Afestival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and itsreligion orcultures. It is often marked as a local or nationalholiday,mela, orEid. A festival constitutes typical cases ofglocalization, as well as the high culture-low culture interrelationship.[2] Next to religion andfolklore, a significant origin isagricultural. Food is such a vital resource that many festivals are associated withharvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place inautumn, such asHalloween in the northern hemisphere andEaster 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 calledpatronal festivals. They may also provideentertainment, 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 theirtraditions; the involvement ofelders sharing stories and experience provides a means for unity amongfamilies.[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]
The word "festival" was originally used as an adjective from the late fourteenth century, deriving fromLatin viaOld French.[6] InMiddle 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 nounc. 1200,[8] and its first recorded use as a verb was circa 1300.[9]
The wordgala comes fromArabic wordkhil'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]
A festival atAntwerp, Belgium, in the 17th century
Festivals have long been significant inhuman culture and history and are found in virtually all cultures.[12][13] The importance of festivals, to the present, is found in private and public; secular and religious life.[14]Ancient Greek andRoman societies relied heavily upon festivals, both communal and administrative.[15]Saturnalia was likely influential to Christmas andCarnival.[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 inGhana, for example, predate Europeancolonisation of the 15th century.[5][16][17] Festivals prospered following the Second World War.[16] Both established in 1947,Avignon Festival and theEdinburgh 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 offered to public as a global tourist prospect although they are commonlypublic ornot-for-profit.[19][20]
Many festivals have religious origins and entwine cultural and religious significance in traditional activities. The most important religious festivals such asChristmas,Rosh Hashanah,Diwali,Holi,Eid-al-Fitr andEid-al-Adha serve to mark out the year. Others, such asharvest festivals, celebrate seasonal change. Events of historical significance, such as importantmilitary victories or other nation-building events also provide the impetus for a festival. An early example is the festival established byAncient Egyptian PharaohRamesses 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 numeroustypes 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]
The scale of festivals varies; in location and attendance, they may range from a local to national level.[23][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]
Among manyreligions, a feast is a set of celebrations in honour ofGod or variousdeities.[26] A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. Most religions have festivals that recur annually and some, such asPassover, Easter, and Eid al-Adha aremoveable feasts – that is, those that are determined either by lunar or agricultural cycles or the calendar in use at the time. TheSed festival, for example, celebrated the thirtieth year of an Egyptianpharaoh's rule and then every three (or four in one case) years after that.[27] Among theAshantis, 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] Vodoun days is also one of the religious festivals of Benin which invites surrounding countries like Togo and Ghana because of the almost identical culture and tradition. Vodoun days is a festival of Vodoun.[29] Even in Togo Godogbe za of Gblinkomegan is a traditional celebration based on ancestor worship.
In theChristianliturgical 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 minorfestivals in honour of local patron saints are celebrated in almost all countries influenced by Christianity. In theCatholic,Eastern Orthodox,Evangelical Lutheran andAnglican liturgical calendars there are a great number of lesser feasts throughout the year commemorating saints, sacred events or doctrines. Within Evangelical Lutheranism, "festival" is part of theranking of feast days.[30][31] In thePhilippines, each day of the year has at least one specific religious festival, either from Catholic, Islamic, or indigenous origins.[32]
Hindus celebrate many festivals, such asNavaratri,Holi,Rama Navami,Karva Chauth,Diwali,Pongal,Kartika Purnima; among others. Most Hindu festivals are not celebrated by all Hindus.[33]: 226–227 One example of a Hindu festival isGanesh Chaturthi, which is dedicated to the godGanesha and is celebrated throughout India, but especially inMaharashtra.[33]: 237 During the festival,idols of the god Ganesha, traditionally made of clay, are worshipped, and on the same day or after 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 or 11 days, are immersed in water.[34] The public celebration of the festival, which includes a public procession, was promoted byBal Gangadhar Tilak as a means of asserting and celebrating a Hindu nationalist identity and to provide a sense of Hindu solidarity during theBritish Raj in India.[33]: 237–238, 698 [35]
Among the many offspring of general arts festivals are also more specific types of festivals, including ones that showcase intellectual or creative achievement such asscience festivals,literary festivals andmusic festivals.[38] Sub-categories includecomedy festivals,rock festivals,jazz festivals andbuskers festivals;poetry festivals,[39]theatre festivals, andstorytelling festivals; and re-enactment festivals such asRenaissance fairs. In thePhilippines, 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.[40] 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.[41]
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 theNational Peanut Festival in the United States, or theGalway International Oyster Festival in Ireland. There are also specific beverage festivals, such as the famousOktoberfest in Germany forbeer. Many countries hold festivals to celebratewine. One example is the global celebration of the arrival ofBeaujolais nouveau, which involves shipping the new wine around the world for its release date on the third Thursday of November each year.[42][43] Both Beaujolais nouveau and the Japanese rice winesake are associated with harvest time. In the Philippines, there are at least two hundred festivals dedicated to food and drinks.[citation needed]
Seasonal festivals, such asBeltane, are determined by thesolar and thelunar calendars and by the cycle of theseasons, especially because of its effect on food supply, as a result of which there is awide range of ancient and modernharvest festivals. Ancient Egyptians relied upon the seasonalinundation caused by theNile River, a form ofirrigation, which provided fertile land for crops.[44] In theAlps, in autumn the return of the cattle from the mountainpastures to the stables in the valley is celebrated asAlmabtrieb. A recognized winter festival, theChinese New Year, is set by the lunar calendar, and celebrated from the day of the second new moon after thewinter 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.[45]
Midsummer or St John's Day, is an example of a seasonal festival, related to thefeast day of a Christian saint as well as a celebration of the time of thesummer 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 thePhilippines, each day of the year has at least one festival dedicated to harvesting of crops, fishes, crustaceans, milk, and other local goods.[citation needed]
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.[46] Festivals may be used to rehabilitate or elevate the image of a city; theephemerality 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]
Festive ecology – explores the relationships between thesymbolism and theecology of theplants,fungi andanimals associated with cultural events such as festivals, processions and special occasions.
^Brandt, J. Rasmus; Iddeng, Jon W., eds. (2012).Greek and Roman Festivals: Content, Meaning, and Practice (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 1.ISBN978-0-19-969609-3.
^Berrett, LaMar C.; Ogden D. Kelly (1996).Discovering the world of the Bible (3rd ed., rev. ed.). Provo, Utah: Grandin Book Co. p. 289.ISBN0-910523-52-5.
^Hondros, Konstantin; Silva, Glaucia Peres da, eds. (2019).Music Practices Across Borders : (E)Valuating Space, Diversity and Exchange. Transcript. p. 86.ISBN978-3-8394-4667-6.OCLC1105916920.
^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.ISSN0960-1406.
^Kasilag, Giselle P. (February 1999). "Performances, exhibits around the country mark National Arts Month".BusinessWorld (SanJuan, Philippines): 1.ISSN0116-3930 – via Nexis Uni.
^Bunson, Margaret (2009)."Nile festivals".Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Infobase Publishing. p. 278.ISBN978-1-4381-0997-8.Archived from the original on May 7, 2016. RetrievedDecember 15, 2015.
Ian Yeoman, ed. (2004).Festival and events management: an international arts and culture perspective (1st ed., repr. ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.ISBN978-0-7506-5872-0.
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