Festival Speech Synthesis
Don’t want to install Festival Speech Synthesis? Drop the file here.
The first 20 minutes of any recording are transcribed free: a recording up to 20 minutes transcribes in full, a longer one is previewed, and a pack from $6 (500 minutes) transcribes the rest and opens every export, and credits never expire.
Classic Edinburgh / CMU concatenative TTS — academic reference.
Best for linux distributions historically using Festival as the default screen-reader voice; academic teaching. Pricing: free (university open-source license).
What it is
Festival is the long-running general-purpose speech synthesis framework from the University of Edinburgh and CMU. The bedrock of much classical TTS research. Ships in most Linux distributions. Consent posture: synthetic-only.
Watch out for: Concatenative / classical synthesis — sounds dated next to neural TTS.
Install / use
sudo apt install festivalWhat people actually do with Festival Speech Synthesis-style transcription
The tool is the means. These are the jobs — each one priced at published rates, each one wired up on its own page.
Features
| Speaker diarization | No |
| Word-level timestamps | No |
| Streaming / real-time | No |
| Languages supported | 5 |
| HIPAA eligible | No |
Festival Speech Synthesis vs Whipscribe
| Feature | Festival Speech Synthesis | Whipscribe |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Open source | Transcription APIs |
| Pricing | free (university open-source license) | $6–$24 one-time packs (credits never expire) · first 20 minutes free |
| Speaker identification | — | Named in the summary, key quotes and chapters |
| Word timestamps | — | Yes |
| Streaming | — | No |
| Languages | 5 | 99 |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS | Web, API, MCP |
Alternatives to Festival Speech Synthesis
Frequently asked about Festival Speech Synthesis
Is Festival Speech Synthesis free?
Yes. Festival Speech Synthesis is free and open source (free (university open-source license)).
Does Festival Speech Synthesis work on Mac, Windows and Linux?
Festival Speech Synthesis runs on Linux and macOS. It is not listed for other platforms; check the vendor for anything beyond Linux and macOS.
How many languages does Festival Speech Synthesis support?
Festival Speech Synthesis lists 5 languages.
Does Festival Speech Synthesis identify different speakers?
No. Festival Speech Synthesis does not label speakers; a conversation comes back as one continuous text. If you need speaker labels, that is a separate tool or a different service.
Does Festival Speech Synthesis give word-level timestamps?
No — Festival Speech Synthesis produces segment or sentence timing only, so subtitle cues can land mid-word.
Can Festival Speech Synthesis transcribe live audio?
No — Festival Speech Synthesis works on finished files, not a live stream.
Is Festival Speech Synthesis HIPAA compliant?
Festival Speech Synthesis does not claim HIPAA compliance. For PHI, run it on infrastructure you control or choose a service that will sign a BAA.
What are the limitations of Festival Speech Synthesis?
Concatenative / classical synthesis — sounds dated next to neural TTS.
Who is Festival Speech Synthesis best for?
Linux distributions historically using Festival as the default screen-reader voice; academic teaching.
Does Festival Speech Synthesis run offline?
Festival Speech Synthesis runs on your own machine — it is open source, so nothing leaves the computer unless you configure it to.
Can I use Festival Speech Synthesis in the browser?
No — Festival Speech Synthesis is a Linux and macOS application, not a web app. You install it rather than sign in to it.
Who makes Festival Speech Synthesis?
Festival Speech Synthesis is made by University of Edinburgh / CMU.
What kind of tool is Festival Speech Synthesis?
In this directory Festival Speech Synthesis is filed under tts as a open-source tool.
What are the alternatives to Festival Speech Synthesis?
There is a side-by-side page at /tools/festival-alternatives comparing Festival Speech Synthesis with the closest tools in the same category on price, platform and features.
Can I automate Festival Speech Synthesis-style transcription without running it myself?
Yes. If what you want is transcripts rather than the tool itself, Whipscribe does the same job as a hosted API: submit a file or URL, poll a job id, pull the result as txt, json, srt, vtt or docx. $0.012 a minute — about $0.72 an audio hour — bought as credits that never expire. The automation recipes on this site show it wired to Drive folders, Zoom recordings, S3 buckets and no-code platforms.
Whipscribe is a hosted transcription service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, paste a URL or drop a file in the form below — you'll have a transcript in seconds.
Transcribe your recordings
Running Festival Speech Synthesis yourself? Send the same file here and compare the transcript. Transcribe any language, any recording · Transcription services from $0.29 an hour · Transcribe from any meeting or recording platform · How to transcribe, step by step
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Long recording to get through?
One file up to 10 hours, as an upload or a link: see MP3 to text for long recordings, a podcast episode as text from its link and the SRT generator.
Looking at paid options?
Before you choose a transcription tool or service: see the best transcription services side by side, the cheapest way to transcribe an hour of audio and our transcription service with prices and turnaround.