Describing festivals and events in French

• The ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’ forms of the verb are useful for describing how people celebrate religious festivals.

• Use the ‘on’ form of the verb to mean ‘we’, ‘one’ or ‘they’ when describing the actions of other people.

• Adverbs describe verbs or adjectivesand are useful for giving more detail about where, when or how something is done.

• This guide contains listening and reading practice.

Useful vocabulary to describe annual cultural festivals and events includes:

Other useful vocabulary includes:

For example:

En France, le 14 juillet est une fête nationale. - In France, Bastille Day (14 July) is a national festival.

La Fête de la Musique se passe chaque année le 21 juin. - World Music Day takes place every year on 21 June.

Remember

Une fête has two meanings – it can mean a festival or a party.

The verb fêter means to celebrate and faire la fête means to party or to have fun.

Did you know?

Bastille Day takes place on 14 July every year in France. It celebrates the storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris, in 1789.

It’s a bank holiday and is marked with a military parade in Paris and fireworks around the country.

Use the il/elle/on (he/she/we) forms to talk about what he/she does or is doing or what we do or are doing.

For example:

Il fait toujours la fête pour la Saint-Sylvestre. - He always parties on New Year’s Eve.

Elle aime les fêtes traditionnelles. - She likes traditional festivals.

On fête toujours le Nouvel An ensemble. - We always celebrate New Year together.

The on form is really useful as it can be used to mean ‘we’, ‘one’ or ‘they’ (in the sense of people generally).

For example:

Dans ma famille, on profite des jour fériés. - In my family, we make the most of bank holidays.

Use the ils/elles forms of verbs to talk about what 'they' do or are doing.

For example:

Ils vont au festival chaque année. - They go to the festival every year.

Elles préparent pour un événement religieux. - They are preparing for a religious event.

Remember that the present tense in French can also translate as ‘do’ or ‘are doing’ in English, depending on the context.

For example:

Listen and decide which festival or event is being described.

Useful vocabulary for talking about where events take place includes:

Useful vocabulary for talking about when events take place includes:

For example:

Ils fêtent un festival religieux chaque année, en été. - They celebrate a religious festival each year, in the summer.

Deux fois par an, il y a une fête culturelle dans la rue. - Twice a year, there is a cultural festival in the street.

All Foundation Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Adverbs describe a verb or adjective, giving information about where, when or how something is done.

To make an adverb, take the feminine singular form of an adjective and add ment.

For example:

• finale (feminine singular of final, meaning final) becomes finalement (finally).

If an adjective ends in a vowel, use the masculine form and add ment.

Fo example:

• vrai (real) becomes vraiment (really)

If an adjective ends in ent, remove the ending and add emment.

For example:

• récent (recent) becomes récemment (recently)

If an adjective ends in ant, remove the ending and add amment.

For example:

• étonnant (surprising, amazing, incredible) becomes étonamment (surprisingly, amazingly, incredibly)

To give more information about when or how often something happened or is happening, use an adverb of time or frequency. These include:

Use an adverb of place to add information about where something happened or is happening. These include:

Choose the adverb that is the odd one out from each set of options.

Press Start to begin the activity.

Find out more about using adverbs in the Adverbs in French guide.

Read the article about World Music Day and complete the activity below.

La fête de la Musique a lieu* chaque année le 21 juin. C’est un grand festival français et international où les chanteurs, les chanteuses et les groupes de musique donnent des concerts gratuits. C’est une occasion d’écouter de la musique de tous les genres – traditionels et modernes – et de connaître de nouveaux talents.

Il y a une sélection énorme de concerts à découvrir partout en France comme en France d’Outre-Mer – et ailleurs dans le monde aussi. En tout, plus de 120 pays y participent tous les ans. Si vous chantez ou jouez d’un instrument, vous pouvez participer vous-même. La fête est ouverte aux musiciens de tous niveaux – pas seulement aux professionels !

Les événements se passent dans les endroits publics, y compris* des salles de concerts, des parcs, des cafés et dans la rue. Il ne faut absolument pas rater* cette occasion spéciale qui est toujours extrêmement populaire parmi les jeunes. Regardez le programme entier pour cette année en ligne dès qu’il devient disponsible.

*a lieu = takes place

*y compris = including

*rater = to miss

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing festivals and events.

Useful vocabulary includes:

All vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when describing festivals and events.

Now you have revised the important vocabulary and key grammar points for describing festivals and events, why not try have a look at the Describing life at school in French guide.