Part 2 cue cardFestivals and celebrations

Describe a celebration or special event you enjoyed

A past-tense story with a setting, so the second and third bullets are easy and short. The marks are in "why you enjoyed it": most answers describe the festival like a guidebook and never reach the personal moment that made it enjoyable.

1 minute to prepare
Up to 2 minutes
Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
Updated 20 October 2026

Describe a celebration or special event you enjoyed.

You should say:

what the event was
where and when it took place
who you were with
and explain why you enjoyed it

Rehearse the long turn

1 minute to prepare · 2 minutes to speak

Sit this card with the AI examinerThen the Part 3 discussion, and a full report

A 60-second plan

what the event wasSongkran, Thai New Year, water festival
where and when it took placeChiang Mai, around the moat, last April
who you were withgrandma, cousins Nok and Ton
and explain why you enjoyed itscented water on grandma's hands, her blessing

Sample answers

223 words · about 1:56 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I want to talk about Songkran, which is the Thai New Year. It is in the middle of April and it is famous for the water fights, everybody throw water at each other in the street. It is the hottest time of year in Thailand, so actually it is a good idea.

Last year I celebrated it in Chiang Mai, in the north. My grandmother is living there, in a small house near the old city, and the biggest party is around the moat, which is the water around the old city walls. It was the thirteen of April.

I was with my two cousins, Nok and Ton, and my grandmother, and also some of their friends joined to us in the afternoon. We bought big water guns from the market and we stood in the back of a pick-up truck, driving slowly around the moat and spraying everybody.

The reason I enjoyed it so much is that everyone was so happy, even strangers and old people was laughing. But the best part was in the morning before the water fight. We went to the temple and then we poured scented water on my grandmother's hands to make respect, and she gave us her blessing. It was very touching for me, because I don't see her so often since I moved to Bangkok.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

everybody throw water should be everybody throws water
My grandmother is living there should be My grandmother lives there
the thirteen of April should be the thirteenth of April
joined to us should be joined us
old people was laughing should be old people were laughing
to make respect should be to show respect
I don't see her so often since should be I haven't seen her so often since

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to speak at length and the story is easy to follow, with simple linking ("The reason I enjoyed it so much is that", "But the best part was"). It stays at Band 6 because the opening explains the festival like a fact sheet, and the strongest moment comes only in the final lines.
Vocabulary: Some good topic words ("moat", "pick-up truck", "scented water", "blessing"), but also awkward choices: "to make respect" is not the collocation English uses. Band 7 needs less common vocabulary used with more precision, especially for feelings, which stay at "very touching".
Grammar: Mixes simple and complex sentences, but errors recur in both: "everybody throw" and "old people was laughing" break agreement, and "I don't see her so often since I moved" needs the present perfect after since. Errors at this rate are Band 6.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

254 words · about 1:57 spoken at a Band 7 pace

The celebration I've enjoyed most is Songkran, the Thai New Year, which falls in mid-April. Most people know it as a giant water fight, and it is, but it's also a time when families get together and younger people pay their respects to their elders.

I spent it last year in Chiang Mai, where my grandmother lives, and where the celebrations are supposed to be the biggest in the country. The main action takes place around the old city moat, and on the thirteenth the whole area was completely packed from early morning until well after dark.

I went with my cousins Nok and Ton, who grew up there, and a handful of their university friends tagged along later. The three of us bought enormous plastic water guns from a stall, climbed into back of my uncle's pick-up and crawled around the moat for hours, getting soaked and soaking everyone we passed. There's no point trying to stay dry; even the police officers directing traffic were drenched.

But what made it special for me happened before any of that. In the morning we took my grandmother to the temple, and afterwards we poured jasmine-scented water over her hands and asked for her blessing, which is the traditional part that tourists don't really see. She held my hands for a long time and told me she was proud of me for moving to Bangkok to study. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed her until that moment, so the water fight felt like a bonus.

The slips

climbed into back of should be climbed into the back of

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length without strain and links ideas flexibly ("and it is, but", "But what made it special for me happened before any of that"). Not Band 8 because the second paragraph is mostly logistics, so the turn takes a while to reach its most personal point.
Vocabulary: Some less common and idiomatic items: "tagged along", "getting soaked and soaking everyone we passed", "drenched", "pay their respects to their elders". Band 8 would show the same precision for the feelings, where it stays general ("made it special").
Grammar: A range of complex structures, mostly accurate: relative clauses and a past perfect ("I hadn't realised how much I'd missed her"). One slip, "climbed into back of", drops an article in an otherwise controlled sentence; a single slip like this is typical of Band 7.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

278 words · about 1:55 spoken at a Band 8 pace

I'd like to talk about Songkran, which marks the Thai New Year in the middle of April. It's best known abroad as one enormous water fight, but underneath the chaos it's really a festival about washing away the old year and showing gratitude to your elders.

I celebrated it last April in Chiang Mai, my grandmother's home town, which is where the festivities are said to be at their wildest. Everything revolves around the moat that rings the old city: for three days the roads alongside it turn into a slow-moving parade of pick-ups loaded with people, barrels of water and, inevitably, music blasting from somewhere.

I was with my cousins Nok and Ton, who've lived there all their lives and treated me a bit like a tourist they'd been asked to look after, plus a few of their friends who drifted in and out over the afternoon. We spent hours perched in the back of my uncle's truck armed with water pistols, and within about five minutes there wasn't a dry thread on any of us. Strangers ambushed us with buckets of ice water, which is a shock you never quite get used to.

What I loved most, though, was the quiet hour before all that. We'd taken my grandmother to the temple at dawn, and back at her house we each knelt and trickled scented water over her palms while she murmured a blessing. I've been living in Bangkok for two years, and I suppose I'd started to feel like a visitor in my own family. That small ritual made me feel I belonged there again, and the chaos afterwards was just the celebration of it.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and coherent, with the contrast set up in the first lines ("underneath the chaos") paid off at the end, so the answer has a shape. Short of Band 9 only because the turn to the final bullet relies on a familiar marker ("What I loved most, though").
Vocabulary: Wide and precise: "the moat that rings the old city", "there wasn't a dry thread on any of us", "ambushed us", "trickled scented water over her palms". Band 9 would keep this level in the plainer stretches, such as "music blasting from somewhere".
Grammar: Accurate and flexible: participle phrases ("perched in the back", "armed with water pistols"), a past perfect for the earlier part of the morning, a passive reporting structure ("are said to be"). No errors.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

Rounding-off questions

Why are celebrations important?: They give people a reason to stop and come together. In a busy year they're often the only time a whole family sits in one place, and they pass customs on to children without anyone teaching them formally.
Have celebrations changed over time?: Quite a lot, I think. They've become bigger and more commercial, and a lot of people now experience them through their phones. But the core rituals, like visiting elders, have survived surprisingly well.

Phrases worth reusing

pay their respects to their elders
show honour to older members of the family
tagged along
joined a group informally, without being the main guest
getting soaked
becoming completely wet
washing away the old year
making a symbolic fresh start
drifted in and out
came and went casually
never quite get used to
something that keeps surprising you however often it happens
a visitor in my own family
an outsider among the people closest to you