The closing date for performer applications is 30 September 2010.

General Information

Applications to perform at the 2011 Festival close on 30 September – late applications will not be accepted. Festival dates for 2011 are 29 April to 1 May.

Interstate applicants - Important information - please read this first. International applicants please be aware we can only accept applications from your agent in Australia - see here for more information. Unfortunately we are not able to recommend potential agents (they get completely swamped if we do!).

We require that you submit applications using the online application form HERE.

Fee quotes. We will guarantee a fee or equivalent to all booked acts. Please note that it is absolutely essential that you give us a firm bottom line quote for your fee – do not expect us to negotiate. Just give us a clear indication of the exact terms under which you would be willing to appear at the festival. All quotes should be inclusive of travel, we have no special deals with airlines or anything like that, so be sure that if you need your airfare paid it is included in your fee. If you are an amateur act, you're not too worried about how much you get paid, and you don't know how much to ask for, we suggest that you ask for enough to cover your petrol and expenses.

Accommodation and Travel. We will be offering free camping for artists and families (restricted to those acts who are booked for the whole weekend, not just for one day). Cottage accommodation on the festival site is strictly limited, and out-of-state performers will get priority. We provide ground transport between the airport and the festival site for out-of-state performers.

Partner tickets. As a general rule, we cannot afford to offer free tickets to partners and family members of performers (with the exception of acts containing children, when we offer a free ticket for an accompanying parent). We will offer additional tickets to artists at discounted prices, but these must be pre-purchased. If this is a major barrier to your application, then please email us to discuss making partner tickets part of an overall fee package.

Genres and styles of performance. This is a hard one! Broadly, the festival is part of the Australain folk festival movement, but no two people agree on exactly what that means. The core of the festival is tradition-based folk/roots music, which includes the various genres of "world music", Anglo-Celtic folk, contemporary acoustic singer/songwriter, a cappella, comedy and acoustic blues, performed "au naturel" with no pre-recorded accompaniment. We generally don't book contemporary electric rock/pop/rap acts, purely classical ensembles or mainstream jazz acts, and we tend to avoid acts that use drum machines. But if you feel you cross over into any of the genres mentioned above don't be put off.

Deadline. The deadline for completed applications is 30 September 2010.

Email or online support material. We encourage the use of on-line support material in the form of links to MySpace sites, YouTube video, electronic press kits or regular websites with sound clips and/or video. We can accept support material sent directly by email, but please note the following rules: please do not send email attachments larger than 1 MB in total size - strictly no MP3 sound clips, and photos as jpgs only, thanks. If your support material is available online there is no need to mail it to us.

The Umpires Decision is final, and we cannot get into individual discussions about unsuccessful applications, we apologise for this. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to spare.

Tips for applicants

We expect to be heavily oversubscribed as usual for 2011, it is essential that your application is complete and timely. Appreciate if you could submit your application as oon as possible. Here are some suggestions to improve your chances:

1. Ensure that your demo materials reflect the performance you are offering - if you are a solo guitarist, please do not provide a heavily produced recording featuring a six piece band (or if that's all you have, you might want to consider providing a live recording).
2. Video of live performance is the preferred medium. We are happy to make use of online materials - YouTube video, a SonicBids electronic press kit or a website / MySpace site with video clips is fine. Get the best stuff up front! If you want to mail us your demo material, ensure that it is either a standard DVD format or MPG, AVI or WMV on a Windows compatible CD.
3. Please do not send us a huge envelope full. One or two pages is sufficient. We do not require a hard copy if it is available on your website or MySpace site. Genuine reviews of your performance and good representative demos are the best thing to send. Solicited letters of recommendation do not mean as much as people think they do.
   
4. Please provide a GOOD photo. We need clear, close-up, well-exposed images that speak for your act and make people (and us!) want to see it. Electronic formats are accepted, the minimum requirement for digital photos are 2 megapixels (about 1500x1300 pixels). The number of pixels are more important. Please send them as email attachments in jpg format.
5. Please do not send us email attachments in any other format than PDF, jpg or htm/html. The organisers will not open any attachments other than specified. Please do not email video, or images bigger than 2MB.
6. We are always in the look out for new and interesting presentations, workshops teching, shows with unusual visual appeal and anything that pushes the envelope a bit. Applying for concert spots only is the hardest way to get on the program.
7. As ever, we are on the lookout for good kids' and youth shows. If you can offer something that appeals to teenagers, we would like to hear from you, particularly if it is participative.
8. Please note that in view of the huge demand for performance slots, we have a general policy of not booking acts for more than two years out of three, and increasingly we tend not to book the same act two years in a row. If you played in the last two years, we suggest that you give others a chance. This rule is not carved in stone, and we do make exceptions in cases where an established act fits a hard-to-fill niche, or comes up with something really new and inventive. If your act played in 2009 and 2010, you might want to drop us a line before going ahead with your application.
9. Once again, we would like to remind you not to make ambit claims. We do not negotiate on your asking fee. Like most of the major festivals, we assume that your quote is your genuine minimum requirement for playing at the festival. Likewise, we are not able to advise you on your asking price, that is for you to decide. If we make a suggestion that can easily be mistaken for an offer, we would like to apologise for the misunderstandings.
10. The theme of the 2010 festival will be "Crossing Rhythms", which will encompass cross-cultural fusions, innovative use of percussion and rhythm, and combinations of live music and dance.

That about does it, thanks for reading this far. Sorry to be so dictatorial about it, but it saves everyone's precious time and effort if we are as clear as possible. We greatly appreciate you taking the time and effort to apply to play at our festival, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes

Steve Barnes
Artistic Director

June 2010