What is a festival during Hanukkah?

Answer 1

Hanukkah IS a festival.

Answer 2

Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish festival. Unlike the major festivals, Jews typically go to work normally on Hanukkah. The daily and Sabbath prayers do have some additions, notably, Hallel (psalms of praise) is added to the morning service, and there is a special addition to the Amidah in all three daily services. In addition, in the evening, the Hanukkah lights are lit, typically in a Hanukkah menorah (an 8 branched candle stick). One candle is the worker used to light the others. One other on the first night, two on the second night and so on until all the candles are burning on the final night. There is a blessing for the candle lighting, and a traditional hymn. The traditional foods for Hanukkah are all fried in oil, as a reminder of the miracle of the oil that the day celebrates. There is a tradition of gambling on Hanukkah for small stakes, particularly with a 4-sided top called a Dreidel (a Yiddish word), and a tradition of giving children small change (Hanukkah gelt) to gamble with. Nowadays, Hanukkah gelt is frequently given in the form of chocolate coins. The gambling tradition is justified by various stories connecting the dreidel to the holiday and connecting gambling to periods of oppression prior to the Maccabeean revolt. These stories probably explain the survival of the dreidel, an all but lost gambling toy known in other cultures as a teetotum (it's in the dictionary!). Teetotums lost popularity to playing cards in the 17th century, except around Hanukkah among Jews.