How Vernon performers reach the BC Provincial Festival
The Vernon Performing Arts Festival is an official member festival of Performing Arts BC. That means our festival can recommend performers to the BC Provincial Festival. This article explains how that works.
What the BC Provincial Festival is
The BC Provincial Festival is the provincial-level festival of Performing Arts BC. It is open to performers aged 10 to 24 who are recommended by their regional festival. Over five days, it offers adjudication, master classes, lectures, coaching, workshops, and technique classes.
The host community changes each year. The 2027 BC Provincial Festival runs June 5 to 9 in Cranbrook.
How performers are chosen
The adjudicators at the Vernon festival make the selections. Each year, they name three kinds of Provincial candidates:
- Competitors
- Alternates
- Merited participants.
Each regional festival may send one competitor per category in each age group. Festivals with more entries the year before may send more. A festival may send any number of merited participants.
Only competitive entries are considered. A non-competitive entry is not eligible for a Provincial recommendation.
Music
The adjudicator selects the Provincial competitors and alternates. To be considered, enter competitive classes at your current level and follow the Music syllabus rules.
Dance
Vernon may send one dancer per age group in each discipline. Age is measured as of December 31 before the provincial festival.
| Division | Age |
|---|---|
| Junior | 10 to 12 |
| Intermediate | 15 and under |
| Senior | 18 and under |
| Provincial Excellence | 20 and under |
Dancers who hope to go must enter two solos in their discipline. Each solo has a 3 minute limit.
- Ballet: one Pointe or Demi-Pointe solo, plus one more Classical Dance solo
- Modern: one Modern solo and one Contemporary solo
- Stage: two solos, but not both Jazz and Lyrical.
A Stage dancer whose first solo is Jazz or Lyrical picks the second from Tap, Song and Dance, Musical Theatre, Hip Hop, or Acro. The syllabus also names a Provincial workshop for each discipline (Classical, Modern, and Tap and Jazz) and what the adjudicator looks for. One more note: classical music with lyrics is allowed for Demi-Pointe Classical at VPAF, but not at Provincials.
Speech and Drama
Speech and Drama has its own Provincial classes. Regular competitive classes do not lead to the provincial festival.
- Junior, ages 11 to 13: one poem, one prose piece, and one drama piece, in 15 minutes
- Intermediate, ages 12 to 17: one poem, one prose piece, and one drama piece, in 17 minutes
- Senior, ages 15 to 22: one poem, one prose piece, one sonnet, and one drama piece on a shared theme, in 20 minutes.
Enter one Provincial age category only. Our Speech and Drama guide has the fees and details.
Vernon at Provincials so far
In 2026, our adjudicators recommended Vernon performers in Classical, Modern, and Stage Dance, Strings, Piano, Musical Theatre, and Classical Voice. The 2026 BC Provincial Festival was held June 1 to 5 in Prince George. See the 2026 Provincial candidates.
Read the provincial rules
Performing Arts BC sets the rules for the provincial festival. Read the current syllabus at bcprovincials.com before you plan your entries.
Registration for the 2027 Vernon festival runs November 15, 2026 to January 15, 2027 on our registration page. Questions go to [email protected].