Songfest

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A festival or event where singers and musicians gather to perform and celebrate music together
2. An organized celebration featuring multiple singing performances and musical acts by various artists
3. A social gathering or competition centered around live singing and musical entertainment

Etymology: "Songfest" is a plain compound: "song" joined to "-fest," a suffix borrowed from German "Fest," meaning "festival" or "celebration." The German element traces back through Middle High German "vëst" to Latin "festum," a feast or holiday, and ultimately to a Proto-Indo-European root for a festive occasion. The German "Fest" entered English as a combining form in the 19th century, bringing with it a sense of a large, organized gathering. Words such as "Oktoberfest" and "Sängerfest" showed English speakers how the suffix could mark an event built around a particular activity, and English writers began attaching it to all sorts of pursuits. "Songfest" follows that pattern: a gathering centred on singing, usually a shared event where people sing together rather than perform for an audience. The word is built entirely from English and German parts, so its only borrowed element is the suffix.

Synonyms: sing-along, songfest