| Describe an important festival in your country. You should say:
and describe the festival in details. |
Follow-up questions
- What are some important festivals in your country?
- What special foods and activities are connected with this festival?
- What do you most enjoy about a festival?
- Why festivals are important for a culture/ country?
Possible answer 1 for the above speaking cue cards
China is a country of numerous festivals and we love to celebrate different occasions whole-heartedly. In fact there are so many festivals in China and it is quite tough for me to pick a particular favourite. I would love to talk about the Spring Festival, which is also known as Chinese New Year, as I personally enjoy it quite a lot. Other prominent festivals like National Day, Yung Xiao Festival, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-autumn Festival etc are also widely celebrated in our country.
The Spring Festival is the biggest festival in our country and this festival touches every single street and every single citizen of China. I suppose it is somewhat like the Christmas festival is in Western countries in terms of celebration and like the New Year festival in terms of its norm. If someone visits our country during the Spring Festival, he will surely notice the colourful and distinguishable look the houses and streets have. This is the time for families to gather together and enjoy their time. People get together with their family members during this time and they seems happy for that. Many stores and businesses remain closes during this time and people cook delicious food, visit relatives & friends, watch TV, gossip together, wear new dresses and welcome New Year. Many traditional food items are cooked during this time and the aroma of delicious foods could be easily found during this time.
Visiting relatives and friends is a custom I really like about this festival. This is a festival that remains for several days and personally I find it very enjoyable as I get together with my family. I also contact some of my friends and enjoy our time together. I invite them to have dinner with us and I often roam around the streets with them. Welcoming the New Year is another important aspects of this festival. We wish each other a happy and prosperous new year and exchange gifts with friends and family members.
Possible answer 2 for the above speaking cue cards
Bengali New year day, which is the First day of the Bengali calendar, is a very important festival in our country. This is usually occurs on 14th or 15th April and celebrated among the Bengali people, minor Bengali communities and in some states of the India. The famous Mughal Emperor Jalaludding Muhammad Akbar introduced the Bengali Calendar most probably because of easier tax collection of that time.
This is possibly the most widely celebrated festival in our country. People from all social-economic states, from all ages and all religions celebrate with great joy, festivity and happiness. The rally, the song, the traditional dresses, the traditional foods, the boat racing, cock-fight, pigeon racing and many more activities are very common in this festival.
The people celebrate this festival whole day starting from the early morning. Men, women, kinds all were the traditional dresses, draws some temporary arts and tattoos, goes to the central University place and enjoys the festival greatly.
The whole capital city as well as other places of the country warmly welcome the New Year and as a long tradition cook delicious dishes. This is a festival which is rooted in our history. Usually people get their harvest at that time and makes different delicious foods. After the emperor Akbar introduced this Bengali New Year, we are celebrating with great enthusiasm and in a distinctive way.
No other festival depicts the true traditions and cultures as does the Pohela Boishak.
How to answer this cue card?
An important festival of a country can be a major religious festival, music festival, seasonal festival, traditional and cultural festival etc. which is celebrated in the whole part of the county. For this cue card you can talk about any festival which is celebrated in your country nationwide. Do not talk about a festival which is only celebrated at a particular region of your country or among a tribal nation which is not widely celebrated in the whole country.
For the first question sat the festival name (i.e. New Year eve, Christmas, Eid day, Independence Day etc.). If the festival is not widely known and might be unknown to the examiner, say a little background of the festival. Mention if this is a national festival, celebration, cultural or historical celebration or a religious festival and then say the significance of this celebration in your country. To mention the significance of the festival, give the historical/ religious/ cultural origin of the festival and also mention how this is an integral part of the people in your country.
For the final two parts of the questions, you need to give details of the festival and talk about how you celebrate this festival. Mention following points to give details about the festival and your activity:
- Duration of the festival.
- How widely it is celebrated.
- Preparation for the festival.
- What the custom and rules are for the celebration
- What people cook and wear on the occasion.
- What the norms are of this celebration.
- What you like to do in this celebration.
- What the tradition is.
- How you feel about his celebration.
- How important this celebration is to your countrymen.
If you can talk about this cue card, you should be able to answer the following cue cards as well:
- Describe a national festival in your country.
- Describe a widely celebrated program in your country.
- Describe a historical celebration in your country.
- Describe a festival you have recently celebrated.
- Describe the most important festival in your country.
Related IELTS Resources
Take a practice test to find out what is your current weakness in terms of IELTS scale and allow more time to improve your weak spots. The following IELTS resources will help you to develop your skills faster: