Vocabulary for describing festivals and celebrations challenge

Vocabulary for describing festivals and celebrations challenge

with festivals and celebrations vocabulary word formation

Work together to use as many of the words and phrases below as you can to describe (local/ regional/ national/ international) festivals and celebrations, starting with any you like.

When your teacher stops the activity, ask about vocabulary you don’t understand, couldn’t make example sentences with, etc, working as a class to use the language each time.

Festivals and celebrations word formation

Without looking below, write as least one other form of each word below (e.g. the noun if it is a verb, or the opposite if it is an adjective). Many forms not below are also possible.

• alcohol
• ancestor
• appear
• applaud
• believe
• celebrate
• ceremony
• compete
• dance
• decorate
• donate
• duty
• fright
• god
• history
• locate
• luck
• memory
• nation
• official
• parent
• participate
• perform
• popular
• pray
• prepare
• relax
• scare
• season
• superstition
• tradition
• visit

Use the mixed answers on the last page to help, then compare below. Other forms of the words are possible, so please check if you wrote something different.

• act (as…/ out…)/ pretend
• ancestors/ ancestral (great-grandparents, etc)
• appear/ appearance (on the balcony/ in public/…)
• award (with a degree/ with a title/ with…)
• believe (in/ that)/ belief/ believer
• (ring/ the chime of) bells
• bless/ (a priest’s/ a monk’s/ a nun’s) blessing
• (to/ a) bow/ curtsy/ kowtow
• (traditional/ homemade) candy/ sweets
• (Christmas/ New Year/ homemade/ post)card
• (try to) catch/ find (a penny in the Xmas pudding/…)
• celebrate/ celebration/ celebrant
• (religious/ formal/ coming of age) ceremony/ ceremonial
• chase/ run (away from/ after)
• church/ cathedral/ mosque/ synagogue/ (Buddhist/ Hindu) temple
• (traditional/ light/ summer/ formal/ smart/ casual) clothes/ clothing/ footwear
• communal/ community
• (compete/ competitor in a) (televised/ local/ dangerous/ strange) competition (relay race, cheese rolling, boat race, etc)
• cook (grill, roast, fry, barbecue, boil, steam, bake, etc)
• crowd/ crowded/ packed/ cram-packed
• (maypole/ folk/ Morris/…) dance/ dancer
• decorate/ decoration/ ornament (baubles, tinsel, fairy lights, wreath, etc)
• dessert/ sweet/ pudding (Xmas pudding, red bean jam…, chewy rice cakes, etc)
• (special/ traditional) dish/ (street) food (noodles, etc)
• display (a model/ a life-sized…/ a nativity scene/ lights/…)
• donate/ donation/ donor
• dress up/ get dressed up/ disguise (a mask, a costume, etc)
• (alcoholic/ non-alcoholic/ seasonal/ soft) drink (eggnog, rice wine, mulled wine, etc)
• duty/ dutiful
• exchange (cards/ gifts/ presents/ greetings/ good wishes/…)
• (close/ extended) family/ (close/ distant) relations/ relatives
• fast/ fasting/ avoid
• (harvest/ summer/ winter/ music/ art/ biennial/ annual/…) festival
• (bouquet of/ bunch of) flowers
• fortune (telling) (astrology/ star signs, Chinese horoscope, etc)
• frighten/ scare/ frightening/ scary (demon/ devil/ ghost/ monster/…)
• (traditional) (board/ card/ children’s) game
• gift/ present (cash, gift card, etc)
• (local/ traditional/ pre-Christian/ chief/…) god/ goddess (of…)
• (family/ ancestor’s/ great grandparents’/…) grave(yard)/ tomb/ cemetery
• (invite/ receive) guests/ visitors/ visits
• (public/ bank/ religious/ traditional/ local/ national) holiday/ day off/ long weekend
• holy/ sacred (day/ place/ man/ woman/ relic/…)
• homemade (card/ food/ decorations/ presents/…)
• (to/ a) host/ play host to
• (musical) instrument (gong, drum, etc)
• (practical/ Christmas cracker) joke
• fly a kite/ flags/ streamers/…
• (have a) lie in (and breakfast in bed)
• light/ burn (fireworks, sparklers, candles, joss sticks, incense, a bonfire, a lamp, etc)
• (historical) location/ venue/ located
• (bad/ good) luck/ (un)lucky (charm/ food/ omen/…)/ superstition/ superstitious
• (formal/ family/ catered) meal (breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, banquet, picnic, etc)
• mourn/ mourning/ mourner
• (folk/ traditional/ classical/ religious) music/ song/ singer (carol, hymn, chant, etc)
• offer (food)/ offering (of…) (to…)/ lay (a wreath) on…/ sacrifice
• official/ officially
• (street) parade/ procession (floats)
• participate/ participant
• (office/ house/ housewarming/ street/ end of…) party
• patriotic/ nationalistic
• perform/ performer/ performance (a play, a nativity play, variety, a talent show, etc)
• (plant/ harvest/ view/ pick) (seasonal) plants (flowers, blossom, bamboo, pine cones)
• (un)popular/ (un)popularity (among…)
• pray/ prayer (to…/ for…)
• prepare/ preparation (beforehand/ in advance) (chop, grind, clean/ spring clean/ wash)
• private/ privately
• promise/ (wedding) vows/ (New Year’s) resolution
• (member of the) public/ publicly
• remember/ memorialise/ (war/…) memorial/ mark
• replace/ replacement/ renew/ renewal/ renewable
• rest/ relax/ relaxation
• romance/ romantic (meal/…)
• (miracle of a) (patron) saint
• (summer/ New Year/ Black Friday/…) sales/ bargains/ special offers
• season/ seasonal
• (religious) service/ (midnight) mass
• set off fireworks/ party poppers/…
• share
• show respect for/ gratitude for/ dedication to/ …
• (household/ portable/ Shinto/…) shrine
• (give a) (King’s/ Queen’s/ wedding/ best man’s/…) speech
• (ancestors’/ returning/…) spirits/ ghosts
• (traditional/ special/ seasonal/…) sport (running the bulls, etc)
• (street/ food/…) stall
• stay up (all night/ until dawn/ until midnight/…)
• (tell a/ based on a) story/ (folk) tale/ myth/ legend (a love story, a birth, a death, etc)
• support (clap/ applause, cheer/ shout/ yell, etc)
• thank/ show gratitude for
• throw/ scatter (paint, water, salt, tomatoes, etc)
• (a/ to/ raise a/ propose a) toast
• view/ viewing/ watch/ look at (blossom/ a firework display/…)
• wish for/ make a wish

Word formation mixed answers

• -al
• -alise
• -alistic
• -ance
• -ant
• -ation
• -cal
• -en
• -ening
• -er
• -ess
• -f
• -ful
• grand-
• great-grand-
• -ial
• -ic
• -ion
• -itor
• -ity
• -ly
• non-
• -or
• -ous
• -se
• un-
• -y