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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “festival”

“festival” is pronounced /ˈfɛstəvəl/ (FE-stuh-vuhl) in American English and /fɛstɪvəl/ in British English, and /ˈfɛstɪvəl/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “fes”.
The sound

Say “festival” in 3 beats

Say it like this

festival

/ˈfɛstəvəl/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /fɛstɪvəl/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. fesfɛstress
  2. tivstə
  3. alvəl
IPA (American)
/ˈfɛstəvəl/
IPA (British)
/fɛstɪvəl/
Also accepted
/ˈfɛstɪvəl/
Respelling
FE-stuh-vuhl
Syllables
3 — FES-tiv-al
Stress
Stress the first syllable: FES-tiv-al. “fes” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈfɛstəvəl/

British

/fɛstɪvəl/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “festival” means

  1. noun

    a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration

  2. noun

    an organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place)

    “a drama festival”

Say it in a sentence

“The festival runs for four days at the end of August.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

7 sounds, in the order you say them
ffɛshort essttəschwa×2vvll

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“festival”, answered

How do you pronounce “festival”?

“festival” is pronounced /ˈfɛstəvəl/ (FE-stuh-vuhl) in American English and /fɛstɪvəl/ in British English, and /ˈfɛstɪvəl/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “fes”. Build it as FES-tiv-al, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “festival” have?

3: fes · tiv · al. The beat lands on the first, “fes”.

Is “festival” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈfɛstəvəl/ (FE-stuh-vuhl); British English says /fɛstɪvəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “festival” mean?

As a noun: a day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration For example: “The festival runs for four days at the end of August.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “festival”?

Stress the first syllable: FES-tiv-al. “fes” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “festival” and see every sound

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