Festivalgoer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who visits and participates in the events and activities of a festival
2. Someone who goes to a festival to enjoy its entertainment, performances, or social atmosphere
3. An attendee at a festival who experiences its music, food, culture, or other attractions

Etymology: "Festivalgoer" is a plain compound: "festival" joined to "goer," meaning one who goes. The pairing follows an English pattern in which "goer" attaches to a noun to name a habitual attendee, as in "moviegoer" or "churchgoer." "Festival" itself came into English from Medieval Latin "festivalis," an adjective built on Latin "festum," meaning feast or holiday, and the word originally described a religious feast day before it came to mean a series of public celebrations or performances. The result is a word that is less old than its parts suggest. The formation draws on a noun that long denoted religious observance, but "goer" lends the compound its everyday sense: a person who turns up for an event. Its meaning is therefore determined largely by the second element, which is why the same pattern produces such a wide family of words.

Synonyms: attendee, participant, visitor