What are the different types of festivals?

Festivals are an integral part of society which date back as far as Ancient Roman days. Celebratory moments like these take place globally and amongst the whole cultural spectrum. In this guide, we will be looking at some of the most common types of festivals out there with respective examples: religious, food, music, art and comedy.

Religious festivals

Religious festivals play a large role in society and produce some of the largest festivals in the world. They are considered a time of special importance for a specific religion and are usually celebrated yearly. Within a religion, there are many types of festivals one can experience, so we have decided to mention a few.

Holi Festival, commonly referred to as the festival of colours, is one of Hinduism’s most important celebrations. It is a celebration of the eternal and divine love of Radha Krishan, and signifies the triumph of good over evil. It also represents the arrival of spring and end of winter. This festival is typically held in mid-march and happens annually.

Easter is one of Christianity’s most important festivals alongside Christmas. The purpose of this festivity is to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, Easter is also celebrated by many non-Christian populations in Western Europe.

Eid-al-Fitr is one of Islam’s largest festivals, marking the end of Ramadan fasting. Because they follow the lunar calendar this event is held in different dates every year. This festival is a time of private visits, friends & family and presents.

Celebrating Holi Festival; Photo by John Thomas on Unsplash

Food festivals

Food and drinks are a part of every-day life for humans. Historically, these types of festivals served as a means of uniting communities through harvests, but in modern days they have become much more than that. Food festivals have become a great way to brand a destination, increase tourism to a region, and create entertainment. They are essentially a strengthening agent for cultural heritage. Here is an example of a popular food festival:

La Tomatinafestival has been happening yearly since 1944in the town of Bunol in Valencia. This festival has its roots in religion and is a week-long celebration in honor of the town patron saints. It is considered to be the largest food festival in the world and it consists of throwing ripe tomatoes, unfit for consumption, at people.

Music festivals

Music festivals are also considered to be an art festival but because they are so widely attended and happen pretty much weekly, we have decided to give it its own category. These festivals typically last several days and are held in various locations: cities, mountains, fields, etc. Music festivals can have a broad range of music playing, or they can focus on a specific genre/style. Here are some festivals worth visiting or checking out.

Primavera Festival is held annually in the Parc del Forum in Barcelona. The music genres they focus on are Rock, electronic, indie, pop and hip-hop — however they are glimpses of other genres here and there. This festival is the largest and most attended music festival in the Mediterranean.

DCentralize is the first Web3 hybrid music festival and will be held in August 2023 in the UK. The aim of this festival is to empower artists and enact social change through decentralization. It’s the first to be tokenized and fully owned by a DAO community meaning that members of the community will have a say in the decision process.

Primavera Festival Barcelona ; Photo by Degleex on Unsplash

Art festivals

Art festivals encompass a wide range of art forms that are not only visual arts. It can include poetry, literature, comedy, film, dance, and even music (We categorised music on its own). These types of festivals are carefully curated by artistic directors with a broad understanding of the arts they focus on. Here are some important & well-known art festivals:

Cannes Film Festival is a film festival that is held annually in the beautiful Palais des festivals et des Congres and is an invite only event. The mission of this festival is to contribute towards the development of cinema at an international level. Certainly one to check if you manage to be invited!

Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been held annually since 1947 and is one of the longest standing comedy festivals. For three weeks straight the city celebrates a variety of acts that range from theatrical comedy to stand up, to spoken word. Over time the festival has catered to broader range of entertainment and includes theatre, dance, children shows and even exhibitions.

As you can see, there are too many types of festivals present in the world so it is impossible to cover all. With this article, we hope to have informed sufficiently about what can be categorised as a festival, as well as the types of festivals there are. It is unlikely that religious festivals will change much due to traditions that have been going on for thousands of years. However, slowly but surely, festivals and events are moving towards the integration of technology with arts, which in return will help the evolution of Web3 technologies and organisations, such as VINCI.