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The Festival - now in its 85th year!

For six weeks from March to May, over five thousand Victoria-area performers and students of music, dance and dramatic arts are on stages throughout the city receiving adjudications from renowned experts in the arts.  Performances in Brass, Classical Guitar, Choral, Composition, Dance (Ethnic, School and Studio), Fiddle, Musical Theatre, Piano, School Bands, School Orchestras, Speech and Dramatic Arts, Strings, Vocal and Woodwinds by talented youngsters and adults take place daily throughout Festival.  A dozen Honours concerts showcase the amazing talent.  Dozens of significant awards and trophies are presented including the Rose Bowl (Vocal), the City of Victoria Medallion Tray (Piano), and the Roberto and Mary Wood Scholarship, the largest of its type in Canada.

All adjudicated sessions and Honours Concerts are open to the public.  The public is warmly invited to enjoy the talent and to support our performers.  Many volunteers help make the Festival a success.

Our Purpose

The Festival's purpose is to arrange, promote and carry on annual adjudicated festivals for students of all ages in music and the performing arts and to engage in other activities having as their objective the development of artistic skills, the appreciation of music and its allied arts and ultimately, the pursuit of excellence.

Our Mission

The Festival is dedicated to the development of artistic skills, the appreciation of the performing arts and the pursuit of excellence. To this end:

• we arrange and conduct an annual community Festival that encourages, through performance, participation in music, dance and speech arts;
• we provide reputable practitioners to adjudicate in each discipline;
• we foster the values of self-discipline, teamwork and excellence and provide awards and scholarships that recognize achievement; and
• we arrange and promote special concerts that celebrate achievement and participation, through performance, in music, dance and speech arts.

The Festival Association

The GVPAFA is a non-profit society incorporated in 1927. It is a registered charity under the Income Tax Act. Volunteer-based and managed by an elected Board of Directors, the Festival has six weeks of classes, concerts and special competitions during April and May of each year, supported by approximately 300 volunteers.

Click Here to view Our History