Customs, Festivals and Celebrations in the French-Speaking World
Customs, festivals and celebrations in the French-speaking world is the GCSE writing task that asks students to write about festivals, celebrations and customs in France and the wider French-speaking world (for example Bastille Day, Christmas, a regional festival, or a celebration from a Francophone country such as Senegal or Quebec). Examiners test whether a student can describe a festival or tradition in the present tense, narrate how it was celebrated in the past using the perfect and imperfect tenses, and compare traditions or state a preference with a justified opinion, using a subordinate clause, a range of connectives and an impersonal structure, while keeping verb endings, agreement and accents accurate.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Underline what each bullet point requires (a festival description, how it is usually celebrated, a specific past celebration, an opinion or comparison) before planning your sentences.
- Assign a tense to each bullet: present tense for what usually happens (on décore, les gens célèbrent), imperfect tense for repeated or background description (il y avait, tout le monde dansait), and perfect tense for one specific celebration in the past (l'année dernière, j'ai fêté).
- Give an opinion comparing traditions with je préfère ... parce que or je trouve que, e.g. 'je trouve que Noël est la fête la plus importante parce que toute ma famille se réunit.'
- Add a subordinate clause with qui, que or où, e.g. 'nous allons à un marché de Noël où il y a beaucoup de lumières.'
- Vary connectives (mais, donc, de plus, par exemple, contrairement à) especially when comparing a French festival with one from your own country.
- Include an impersonal structure such as il est traditionnel de plus an infinitive or il est important de plus an infinitive to explain the significance of a custom.
- Check agreement of past participles after avoir and être, correct imperfect endings (-ait, -aient), and accents on words like fête, célébrer and décorations before the final draft.
Worked example
Write about a festival or celebration in French. Mention: a festival celebrated in France or a French-speaking country; how people usually celebrate it; a celebration you took part in recently; your opinion on the importance of festivals and traditions. Write approximately 40 words.
- Plan: bullet 1 = present tense naming and briefly describing the festival; bullet 2 = present tense with typical activities; bullet 3 = perfect tense for a specific event; bullet 4 = opinion with justification.
- Build bullet 1: 'En France, le 14 juillet est la fête nationale, qui célèbre la prise de la Bastille.' - present tense, subordinate clause with qui.
- Build bullet 2: 'D'habitude, il y a des feux d'artifice et des défilés dans toutes les villes.' - present tense, typical description.
- Build bullet 3: 'L'année dernière, j'ai regardé le feu d'artifice avec ma famille sur une couverture dans le parc.' - perfect tense, added detail.
- Build bullet 4: 'À mon avis, il est important de garder ces traditions parce qu'elles rassemblent les gens.' - impersonal structure, opinion, justification.
- Check accuracy: fête keeps its accent, regardé in the perfect tense has the correct -é ending after avoir, and agreement on toutes les villes is checked before writing the final version.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Give the perfect tense of 'fêter' for 'nous'.Show answer
Answer: nous avons fêté.
Q2Translate into French: 'People decorate the streets with lights.'Show answer
Answer: Les gens décorent les rues avec des lumières.
Q3Give one French word for 'a parade'.Show answer
Answer: un défilé.
Q4Fill the gap: 'Quand j'étais petit(e), on ___ (célébrer) toujours Noël chez mes grands-parents.'Show answer
Answer: célébrait - imperfect tense, il/elle/on form.
Q5Give a connective meaning 'unlike' or 'in contrast to'.Show answer
Answer: contrairement à.
Q6Correct the error: 'Nous avons celebre la nouvelle annee ensemble.'Show answer
Answer: Nous avons célébré la nouvelle année ensemble - the accents on célébré and année must not be dropped.
Q7Write one sentence comparing a French festival with one from your own country.Show answer
Answer: Contrairement à Noël chez moi, le réveillon en France se termine souvent très tard dans la nuit.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about festivals and celebrations in French. Mention: a festival celebrated in France or a French-speaking country; how it is usually celebrated; a celebration you took part in recently; your opinion on keeping traditions alive. Write approximately 40 words in French.
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Write an article for a school magazine comparing festivals in France and in your own country. Mention: a festival celebrated in a French-speaking country and how it is celebrated; a tradition or custom from your own country; a celebration you remember from your childhood; your opinion on whether traditional festivals are still important for young people today; how you would like to celebrate a festival in the future. Write approximately 90 words in French.
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the customs, festivals and celebrations in the french-speaking world worksheet pack - 8 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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