Frequently Asked Questions

The Music for Youth Regional Festivals are a series of local live music festivals designed to inspire musicians at every level of experience, in a supportive environment. They can be either public “Regional Festivals” or private “Local Events”, however both are opportunities for young musicians aged 21 or under, in a group of two or more, to perform and get feedback from our professional Music Mentors. There are progression opportunities within the season between the Regional Festival Series, National Festival, Primary Proms, Frequencies, and the Music for Youth Proms through a carefully considered selection process. 

The Music for Youth Regional Festivals happen in the spring, usually between February and April.  

Applications for the Music for Youth Regional Festivals are open now. You can apply to join an event near you, or submit a recording via Mentor Connects. These are the first events as part of our annual season, and we are planning to welcome 30,000 young musicians to take part in performances across the UK. 

Please note that we can only accept applications from groups of 2 or more for young people aged 21 or under. 

If no slots are available at your preferred festival, consider signing up for another nearby festival, joining the waitlist for your desired event, or applying for the Mentor Connects Programme.

Participating in a Regional Festival or online via our Mentor Connects programme costs £35 per group/entry. This can be paid when you sign up, or you can select ‘pay later’ if you require an invoice.  

For groups who may find this cost prohibitive, we have a subsidy scheme available to ensure we reduce as many barriers to participation as possible. Please visit our subsidy page here for more information on how to apply. We will review applications on a Thursday each week to ensure that groups don’t have to wait to know the level of support we can provide.  

Each group is allocated 10 minutes to perform. Any pieces can be performed and you don’t have to use all of the time if you don’t want to, but you must not go over the 10 minutes.  

All applications received by the deadline will be processed and confirmation emails will be sent during the w/c 16 December 2024. 

• Up to 75% of festival places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. 
• Within that 75%, MFY will only be able to guarantee up to three entries per group leader in order to ensure the balance across the festival.  
• MFY then reserves the right to allocate the remaining 25% of places at our discretion – this is so we can achieve our Regional Festival aims and safeguard equality of opportunity e.g. engaging with new partners and ensuring that hard to reach groups have the opportunity to participate. 

Mentor Connects is your digital submission to take part in the Music for Youth Regional Festivals if you can’t attend an event, or if there are none near you. Your submission will still get mentored like the rest of our events, and you will still be considered for a performance slot at the National Festival.

This is available to apply to along with all other festivals. Please submit your recording via our website form here. 

Your entry can be in either audio or video format, and will need to be uploaded to a site like Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud or Vimeo. If you choose to make the file password protected, please remember to include the details we will need in order to be able to access it. 

The Mentor Connects programme has unlimited spaces available, so there's no cap on the number of applicants. When applying, you will need to include the link to your audio or video. The application deadline is 14th March, as indicated on the calendar when booking.

Please note that we can only accept applications from groups of 2 or more for young people aged 21 or under. 

For Mentor Connects, recordings will be sent to a Music Mentor and feedback on your performance will be forwarded to you at the beginning of April. 

Local events are private, invitation-only events, therefore booking is limited. We recommend attending a regional festival, setting up your own local event, or applying via Mentor Connects instead.  

For 2025, we’ve updated our booking system— there's now no need to provide your top 3 event choices. When booking, simply select the festival and date you'd like to attend, and choose an available slot. If you’d like to be placed on a waitlist for another festival, return to the start of the form, select the waitlist option for your preferred festival, and complete the sign-up. If a spot opens up at your chosen waitlist festival, we’ll reach out to you if you haven't been allocated a space elsewhere.

We’re sorry there isn’t a festival close to you. We are currently working with partners across the country to widen our reach. Alternatively, you can apply to run a local festival or submit an entry to Mentor Connects to guarantee your groups involvement in the MFY season. More information about these alternative options will be found on the Regional Festival webpage.

Yes, you will receive verbal feedback on the day and written feedback will be sent to you at the beginning of April 2025.

Performance slots at the Proms are invitation only, and are mostly filled by groups who have joined us at the Regional and/or National Festival. The Creative Project is open to other groups to apply, however this is on a first-come, first-served basis, and does include a small registration fee. 

Participating in the Proms costs £350 per group. This can be paid when you sign up, or you can select ‘pay later’ if you require an invoice.  

We aim to contact everyone who has been invited to perform at the Proms by the start of the new school year in September.  

The Creative Project is a massed ensemble that is featured on both nights. This year’s ‘Creative Project’ at the MFY Proms will see hundreds of schools collaborate to perform music composed and arranged by Music for Youth ambassador, radio presenter, and composer, Jack Pepper. This music is drawn from his musical production 'Duet,' which pays tribute to his own inspirational music teacher. 

Applications for the Creative Project are completed via the MFY website. Applications for 2023 have now closed. 

Yes. Spaces for the Creative Project are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you have been able to apply, your booking is automatically accepted. 

Final information for groups regarding arrival times and locations is sent via email in October. Please contact programmes@mfy.org.uk if you have not received this information. 

Final information for groups regarding arrival times and locations is sent via email in October. Please contact programmes@mfy.org.uk if you have not received this information. 

Please bring the following documentation with you to perform:

• Child perfomance licencing 
• Head teacher permission letter 
• Chaperone list 

Please visit https://bsfv.co.uk/shop/ to pre-order your dvd or digital download. 

Your group will be assigned a dressing room which will be in the final information pack sent to you via email. You can leave your instruments and belongings here; however, this will be at your own risk. 

• As per the final information for groups sent via email, we recommend leaving the site after your soundcheck, to allow further soundchecks to be conducted. We recommend going to either the Science Museum, Natural History Museum or Hyde Park. Please be aware that booking in advance is required for the Science and Natural History Museums.  

Please let us know your ETA by calling the MFY Production office on 020 7070 0570 or text the MFY mobile on 07946 176646. 

The passes will be counted in advance into packs for each group. If your group numbers change, we must know, or your group will not receive the correct number of badges. On the day, the reception desk will close at 14:30 and no backstage passes will be issued after this point. 

A daily production meeting will be held covering venue evacuation procedures and important aspects of the day. A representative from each group must attend this meeting - where possible, this should be the conductor or group leader. It will be your responsibility to disseminate the information to all your staff on the trip. 

It will be possible to watch the half of the concert your group is not performing in. Your Group Itinerary Sheet has details of whether you have been allocated seats in the auditorium or standing places in the Arena, Stalls or Gallery.