Festival Registration
Registration for Festival 2026 opens on January 5th 2026
Closing dates:
Studio and International Dance - January 19th
Guitar, Composition, Piano, Speech, Strings, and Voice – February 4th
Brass, Choral, Fiddle, Woodwinds, School Bands, School Orchestra – February 11th
School Dance – March 13th
Festival Syllabus
A syllabus is a detailed guide that helps participants understand how the Festival works. It includes important rules and procedures everyone must follow, lists all the different classes or categories of performance, and explains what each class requires.
It also shows registration fees and deadlines, and provides specific instructions for each section—so performers, teachers, and parents know exactly what to prepare and expect.
Think of it as the festival’s playbook: everything you need to participate successfully is in one place.
Section Information
You can find detailed information about each section’s syllabus, classes, and schedule on their Section Information Page.
Rules & Procedures
Please be sure to also review the Syllabus for your section (located on each section’s page).
Read the complete Festival Rules and Procedures, including the Preamble.
BC Provincials
The GVPAF is affiliated with the Performing Arts BC Provincial Festival, and so our adjudicators select artists between the ages of 10 and 28 to participate in the annual Provincial Festival. The five-day event encompasses special master classes, lectures, coaching, workshops, technique classes and adjudications.
If you are recommended to participate in the BC Provincials festival, your section head will send you a package with the appropriate paperwork to fill out and return to us ASAP.
Once we have received the completed paperwork from you, our office will proceed in registering you for the provincial festival. They will then send you a confirmation email with information on how to pay for your registration.
You can find more information on their website below.
Nationals
Of the participants who perform at Festival, some are chosen by Adjudicators to represent Victoria as delegates at the National Festival Local Stream Qualifying Round. Performers who are successful may be chosen to proceed to the National Festival. The National Festival (Federation of Canadian Music Festivals) is independently run and is a separate association from the GVPAF.
The National Festival Syllabus can be accessed on their website.