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If there is a local festival whose name is "Noun + Festival" like "Sunshine Festival," is the name of the festival regarded as a proper noun?

  1. I go to Sunshine Festival every year, which is held in my town.

  2. I go to the Sunshine Festival every year, which is held in my town.

I thought #1 was correct because "Sunshine Festival" seemed to be a proper noun. But I find many "the * Festival" in English corpus - for example, the Ravinia Festival. "Ravinia" seems to be a place name, and if so, I think, it should be a proper name.

Or is it a person's name? I understand I should put "the" before "Bach Festival" because literary there could be many different Bach Festivals if you don't put "the" before that.

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Whilst you may see "I go to " written - generally if the event is repetitive, you should have an article.

I go to a London concert each year I go to the Edinburgh Fringe each year

A noun remains a noun, even if it is preceded by a place name as an adjective.

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  • Thank you very much for your answer!! When I say, "We have a special festival every year. It is the Sunshine Festival" still do I need an article? or should I say "the Sunshine Festivals" in a plural form?
    – Nigutumok
    Oct 18, 2022 at 8:22
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    Yes, you still need the article. The time an article may be omitted in informal speech is when an event is well known to your audience and (usually) a regular occurrence. " I'm going to Sunshine Festival again next year". (Or even, "I'm going to Sunshine next year")
    – PRL75
    Oct 18, 2022 at 8:31
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    And saying "the Sunshine Festivals" implies there are multiple festivals (in a year or other calendar period).
    – Stuart F
    Oct 18, 2022 at 13:29

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