festival

A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristics aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as an indigenous 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 an essential resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious observation and thanksgiving for good harvests are integrated 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 arrival 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 avoidance, socialization and camaraderie; the practice has been seen as a means of creating geographical connection, belonging and adaptability.

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