The féis (plural feiseanna) in ancient Ireland was a great royal assembly combining legal, political, and artistic functions, at which poets performed and competed. The most famous was the Féis Temhrach (Feast of Tara), the ceremonial gathering of the High King. In the Gaelic Revival the term was adapted for local competitive festivals promoting Irish music, dance, song, and poetry. These modern feiseanna became important institutions for transmitting Gaelic artistic traditions and gave community-level expression to the ideals of cultural nationalism. The word entered Anglo-Irish usage and remains current in Irish cultural life.

Féis is a traditional festival or assembly, revived in the modern era as a competitive event for Irish language arts. In historical poetry, the féis was a gathering for storytelling, music, and social bonding. It represents communal celebration and the public performance of culture. Modern poets often reference the féis to highlight the vitality of contemporary Irish language culture or to critique its institutionalization. The féis serves as a space for transmitting skills and fostering identity, linking past and present practices.