Celebrations and Festivals ESL Worksheets and Lessons
440 worksheets, 162 lessons, 35 vocabulary decks and 26 shadowing scripts · Free time & culture
Start here — 129 free samples
Free to try: open, print and play them — no account needed.
Celebrations & festivals worksheets
440 printable worksheets with answer keys; the 24 most used, easiest level first.
Celebrations & festivals lessons
162 ready lessons for the four skills: teach on the board, set online or print.
Celebrations & festivals vocabulary
35 word decks with meanings, examples and pronunciation: flip, quiz, print as flashcards or play as a game.
Celebrations & festivals shadowing
Listen, repeat, record and compare: short scripts for pronunciation and fluency.
Warm-ups and fillers
Quick Fun Corner activities on the same theme: no preparation.
- Riddle · KidsHint: There's a candle inside me at Halloween.
- Riddle · KidsHint: Flies don't like me!
- Filler · KidsPlay spooky music. Children move like ghosts, bats or cats. When the music stops, everyone freezes. Anyone who moves says a Halloween word to get back in.
- Ice breaker · KidsSit in a circle and pass round an imaginary pumpkin. Each child opens the lid, takes something out and mimes it: "In my pumpkin there's a bat!" The others guess, then say it together.
- Ice breaker · KidsChildren walk around the room. Call out "Ghost!", "Cat!" or "Witch!" and they greet the nearest friend in that voice: "Hello, I'm Leo! Wooooo!" or "Hello, I'm Amira! Meow!"
- Filler · KidsChildren crouch down small like pumpkin seeds. Count slowly to five while they grow into big, round pumpkins. On "Light it up!" everyone makes a huge smiley pumpkin face. Then shrink back and grow again, faster.
About Celebrations & festivals
Celebrations bring energy and culture into the classroom. Birthdays, national holidays and festivals from around the world give learners a reason to share traditions and compare customs, and they make lessons feel connected to the calendar.
Kids and A1 learners learn birthday vocabulary, Happy birthday!, How old are you? and simple festival words, with dates, months and ordinal numbers. A2 learners describe how they celebrate special days using present simple, and past celebrations with past simple. B1 learners compare festivals around the world, talk about traditions with used to and make invitations. B2 to C2 learners discuss the commercialization of festivals, cultural traditions and the meaning of rituals.
On this page you will find printable worksheets, ready-to-teach lessons and vocabulary flashcard decks on celebrations and festivals.
Teaching tips: Celebrations & festivals
- Build a class calendar of celebrations from learners' own cultures so everyone gets a chance to explain a tradition.
- Teach dates with celebrations (on the 31st of October) to practice ordinal numbers and prepositions.
- Have learners write and respond to party invitations, including polite ways to decline.
- In multicultural classes, avoid assuming everyone celebrates the same festivals and invite learners to share what matters to them.
Questions teachers ask
How do I teach festivals in a class with different cultures and religions?
Present festivals as cultural knowledge rather than something learners must celebrate, and invite students to share their own traditions if they wish.
What language goes with celebrations at A2?
Dates and ordinal numbers, present simple for customs (we eat, we give presents), past simple for last year's celebration and invitation phrases.
Are there materials for specific festivals?
Yes. The page includes materials on individual festivals and seasonal celebrations, so you can find something that fits the time of year.