Top Tips for Answering IELTS cue cards about festivals
- Focus on festivals that are unique to your country
- Describe the atmosphere and what people do at the festival
- Use a mix of simple and complex sentences
- Try to include some interesting facts or figures about the festival
- Use a range of vocabulary, including colloquialisms and idioms where appropriate
- Be sure to speak for the entire allotted time (1-2 minutes)
Describe a traditional festival in your country
You should say:- what it is
- when it is celebrated
- how do people usually celebrate it
Describe a Traditional Festival in Your Country Sample Answer
One of the reasons UNESCO granted the Carnival of Barranquilla the title of Intangible Heritage of Humanity was its diversity.
This festival, which happens every February, brings together different types of cultural events of the Colombian Caribbean coast during four days of celebrations, beginning with the Battle of Flores.
These celebrations can be contemporary, traditional and folkloric but all of them are part of the rich culture of the area.
There are various personalities or characters associated with the carnival; costumes which people use during the celebrations.
One example is the Marimonda, which was initially defined by the mocking of poor ‘Barranquilleros’. To inconvenience the high society of the city, the inhabitants of the Abajo and Montecristo neighborhoods created a costume with a suit made of patches, jacket, tie and pants in reverse, a mask with a large phallic nose, and a scandalous whistle with which they ridiculed the rich and politicians.
In the present the meaning has changed: it symbolizes the jocular types who mock everyone during the party.
Then, there is the Monocuco, a disguise for those who want to hide their identity during the party.
Tradition has it that wealthy men attracted to women from other social classes devised the "monocuco" costume to be able to hide from gossip.
But over time the monocuco disguise became popular for men and women who did not want to reveal their appearance and so be able to run rampant in the four days of the Carnival.
Another is the Negrita Puloy which emerged as an individual costume in the 60s and was inspired by an advertisement for a Venezuelan detergent that also had the same name: Puloy.
By the 70s, this costume and dance had already disappeared. In 1983, Natividad López de Altamar and his daughter-in-law Isabel Muñoz Vásquez decided to rescue this dance, creating the appearance of "Las Negritas Puloy del barrio Montecristo".
The costume is generally used by women, but there are also men who use it.
And, there is also the Joselito Carnival which symbolizes the joy, the feast, the merriment and the disorder of this celebration of the God Momo.
After four days of intense partying, he dies, and his body is buried symbolically in a parade performed in various neighborhoods.
At the funeral, the happy widows appear. Joselito, in his farewell, leaves all his lovers, wives and many bills to pay after the party.
These are some of the traditional festival and carnival costumes inspired by dances and customs of popular tradition, with special choreography, accompanied by traditional Colombian Caribbean music.
The design of the costumes is in accordance with the chosen theme. There are two types of fantasy appearances with international and traditional rhythms that use stylized costumes but native rhythms of the Caribbean.
The thing I like most about this festival or carnival is its diversity.
Other similar cue card questions you may be asked about festivals
- Describe a traditional event in your country
- Describe a festival that is important in your country
- Describe one of the traditional festivals of your country
- Describe a traditional celebration in your country
- Describe a festival that you enjoy
- Describe an important festival in your country
- Dalk about traditional events in your hometown
Possible Follow-Up Questions
- What is the concept of a holiday in your country?
- What is the most important festival in your country?
- Are there any special festivals or celebrations in your town?
- Why do you think holidays are important in modern life?
- How do people in your country celebrate events?
- How do you celebrate festivals in your country?
- Do you think it is important to observe traditional customs?
- Why it is important to have national celebrations?
- Have people changed how they spend their time on holidays and festivals compared to in the past?
- Do you think that some celebrations or festivals will disappear or be forgotten about in the future?