Festivals Around the World
Updated: Aug 29
This ESL Lesson Plan Festivals Around the World introduces A2 learners to global celebrations and cultural traditions through engaging activities. Students learn about Oktoberfest in Germany, Holi in India, Thanksgiving in the United States, Hanami in Japan, and Songkran in Thailand. The 90-minute, 17-slide lesson combines reading comprehension with a "would you rather" speaking task and a listening video, then finishes with a writing activity where students describe a festival from their own country — linking global culture back to personal experience.
📄A2 ⏱️90 min 📁17 slides
Outcomes and skills:
Expanded cultural knowledge of international festivals and traditions.
Improved reading comprehension and writing skills.
Greater confidence in sharing ideas about celebrations.
Vocabulary
the US
Germany
India
Japan
parade
traditional
powder
tourists
season
national
volunteer
give thanks
roast
take place
Lesson plan
Warm-Up: Festival Discussion
Students answer four questions about their favourite festival, festival food, special clothes, and a festival they'd like to visit abroad — activating personal experience before new vocabulary is introduced.
Vocabulary: Matching Festivals to Countries
Students match four festivals — Oktoberfest, Holi, Thanksgiving, and Hanami — to the country where each is celebrated, using photographs as visual support.
Vocabulary: Key Words
Students match ten target words and phrases — including parade, traditional, powder, tourists, volunteer, and give thanks — to their meanings and take notes, preparing them for the reading texts.
Reading: Four Festivals
Students read and listen to four short texts describing Thanksgiving in the United States, Oktoberfest in Germany, Hanami in Japan, and Holi in India — covering when each festival happens, what people wear and eat, and how it's celebrated.
Questions
Students choose the correct answer to four multiple-choice comprehension questions, one for each festival covered in the reading.
Practice: Gap-Fill
Students complete ten sentences using the target vocabulary from the lesson, reinforcing words like tourists, roast, season, and take place in new contexts.
Would You Rather?
Students choose between paired options — such as music or food, coloured powder or cherry blossoms, one day or one week of celebration — and share their answers with a partner or group, then create their own question.
Listening: Emily's Trip
Students listen to Emily describe an upcoming trip to Thailand during Songkran, the Thai New Year festival, and answer four questions about where she's going, the festival's name, timing, and its street celebrations, then check their answers against the transcript.
Video
Students watch a short video, Water Fight! Soaking in the Thai New Year, paying attention to the target vocabulary in context.
Speaking
Using emoji picture prompts for all five festivals, students take turns describing each one's name, where it's celebrated, and what people usually do.
Writing
Students choose a famous holiday from their own country and write a short text (5–7 sentences) following a guided plan covering the festival's name, timing, activities, food or clothing, and significance.
