Festivals began as holy days for the gods — the word shares its deepest roots with "deity" and "divine."
An organized series of events celebrating a particular theme, art form, or occasion. Also a day or period of religious or cultural celebration.
From Old French festival (adjective, 'of or relating to a feast day'), from Medieval Latin festivalis, from Latin festivus ('festive, joyous'), from festum ('feast, holiday'), from the root of feriae ('holidays, rest days'). Key roots: *dhēs- (Proto-Indo-European: "god, deity, sacred"), festum (Latin: "feast, holiday"), feriae (Latin: "holy days, rest days").
The Latin word festum (feast) may share its deepest root with the word for "god" — Latin deus, Greek theos, and Sanskrit deva all trace back to PIE *dheh₁s-, suggesting that festivals were originally inseparable from divine worship. The modern music festival, from Woodstock to Glastonbury, is a thoroughly secular descendant of what was once exclusively a religious institution. The Seinfeld episode "Festivus" (1997) coined a mock-holiday that became a real cultural