Godalming Performing Arts Festival

What is GPAF?

Welcome to Godalming Performing Arts Festival which includes Music, Dance and Speech & Drama.

The Festival, held in February/March each year, usually has around 300 classes to cater for all ages and all levels of ability. Most classes are competitive, with marks awarded by an adjudicator. However, some music sections also have non-competitive classes. Having seen the performances the adjudicator comments on them before awarding marks and then writes a short report on each performance which is presented at the end of each class. The Festival is divided into Sections each of which is run by a Secretary dealing with entries and enquiries.

The Sections running in the 2024 Festival are listed below. Sadly, we do not have Secretaries to run the Singing, School Choirs, Musical Theatre, Adult Choirs and Contemporary Bands Sections, so these will not be operating in 2024. In addition, for the last two years we have not had a Festival Director to guide the whole organisation. If you are interested in helping us by filling one of these vacant positions, please contact us through the “contact us” page of this website. We’d love to hear from you!

Godalming Performing Arts Festival is a Registered Charity No 802840.

2024 Festival

Dates for the 2024 Festival:

Dance:

  • 12-17 February 2024 at St Catherine’s School, Bramley GU5 0DF

Wind, Ensembles & Bands:

  • 1 March 2024 at Wilfrid Noyce Centre, Godalming GU7 1DY
  • 3 March 2024 at St Hilary’s School, Godalming GU7 1HR

Organ:

  • 4 March 2024 at St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Godalming GU7 1EW

Strings:

  • 12-14 March 2024 at Holy Trinity Church, Bramley GU5 0HD

Piano:

  • 8 March 2024 at St Catherine’s School, Bramley GU5 0DF (including duets)
  • 15 March 2024 at Holy Trinity Church, Bramley GU5 0HD
  • 17 March 2024 at St Hilary’s School, Godalming GU7 1RZ

Speech and Drama:

  • 10 and 17 March 2024 at St Hilary’s School, Godalming GU7 1RZ

The Syllabus for each Section can be found on the relevant Section Information page

Online Entries

Entries for the Organ, Piano, Strings and Wind, Ensembles & Bands Sections are now OPEN

Go to the relevant Section Information Page and click the ENTER HERE button

Entries for the Speech & Drama Section to open in November

Our Sponsors

We are very grateful to all our Sponsors and Advertisers who enable us to run this highly regarded festival.

The annual cost to run the Festival increases year on year and our main source of income is fees for entry and admission fees to the public. Our major expenditure is the hire of halls and professional fees for adjudicators and therefore we can only break even with the help of our Sponsors, Advertisers, and Friends.

If you would like to advertise or sponsor a class please contact our our Sponsorship Secretary through the contact us page.