Definite article before event names

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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drdang
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Definite article before event names

Post by drdang »

Want to settle a debate at work. We are a film festival and I feel we should use 'the' before <film festival name> whenever we write about ourselves on our website, social media etc. However, my boss disagrees and says it's wrong because <film festival name> is a proper noun. I've tried to give examples of other film festivals like the Cannes Film Festival, the New York Film Festival etc all of which use a definitive article before their actual names in write ups. This did not convince my boss, who claims it's grammatically incorrect. Since then, I've found many more examples in my support, like awards and galas which add a 'the' in front of their name. However, I do not want to approach my boss without proper grammatical proof. So I want to find out if there is a grammar rule that specifies that a definitive article should be added in front of event names like festivals, awards etc. Any help is appreciated!
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Alan
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Re: Definite article before event names

Post by Alan »

Film festivals named after the places where they are held always require the definite article!
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