A festival is a time for feasting and celebrating, often marked by religious commemorations and thanksgivings for good harvests. It can also refer to a recurring program of cultural performances and events, such as music and dance festivals.
It is a time for fun and joy for all, especially children. In this way they develop a positive and optimistic attitude towards life and other things around them. If parents encourage their kids to participate in school festivity celebrations, they will be able to grow holistically into better beings. Kids will be able to perform in front of their family members and will get used to the applause and claps, which will help them develop confidence.
Schools inculcate the essence of festival in kids by involving them in activities such as dancing, song recitation, poem recital and stage acting. This way, they will be able to express themselves and enjoy every moment of the festivity. Parents will feel happy to see their wards returning home with limitless happiness and joy.
While a festival can be any kind of event, it is usually associated with certain cultures and religions. The word derives from the Latin word for feast, so many religious festivals were originally occasions for food. This is particularly true of feasts on special days in the Christian calendar, such as Shrove Tuesday before Lent; Christmas; and Easter.
However, the term has evolved and now can be applied to any public celebration that conveys particular meanings to participants and spectators. The range of festivals is wide, from the yearly celebrations of the sun and the moon to the annual rituals in honor of the dead and in tribute to saints and other venerated persons.
In the modern world, a festival may also be a celebration of a specific art form, such as theater, dance, music, or film. It may be a cultural event sponsored by an institution such as a museum or art gallery. The word festival is also sometimes used to describe a special collection of works, such as an exhibition or a reenactment of historical events.
Festivals have long been an important part of human culture, bringing people together through their shared beliefs and values. In modern times, scholars from a variety of disciplines have studied them and tried to understand their significance. These include scholars from the fields of comparative religion, history, anthropology, and folklore. Some scholars have analyzed the evolution of festivals, and others have focused on how they communicate their meanings to contemporary spectators. The study of festivals is an important component of a broad field called ethnohistory.