How to enter
Enter online between and . You’ll need a class number for each performer.
Which fits you?
Entering online, step by step
Find the class number
Your teacher may have given you one. If not, search the syllabus by class number or keyword.
Log in or create an account
Accounts carry over from year to year. New here? On the login page, leave Username blank and click the blue link in the “Create an account” box. Fill in the form and your password arrives by email.
Add your performers
Choose “Add/Edit Performer(s)” and add each performer or group. Performers under 19 need a date of birth.
For every child of compulsory school age, add the full-time school they attend, not their dance or theatre school. Keep it up to date.
Enter each performer into classes
Choose “Enter Performer”, pick the performer and the category, then type the class number. Only classes that match the performer’s age on appear.
Press the green + button to add each entry to your basket.
Pay by card
Choose “Proceed to Checkout”, check the details and pay. A confirmation email follows. You can log in later to view your entries, but not change them.
School entries
Schoolteachers entering a large number of performers can use a Multiple Entries Form, with payment against invoice. The closing date is still .
Fees and refunds
- Each class shows its entry fee in the syllabus. The fees are published on .
- Fees can’t be refunded, except when a class is cancelled for having fewer than 5 entries, or when a headteacher refuses approval.
- Entries after are accepted only at the discretion of the section secretary.
- The entry fee covers the performer. Spectators over 18 need a ticket, £7 a day. Tickets and visiting
After you enter
Dance: upload your music by
Dance backing tracks must be uploaded before the festival. You can’t bring music on the day. The upload form needs a free Google account.
Music and speech and drama backing tracks
Where a class allows backing tracks, bring them on a phone, tablet or laptop. Download the file to the device first. Mobile signal in the Town Hall is poor and there’s no public wifi.
Poems, stories and films: submit by
Enter the class first. Then send your work typed and titled, with no name on it.
Submit your work (available once entries open on ).
Check your class time
The timetable is published on . Classes can start up to 15 minutes early, so arrive in plenty of time and sign in. If it’s your first festival, On the day explains what happens.
If a performer needs step-free access or other help on the day, see Visiting the festival.
Performers under 16
This applies to performers born on or after .
Chaperones
Every performer under 16 needs a chaperone. That can be a parent, a teacher or a licensed chaperone.
Headteacher approval
You need it if the performer attends school, the performance isn’t organised by their school, and they’ll miss part of the school day.
- Ask the headteacher for approval, and ask the school to copy its reply to info@cfpa.org.uk.
- Bring a copy, or have the email on your phone, to show at the Front Desk when you arrive.
- Performers without approval will be turned away. The local authority inspects the festival.
Child performance licences are no longer needed. The festival holds a Body of Persons Approval that covers all performers.
Questions about a class
| Dance | dance@cfpa.org.uk |
| Speech and Drama | speech-drama@cfpa.org.uk |
| Music | music@cfpa.org.uk |
| Piano | piano@cfpa.org.uk |
| Vocal | vocals@cfpa.org.uk |
| Choirs | choirs@cfpa.org.uk |
| Strings, wind and brass | strings-wind-brass@cfpa.org.uk |
| School entries | multipleentries@cfpa.org.uk |
| Anything else | info@cfpa.org.uk |
Read the general rules before you enter. Each class links to its discipline rules in the syllabus.