The Music for Youth Regional Festival Series 2026 is the UK’s largest festival for young musicians. As we kick-off our highly anticipated annual season, this year’s festivals will be held from Feb – April 2026 in over 20 locations across the UK, as well as a UK-wide online festival, titled Mentor Connects.
Who Can Take Part?
Anyone can sign up to perform, or you can submit a recording of your performance to ‘Mentor Connects’. We welcome all types of ensembles, groups, bands and choirs, playing any musical genre. It doesn’t matter how far you are in your musical journey because anyone with a passion for live music can sign up. The only requirement is that you are a group of two or more musicians aged 21 or younger.
The Music for Youth Regional Festival is a unique and fantastic opportunity for young musicians to perform live and share their music, listen to performances from other groups, meet other musicians and gain invaluable advice and guidance from professional musicians and music educators: our Music Mentors.
If you perform at a Music for Youth Regional Festival or submit a recording to our Mentor Connects platform, you will be invited to attend the 2026 National Festival in Birmingham in July.
You can sign-up and secure your spot today for the Regional Festivals and the Mentor Connects programme, via the form further down on this page. Or for more information about eligibility and costs, please visit our FAQ page here.
2026 Regional Festival Locations
Dates(s): 6th March 2026
Session Times: 09:15 - 20:00
Location: Truro Methodist Church, 18 Union Place, Truro, TR1 1EP
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Cornwall FREQUENCIES Regional Festival
This is one of our Frequencies Regional Festivals, aimed towards young musicians working in popular music genres.
Date(s): 7th March 2026
Session Times: 11:00 - 19:00
Location: Redruth Wesley, Higher Forestreet, Redruth, TR15 2EG
Price: £24 (£20 + VAT)
Date(s): 7th March 2026
Session Times: 10:00 - 18:00
Location: Don Valley Academy, Jossey Lane, Scawthorpe, Doncaster DN5 9DD
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Huddersfield Regional Festival
Date(s): 14th - 15th March 2026
Session Times:
14th March: 09:30 - 16:45
15th March: 09:30 - 16:45
Location: Colne Valley High School
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Date(s): 27th February 2026
Session Times: 10:00 - 19:00
Location: The Mick Jagger Centre, Shepherds Ln, Dartford DA1 2JZ
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Date(s): 6th March 2026
Session Times: 09:00 - 17:30
Location: Peter Hopkins Hall, Springwood High School, Queensway, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. PE30 4AW
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Kingston Upon Hull Regional Festival
Date(s): 20th - 21st March 2026
Session Times:
20th March: 09:30-12:30, 13:30-16:00, 16:30-18:30
21st March: 09:30-12:30
Location: Albemarle Music Centre
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Lincolnshire Regional Festival
Date(s): 14th March 2026
Session Times: 10:00-12:00, 13:00-15:00, 16:00-18:00
Location: Haven High Academy, Marian Road, Boston, Pe21 9HB
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
London FREQUENCIES Regional Festival
This is one of our Frequencies Regional Festivals, aimed towards young musicians working in popular music genres.
Date(s): 27th February 2026
Session Times: 10:00-12:00, 13:00-15:00, 15:30-18:00
Location: BIMM London, Barclay House, 21 Effie Rd, London SW6 1EN
Price: £24 (£20 + VAT)
Milton Keynes Regional Festival
Date(s): 25th March 2026
Session Times: 13:30 – 15:30, 16:30-18:30
Location: Church of Christ the Cornerstone, 300 Saxon Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 2ES
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Date(s): 2nd March 2026
Session Times: 10:00 - 18:00
Location: Caerleon Comprehensive School, Cold Bath Road, Caerleon, Newport, South Wales, NP18 1NF
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Norfolk and Suffolk Regional Festival
Date(s): 2nd March 2026
Session Times: 13:00 - 15:30, 17:00 - 20:45
Location: The Pavilion Theatre, Gorleston, NR31 6PP
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Northamptonshire Regional Festival
Date(s): 14th, 21st - 22nd March 2026
Session Times:
14th March: 13:00-21:30
21st March: 13:00-20:00
22nd March: 10:30-20:00
Locations:
14th March: Spinney Theatre, Northampton School for Girls
21st - 22nd March: Cripps Hall Theatre, Northampton School for Boys
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Date(s): 6th - 7th March 2026
Session Times:
6th March: 09:00-11:30, 12:15-14:45, 15:30-18:00
7th March: 09:00-11:30, 12:15-14:45, 15:30-18:00
Location: Rochdale Town Hall
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Date(s): 21st March 2026
Session Times: 10:00 - 17:00
Location: Rispoli Theatre, Reigate College, Castlefield Road, Reigate, RH2 0SD
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Date(s): 22nd March 2026
Session Times: 10:00 - 17:00
Location: The Platform Faringdon Road Swindon SN1 5BJ
Price: £42 (£35 + VAT)
Can't attend a live festival? Sign up for Mentor Connects
If you cannot attend a Music for Youth Regional Festival, you can submit a recording to our online Mentor Connects platform. We will be accepting Mentor Connects applications until Monday 9th March 2026.
