Contest : an event in which people compete for supremacy in a sport or other activity, or in a quality. Show : a play or other stage performance, especially a musical. Function : an activity that is natural to or the purpose of a person or thing. Carnival : an annual festival, typically during the week before Lent in Roman Catholic countries, involving processions, music, dancing, and the use of masquerade. Pageant : a scene erected on a fixed stage or moving vehicle as a public show.