016
. Retrieved
December 15,
2015
.
- ^
Bunson, Margaret (2009).
"Nile festivals"
.
Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
. Infobase Publishing. p. 278.
ISBN
978-1-4381-0997-8
.
Archived
from the original on May 7, 2016
. Retrieved
December 15,
2015
.
- ^
"Press release ? Dree festival"
. Directorate of Information, Govt of Arunachal Pradesh. July 5, 2004. Archived from
the original
on July 18, 2011
. Retrieved
July 13,
2009
.
- ^
Jeong, Sunny; Santos, Carla Almeida. (2004).
"Cultural Politics and Contested Place Identity"
.
Annals of Tourism Research
.
31
(3): 640?656.
doi
:
10.1016/j.annals.2004.01.004
.
- ^
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913).
"Heortology"
.
Catholic Encyclopedia
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^
Parker, Robert (1996).
Athenian religion : a history
. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
ISBN
0-19-814979-4
.
OCLC
32590127
.
Archived
from the original on May 12, 2022
. Retrieved
August 27,
2022
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Ian Yeoman, ed. (2004).
Festival and events management: an international arts and culture perspective
(1st ed., repr. ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
ISBN
978-0-7506-5872-0
.
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Festivals
at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of
Festival
at Wiktionary
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