Describe a festival or celebration that is important in your country

The cue card

Describe a festival or celebration that is important in your country. You should say:

• what it is
• when it happens
• what people do
• and explain why it is important

You have 1 minute to prepare and should speak for 1 to 2 minutes.

🎙 Practise this card with the examiner

Notes you could make in 1 minute

Write key words only, one line per bullet point:

• Lunar New Year
• January or February
• family dinner, red envelopes
• family, fresh start

Band 7+ sample answer

I'd like to talk about Lunar New Year, which is by far the most important celebration in my family and in many parts of Asia. It doesn't have a fixed date in the calendar we use at work, because it follows the moon, so it falls somewhere between late January and mid-February.

The preparations actually start a week or two before. People clean their homes from top to bottom, to sweep away bad luck from the previous year, and decorate with red, because red is a symbol of good luck. On New Year's Eve, the whole family gets together for a huge dinner. In my family that means about twenty people squeezed around two tables, with my grandmother in charge of the kitchen.

On the day itself, children and unmarried adults receive red envelopes with money inside, which I still get, even though I'm nearly thirty. People visit relatives, wish each other health and prosperity, and in many cities there are lion dances and fireworks.

The reason it's so important is that it's really about family. People travel huge distances to be home for it, and for many families it's the only time of year everyone is together. It's also a fresh start: you settle your debts, forgive arguments and make plans. Since I moved to Australia I've celebrated it here too. Sydney actually has a big festival, but I have to admit it never feels quite the same as being at home with my family.

🔊 Listen to the sample answer

About 246 words, or roughly 2 minutes at a natural speaking pace.

Useful vocabulary for this topic

• to ring in the new year
• a family reunion
• to pass down traditions
• festive atmosphere
• to pay respects to
• a symbol of good luck

Why this answer works: it covers every bullet point, tells a short story with specific details (names, places, numbers), uses a range of tenses, and finishes with the "explain" point, which is where you show your best vocabulary.

Follow-up and Part 3 questions

Examiner's follow-up (Part 2): Have you celebrated it in another country?

Part 3 discussion questions:

• Why are traditional festivals important?
• Have festivals become too commercial?
• Should children learn about festivals from other cultures?
• How do people celebrate differently now compared with the past?

Answer Part 3 questions in 3–4 sentences: your view, a reason, an example, and the other side.

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