Fest-noz Breton Phrases
Fest-noz
A fest-noz is a Breton dance night with live music, held all year round. Below are the word itself, its plural, and the daytime version.
Useful words
fest-noz
night festival, dance night
From fest, feast, and noz, night.
festoù-noz
dance nights
The plural.
fest-deiz
daytime dance
The same kind of gathering, held by day. The plural is festoù-deiz.
noz
night
Related to Welsh nos.
The history of Fest-noz
A fest-noz, "night festival" in Breton, is a traditional Breton festival with group dancing and live musicians playing acoustic instruments. Most of its dances are old, some dating back to the Middle Ages. The music is either sung a cappella, kan ha diskan, accompanied, or purely instrumental. On 5 December 2012 UNESCO added the fest-noz to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Common questions
What does fest-noz mean?
"Night festival": a Breton dance night with live music. The plural is festoù-noz.
Further reading
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Start learning BretonBreton phrases for the year ahead
Breton phrases for everyday occasions
Sources
Every phrase and fact on this page was checked against the sources below. Last checked 2026-10-20.
- Wikipedia
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
- Geriafurch Breton dictionaries (TermOfis, Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg)
- Geriafurch Breton dictionaries (TermOfis, Ofis Publik ar Brezhoneg)
- Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org
Credit: Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.