Festivals, Traditions, and Rites of Passage — Preterite vs. Imperfect

Festivals, traditions, and rites of passage are experiences that combine ongoing atmosphere with specific events — the perfect context to master the single most important skill in Spanish past narration: the contrast between the preterite and the imperfect. This lesson gives you festival vocabulary and a clear system for deciding which past tense to use.

First, the vocabulary of celebration. La fiesta is a party or festival; el festival and la feria (fair) are larger public events. A rite of passage is un rito de paso, and important ones include el bautizo (baptism), la quinceañera (a girl's fifteenth-birthday celebration), la boda (wedding), and el funeral. Traditions bring los fuegos artificiales (fireworks), el desfile (parade), los disfraces (costumes), la carroza (float), and los vill