The Festival

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General info and comments

Expansion symbol

Originally released by CundCo in 2016 to mark the 15th Anniversary of the first publication of Carcassonne. A C3 version was released in 2022, which has cities with clipped buildings. A revised C3 version was later released in 2024, which added 2 new tiles by removing the rules tiles.

C3 Punchout (original version)

C2 Punchout

This expansion was originally released for the 1st Edition, known as C1 for short, in 2011.

Rules

Preparation

Shuffle the 10 Festival tiles together with the Land tiles of the basic game.

Gameplay

1. Placing a tile

When you draw a Land tile with the festival place, you place it according to the normal rules.

2. Placing a meeple

You may then choose either:

deploy one of your own figures ^[1] to the tile in the usual way; or
return one of your own figures ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] being already on the tiles of the playing area ^[5] to your supply.^[6] ^[7]

The player can also choose to do neither of the above. Note that you are not allowed to place a meeple on the Festival itself.

Captured meeples (from The Tower expansion) cannot be returned to the player's supply in this way.

3. Scoring a feature

When you complete one or more areas (e.g. a monastery, a road etc.) by placing a Festival tile, you score them according to the normal rules.

Final Scoring

There is no additional scoring at the end of the game with the Festival tiles.

Tile distribution

C3 Edition (revised version)

Total tiles: 12

×1

×1

Monastery

×1

×1

×1

Crossroad

×1

Inner Field

×1

Inner Field

×1

×1

×1

Continuous Road

×1

C3 Edition (original version)

Total tiles: 10

×1

×1

×1

×1

×1

Total special tiles: 2

×1

German rules (front and back)

×1

English rules (front and back)

C2 Edition

Total tiles: 10

×1

Monastery

×1

Crossroad

×1

Inner Field

×1

Inner Field

×1

Total special tiles: 2

×1

German rules (front and back)

×1

English rules (front and back)

Footnotes

For Icons explanation and licensing please visit Icons page.

↑ The rules provided by CundCo used the word "meeple" but the rules intended by HiG referred to "figures". We follow the HiG ruling here and modified the wording accordingly.
↑ All of your own figures are meant here, including normal and large meeples, wagon, mayor, builder, pig, barn, shepherd, phantom, abbot meeple, ringmaster, and guard meeple. (5/2015; updated 12/2018; updated 2/2023)
↑
No scoring would be applicable to any meeple or special figure, including the abbot and the shepherd. Note that:
- It would be odd to use this expansion to remove an abbot meeple, as it has its own retrieval mechanism that involves scoring.
- If a shepherd is removed, no Guide flock to stable action is invoked and no flock scoring would take place. There is no official clarification about what happens in this case to the shepherd's flock. Two options may happen:
  - The flock is returned to the bag without scoring as soon as their shepherd is removed from the board.
  - The flock remains on the game board. If it is shared with one or more shepherds, they would not be affected; otherwise, the flock could be claimed by a new shepherd and it would be an analogous case to the sheep found on some tiles in minor expansions such as River III from the first edition or Halflings.
Players should agree on which option is chosen at the beginning of a game.
↑ A player cannot return another player's figure to them. Also, a player cannot return a neutral figure (such as the fairy or the dragon).
↑ As the City of Carcassonne from Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber is also part of the playing area, this allows removal of a meeple from there (even if the Count is in the same space). This would also apply to the City of Leipzig from The Markets of Leipzig, the bathhouses from The Barber-Surgeons, and the 1st edition The Wheel of Fortune crown spaces. (updated 12/2018)
↑ If the Festival is used to remove a meeple, the fairy cannot be moved, as an action was still taken in phase 2. Placing a meeple. (5/2014)
↑ If the Festival is used to remove a meeple, the Phantom can still be placed on that turn. (11/2013)

[1] The rules provided by CundCo used the word "meeple" but the rules intended by HiG referred to "figures". We follow the HiG ruling here and modified the wording accordingly.

[2] All of your own figures are meant here, including normal and large meeples, wagon, mayor, builder, pig, barn, shepherd, phantom, abbot meeple, ringmaster, and guard meeple. (5/2015; updated 12/2018; updated 2/2023)

[3] No scoring would be applicable to any meeple or special figure, including the abbot and the shepherd. Note that:
It would be odd to use this expansion to remove an abbot meeple, as it has its own retrieval mechanism that involves scoring.

If a shepherd is removed, no Guide flock to stable action is invoked and no flock scoring would take place. There is no official clarification about what happens in this case to the shepherd's flock. Two options may happen:
The flock is returned to the bag without scoring as soon as their shepherd is removed from the board.

The flock remains on the game board. If it is shared with one or more shepherds, they would not be affected; otherwise, the flock could be claimed by a new shepherd and it would be an analogous case to the sheep found on some tiles in minor expansions such as River III from the first edition or Halflings.

Players should agree on which option is chosen at the beginning of a game.

[4] It would be odd to use this expansion to remove an abbot meeple, as it has its own retrieval mechanism that involves scoring.

[5] If a shepherd is removed, no Guide flock to stable action is invoked and no flock scoring would take place. There is no official clarification about what happens in this case to the shepherd's flock. Two options may happen:
The flock is returned to the bag without scoring as soon as their shepherd is removed from the board.

The flock remains on the game board. If it is shared with one or more shepherds, they would not be affected; otherwise, the flock could be claimed by a new shepherd and it would be an analogous case to the sheep found on some tiles in minor expansions such as River III from the first edition or Halflings.

[6] The flock is returned to the bag without scoring as soon as their shepherd is removed from the board.

[7] The flock remains on the game board. If it is shared with one or more shepherds, they would not be affected; otherwise, the flock could be claimed by a new shepherd and it would be an analogous case to the sheep found on some tiles in minor expansions such as River III from the first edition or Halflings.

[4] A player cannot return another player's figure to them. Also, a player cannot return a neutral figure (such as the fairy or the dragon).

[5] As the City of Carcassonne from Exp. 6 - Count, King & Robber is also part of the playing area, this allows removal of a meeple from there (even if the Count is in the same space). This would also apply to the City of Leipzig from The Markets of Leipzig, the bathhouses from The Barber-Surgeons, and the 1st edition The Wheel of Fortune crown spaces. (updated 12/2018)

[6] If the Festival is used to remove a meeple, the fairy cannot be moved, as an action was still taken in phase 2. Placing a meeple. (5/2014)

[7] If the Festival is used to remove a meeple, the Phantom can still be placed on that turn. (11/2013)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

The Festival

Contents

General info and comments

Contents

Original version (C2 & C3)

Revised version (C3)