FAQs

No - you must not have turned 12 by the 1st January in the year of the competition. Therefore, if your 12th birthday falls on or before the 1st January 2024, you must enter the competition for the next age category up. If your birthday falls after 1st January 2024, for the purposes of the competition, you qualify as an under 12. To assist you, we have incorporated a 'Feis age' calculator on the online entry form which automatically calculates your age as relevant to the next Feis as soon as you insert your date of birth. Therefore, you can see straight away if you are in the correct age category or not.

In this case, just enter one of the competitor's dates of birth. For competitions where there is an age restriction, the office will get in touch with you or your teacher to obtain the other dates of birth.

If you are a junior competitor, you must have lived in Ireland for at least one year, prior to the 1st of January in the year the Feis takes place in order to be eligible to compete, regardless of your nationality. If you are a senior competitor, you must have been living in Ireland for a period of two years, prior to the 1st of January in the year of the competition. We may ask for a letter or email from your school or school of music to confirm your residency status. Please note however that in the case of Choral, Vocal ensemble, Orchestral and Chamber Music competitions, this rule does not apply.

You can either phone the office (01-676 7365) or email us at info@feisceoil.ie to inform us that you wish to withdraw from a competition.

Refunds are only given if a competition is cancelled by Feis Ceoil. However, in cases of serious illness during the Feis itself resulting in an inability to perform, you should apply to the office for a refund, enclosing a doctor's certificate.

If you realise your mistake prior to the entry deadline, yes, you may make a change. You will need to contact the office on 01-6767 365 or email us at info@feisceoil.ie and we will take care of it for you.

No - late entries are not permitted by Feis Ceoil. This is because we begin our scheduling and programming procedures as soon as the entry deadline is reached and we must know the final numbers of competitors per competition in order to do so. You should make sure that your entries are submitted in plenty of time and that you have received your confirmation email.

Yes, in competitions where there is a test piece and an 'own choice' piece, you must use the official accompanist for both. It is not permitted to bring your own accompanist for the 'own choice' piece.

No, in junior competitions, where we provide an official accompanist, there is no advance rehearsal. All competitors will play for the first time with the accompanist in the competition.

No. Editions in the Syllabus are given for identification purposes only, but you may use any edition available. Please note, however, that if a key is specified in the Syllabus, that key must be used.

• An original copy of your music for the adjudicator (except where there are only test pieces to be performed - in those cases we will provide the originals for the adjudicator).  NB - for all own choice repertoire, if you do not provide original music for the adjudicator, you will be disqualified, so please remember to do so!!

During the festival, certificates are printed and distributed in the Feis Ceoil office at the RDS on request. They may be obtained immediately after your competition.

The practice of posting certificates to all winners was a necessary temporary measure during Covid years. Normal practice is to collect your certificate from the Feis office at the RDS during the festival. If you were unable to do this in 2024, please send an A4 stamped self-addressed envelope (stamp value €2.95) to Feis Ceoil Association, Suite 34 Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin 2, D02 W727.

Adjudicator remark sheets will be distributed by the competition steward after the adjudication is complete, in the competition hall. You may request a pdf of your adjudication sheet at info@feisceoil.ie

No - Adjudicator Remark Sheets are private and may only be viewed by the competitor. In 2022, these will be scanned after the competition and emailed to all competitors.

While we try to facilitate people as far as possible, it is not always feasible to facilitate every request for a time change. If you have a serious difficulty however, please let us know by contacting the office at 01-676 7365 or by email at info@feisceoil.ie and we will do our best to accommodate you. If you know another competitor in the same competition and can make a direct swap, that is by far the easiest solution (provided it also suits your accompanists), but you must inform us of any change either by phone or email.

Programmes will be available from Musicmaker, 29 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2, from late February 2024, at a cost of €10. You may also buy a Programme at the RDS Feis office during the Feis.

Yes, all competitions are open to members of the public. Entry tickets are €5.

Yes, you may remain in the hall until the competition is finished, to hear the adjudication.

Winners names will be posted on our Winners section after each competition.

Silent pianos are provided both in the RDS and Wesley House for a 20 minute warm up slot for solo piano competitors only. These must be booked in advance and the link is in your competitor portal.
There are three tuning rooms beside RDS Dodder B for string competitors. You may tune and warm up there briefly before your competition. There are no pianos in these rooms as they are not intended for a full rehearsal with accompanist.
There are warm up rooms in Wesley House - these cannot be booked and competitors may have to share the space.
There is a warm up area behind the RDS Concert Hall. Competitors must share this space.

No. In order to protect our competitors, no photography, video or audio recording is permitted in the halls during competitions.

If you receive a confirmation email detailing all the competitions you entered, then your entry has been successful. However, if not, please contact the office on 01-676 7365/366 or by email at info@feisceoil.ie and we can check the database to see whether the entry went through.

Contact the office at 01-676 7365/366 or by email at info@feisceoil.ie and we will delete the extra entry and refund you the entry fee.

Yes, composition entries may be made by email to info@feisceoil.ie, attaching score by pdf and audio mp3 files.

Via our website at www.feisceoil.ie . Each day we will post a 'What's on today' page which will detail which competitions are on where and when each day.
Otherwise all the information, including competitors' names and repertoire for each competition can be found in our printed Programme, which will be available just before the Feis from Musicmaker, 29 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2 at a price of €10.