Music for Youth Festival
The Music for Youth Festival is a collection of regional festivals across the UK aimed to inspire musicians at every level of experience and across every genre of music. This collection of regional festivals forms the UK’s largest festival for young musicians. 30,000 musicians take part every year and many go on to perform again at the Music for Youth National Festival and Music for Youth Proms.
Regional festivals provide opportunities for young musicians aged 21 or under, in a group of two or more, to perform and receive feedback from our professional Music Mentors. Performances take place in church halls, community centres, and schools, all across the country.
The Music for Youth Festival takes place in Spring, usually between February and April and applications open in October every year. You can apply to join an event near you or submit a recording via our online submission platform, ‘Mentor Connects’.
Mentor Connects is the digital strand of our festivals. If you are unable to attend an event in person, or if there are no festivals near you, you can submit a digital recording of your performance. Your submission will be mentored like the rest of our events, and you will still be considered for a performance slot at the National Festival.
There are progression opportunities within the season between the Music for Youth Festival, National Festival, Primary Live, Frequencies, and the Music for Youth Proms through a carefully considered selection process.