East Grinstead Music & Arts Festival
General Rules
1. The festival is for amateurs. An amateur is someone who does not derive his/her livelihood from the branch of performance, defined by the class title in which s/he seeks to enter the festival. In any ensemble all members must adhere to that principle.
2. A large entry may necessitate dividing any one class.
3. Suspended pending Federation determination of amended marking bands and descriptors. All applicable bands will be displayed on site during the Festival.
4. Suspended pending Federation determination of amended marking bands and descriptors. All applicable bands will be displayed on site during the Festival.
5. The Committee will withhold the award of any medal, cup or trophy if the mark obtained is under 85.
6. All photography and recording (video or audio) is prohibited during performances. Cameras may not be taken into the auditorium.
7. Any Trophy or Cup awarded is the property of the Festival Committee and must be returned to the Section Secretary at least 10 days prior to the next Festival. Winners of trophies will be required to sign a Bond ensuring its safety. Damage or loss must be made good by the holder.
8. Any Cup or Trophy donated to the Festival will be engraved “East Grinstead Music and Arts”. A Trophy may be suitably engraved by the Winner at his/her own cost, the wording and nature of engraving being subject to the prior approval of the Committee.
9. Own choice classes. A copy of all own choice pieces must be provided for the adjudicator.
- No piece may be played in more than one class.
- In Own Choice Classes the title and composer should be shown on the entry form where possible. if not, then they MUST be clearly written on the reverse of the call card handed to the Announcer at the Festival.
10. The East Grinstead Festival is a participant in the Music Licences, PPL and PRS, operated by Chequer Mead Community Arts Centre. This means that entrants do not have to seek copyright permission for any poetry, prose or solo dramatic items performed to a time limit of 10 minutes. Duologue and group dramatic activity are not covered by this arrangement and copyright for these items should be sought by the performers at the time of entry.
11. Time limits will be strictly adhered to; marks will be lost if time limit is exceeded.
Times will be checked from the First Note or Word of the accompaniment, or if it should occur first, the First movement of the Dancer to the dancer’s last movement at the completion of the dance. CDs frequently used should be time-checked regularly.
12. Entry Fees are not Returnable unless a class is cancelled.
13. Non-Competitive Classes. Performers in these Classes will receive Adjudication, but no marks or certificates.
14. The Stage & Wings are out of bounds to all except authorised persons and performers about to perform. Performers who have danced must leave and only return to the Wings, THREE numbers before the end of the Class. Authorised persons include one Assistant from each school who may accompany children under seven years and older performers for the sole purpose of Wardrobe or Properties.
15. Any Performer nine years and over will not be allowed back on the stage to re-dance except for a technical reason determined by the stage steward. Any performance given must be with the permission of the choreographer of the item.
16. For ALL Sections, performers must be ready for their class 15 minutes before it is due to start. Dancers must perform in correct programme order and report to the Stage Steward 15 minutes before the Class is due to start AND be ready in the Wings two Dances before their own. Absentees risk disqualification.
17. An official entry form must be used. A separate official entry form is required for each section and will not be accepted unless entry fee is enclosed. No class will be withdrawn however few the entries. Entries should be sent to the appropriate section secretaries.
18. In the event of any stated Adjudicator being absent, the Committee reserves the right to appoint a substitute, or if the entries exceed the expected number, to appoint an additional Adjudicator.
19. Age of Performers is calculated as at 1 September in the year previous to the Festival.
20. In Ensembles at least 50% of original entrants must compete.
21. A Performer having won a Class with a particular “Own Choice” item, may not perform this at subsequent Festivals before the same Adjudicator.
22. If a solo performer cannot or does not appear, no one else can take their place.
23. All cheques should be made payable to “The East Grinstead Music and Arts Festival”.
24. During the competitions, the public are not allowed to converse with the adjudicator. Complaints to be made to section organiser. failure to comply would result in performers being disqualified from performing before same adjudicator.
25. The decision of the Festival Committee on all Festival matters is final.
26. No Section Secretary may enter the Section for which he or she is responsible.
27. Performers will be admitted free of charge only to the session during which they are to compete if space permits. Admission tickets must be bought for other sessions.
28. If Pre-Recorded music is used in any Singing or Vocal performance of any kind or in any Song and Dance performance it must NOT include singing or chanting to, or be pre-recorded, or be on the cassette. The use of microphones is not allowed in any section. Pre-recorded music used in Tap Classes must NOT include any Tap or similar effects.
29. Copying of music. No Photostat Copy, or any other method of Copying will be accepted unless accompanied by written permission from its Publishers.. Performers will be disqualified if this is not adhered to.
Use of recorded music at the festival
The Festival is affiliated to BIFF, The British & International Federation of Festivals and participates in its Group Licence to cover payment of fees for the use of Recorded music. Teachers using tracks created from commercial recordings are advised that they should themselves seek permission to re-record from the record companies concerned, as the Festival cannot take responsibility for this.
