festival

thumb|The Hindu festival of [[Holi at Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, United States.]] thumb|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.]] alt=Sinulog Festival Contingent 2024-03|thumb|Sinulog|Sinulog Festival is the one entitled of the “Grandest Festival of the [[Philippines” and which estimated over 4 million attendees. ]] thumb|right| Buddhism|Buddhist festival of [[Magha Puja celebration held in Thailand.]] 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. 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. 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.