Mentor Connects entry recordings will be sent to an MFY Music Mentor and expert feedback on your performance will be sent to you at the beginning of April via email.
NB as is the case with the in-person Regional Festivals, we cannot accept solo performer entries to our Mentor Connects Programme. This programme is open to anyone aged 21 or under in groups of 2 or more.
When applying to Mentor Connects via the form below, you will need to submit either an audio or video link. This 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.
For more info, please see the FAQ below. Sign-up for Mentor Connects is done via the form further down this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Click here for our Frequently Asked Questions about the Regional Festivals. If you cannot find the answer to your questions on the FAQs, you can get in touch with us via mfy@mfy.org.uk and one of the MFY team will reply as soon as possible.
How much does it cost to take part?
Participating in a Regional Festival or online via our Mentor Connects programme costs £35 (plus VAT) per group/entry. Frequencies festivals cost £20 (plus VAT).
MFY will send you an invoice after completing your application. Please note there may be a delay between completion of your application and receiving your 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.
Sign up for in-person Regional Festivals and the Mentor Connects Programme here
Sign up now!
The deadline for applications for the 2026 Regional Festival Series will be Thursday 4th December 2025 at 12 noon. Mentor Connects applications can be submitted until Monday 9th March 2026.
For any festivals that are not at capacity by Thursday 4th December at 12 noon, these festivals will remain open on a first come, first served basis until Monday 19th January 2026.
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2026 Regional Festival Locations
- Kent Regional Festival - The Mick Jagger Centre, Shepherds Ln, Dartford DA1 2JZ, 27th February
- London FREQUENCIES Regional Festival - BIMM London, Barclay House, 21 Effie Rd, London SW6 1EN, 27th February
- Norfolk and Suffolk Regional Festival - The Pavilion Theatre, Gorleston, NR31 6PP, 2nd March
- Kings Lynn Regional Festival - Peter Hopkins Hall, Springwood High School, Queensway, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. PE30 4AW, 6th March
- Rochdale Regional Festival - Rochdale Town Hall, 6th March
- Cornwall Regional Festival - Truro Methodist Church, 18 Union Place, Truro, TR1 1EP, 6th March
- Corwall FREQUENCIES Regional Festival - Redruth Wesley, Higher Forestreet, Redruth, TR15 2EG, 7th March
- Rochdale Regional Festival - Rochdale Town Hall, 7th March
- Doncaster Regional Festival - Don Valley Academy, Jossey Lane, Scawthorpe, Doncaster DN5 9DD, 7th March
- Huddersfield Regional Festival - Colne Valley High School, 14th March
- Lincolnshire Regional Festival - Haven High Academy, Marian Road, Boston, Pe21 9HB, 14th March
- Huddersfield Regional Festival - Colne Valley High School, 15th March
- Surrey Regional Festival - Rispoli Theatre, Reigate College, Castlefield Road, Reigate, RH2 0SD, 21st March
- Swindon Regional Festival - The Platform Faringdon Road Swindon SN1 5BJ, 22nd March
- Milton Keynes Regional Festival - Church of Christ the Cornerstone, 300 Saxon Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 2ES, 25th March