Apply As A Festival Performer

Please submit two event applications, one for each! You are allowed to submit up to five applications.

If you will be leading all the songs, in general NEFFA considers this entertainment and a concert. If you will be rotating leaders around as for a session or a song swap, that’s group participation. You are always encouraged to invite people to sing along in concerts!

After applications close, you’ll receive a link by email that will allow you to manage your membership list directly on the web. There is no need to list all group members in your application, but you should update them promptly in the web form as we use this information to check for performer conflicts.

The Program Committee reviews applications in November and December. Our crew of 8-10 volunteers prepares the amazing three-ring circus that is the NEFFA grid so that there are no scheduling conflicts. This takes time, seriously, so thanks for your patience. Acceptances go out to performers on or about January 15. You will have two weeks to confirm your participation by January 31 so we can finalize the grid and make any necessary changes (there are usually plenty) before the final grid is published in mid-February.

Much as we love the many cultures of the folk community, NEFFA is not in a position to book international acts from outside the US, who may need visa sponsorship and/or travel support which we are unable to provide. If you and your group are located in the New England region and willing to apply as volunteer performers for consideration for this year’s Festival, please apply with a group contact who has a US phone number and indicate in your application that you are a US-based group and not in need of visa sponsorship or travel/lodging support.

NEFFA is an all-volunteer organization, and all Festival participants, including performers, volunteer their time and talents. Over a thousand accepted performers receive an all-Festival nonmember ticket (see Tickets for equivalent value) and are encouraged to stay to participate in the full Festival for all three days.

As a regional Festival, NEFFA does not provide lodging or transportation support for performers beyond the room share and ride share boards that go live shortly before the Festival. Please sign up for the NEFFA Loop email newsletter to be notified when these boards become available.

To ensure clarity of communications, NEFFA does not accept applications from agents, with the exception of adults applying on behalf of a children’s group. Our communications deadlines are of necessity very tight and we have not had success in working through an intermediate agent. If your group would like to apply directly, please designate a group contact (usually the leader of the group) and complete the performer application form using the group contact’s name, email, and phone number and not that of your agent. This ensures that the group contact receives and can respond to all NEFFA correspondence promptly and directly.

NEFFA has three categories of performer applications: General (closes October 15), Dance Performance (closes January 5) and Ritual Dance (closes January 15). Each category has its own event length, although they all appear on the NEFFA Program Schedule (aka “the grid”).

GENERAL events  are all the same length: a 50-minute event with 10 minutes to change over between events. We call this hour-long block “NEFFA Time,” and it is not flexible! You must plan your NEFFA set for 50 minutes, and you have 5 minutes at each end to get on and off the stage to make room for the next performing group (who use the other 5 minutes of changeover time).

Very occasionally, at the discretion of the Program Committee, two events may be combined for an 80-minute block that still has 10 minutes changeover time. If the same band is scheduled for two back-to-back event slots and does not need the changeover time (for example a teaching workshop with a dance to follow), they may continue to use the additional 10 minutes between blocks. These are the ONLY exceptions to NEFFA Time! Groups may not apply for combined event blocks.  You must plan a 50-minute set unless and until you are otherwise advised by the Program Committee on acceptance.

Remember, General event applications must be received by October 15! The Program Committee schedules the grid in November and December and late applications must be placed on a waiting list for cancellations in January.

DANCE PERFORMANCE events are quite short: typically an 8-10 minute slot during an hour and a half or two-hour event. Upon acceptance, dance performance contacts will be notified what this year’s set length is (for example, in 2026 it was 9 minutes per group). This depends on the number of applications we receive, so that we can accommodate as many dance performance groups as possible during the two DP events at the Festival (one on Saturday and one on Sunday). Some of our dance groups have been performing at NEFFA for decades and plan their season around the Festival, while we always look for new groups, so we appreciate your understanding as we seek to accept as many groups as Festival schedule time permits.

The only exception to this guideline is for large groups with different age ranges who perform separately (for example, junior and senior troupes). These groups should submit separate applications for each age range, even if you wind up being scheduled in sequence.

Dance performances tend to be the most culturally diverse events at the Festival, and NEFFA loves it when a performing group can teach a participatory workshop in your dance tradition (for example Bollywood or traditional Georgian dance). If you have a teaching workshop to offer, please apply during the GENERAL application period ending October 15. We have had some disappointments when groups wait until the January 5 deadline to apply for a 50-minute event, so please get your teaching applications in before October 15. You can also apply early for 8-10 minute dance performances, even though they will not be scheduled until January.

RITUAL DANCE events (Cotswold morris, border morris, rapper sword, longword, garland, &c) run on NEFFA Time (50 minute event and 10-minute changeover) with 2-4 ritual dance groups scheduled per 50-minute event. Each event rotates teams in sequence, so that your team should plan 2-4 dances per event depending on the number of teams assigned to your timeslot.