Welcome

Who Are We?

The Oxford Music Festival (est. 1974) is affiliated to the British & International Federation of Festivals and provides opportunities for amateur musicians of all ages and standards to perform to a sympathetic audience including their families and friends. A distinguished, specialist adjudicator is present to provide every player with a constructive report which reflects their achievement and provides valuable feedback on how to improve their performance for the future.

Who Participates?

Performers can decide whether to enter a competitive, or a non-competitive class. Many of the competitive classes have special awards for the winner and each year a Prize-winner’s Concert is held a couple of weeks after the Festival, at which a selection of the top prizewinners perform and awards are often presented by Oxford's Lord Mayor.

There are classes for all instruments to suit all ages and standards - from beginners through to conservatoire students - all are welcome to come together each year in our supportive and friendly performance spaces.

When?

The Festival is held in the last weekend of January and first weekend of February each year and a Syllabus detailing the various classes available for players to choose from as well as information about the invited adjudicators is published in print and on the Festival's website in the previous September. Festival entries can be made online via the website - www.oxfordmusicfestival.org. The closing date for entries is generally early November to allow the Festival organisers (all volunteers) to make all the arrangements to ensure the various entries are organised for the appropriate date, time, venue and adjudicator.

Tickets, including all these details, are then sent out to everyone who entered. Individuals can enter themselves, or their music teacher or school may do this for them.

The on-line entry system is now open

Just click on the 'My Entries' section of the 'My Festival' menu.

Only

left to enter the festival.

It's possible to pay for on-line festival entries by card and other online payment methods. If you pay on-line you will not need to post a paper form, cheque or SAE. The underlying mechanics of online payment have been changed this year so even if you encountered problems in previous years please give it a try.

Your entry tickets will be emailed to you when the tickets are issued in December. They will also be available for download from the 'My Entries' section of the 'My Festival' menu of this website. Just look for this ticket icon . Electronic tickets should be printed and presented at the door when attending the Festival. The closing date for entries is .

It will still be possible to use the on-line system to produce a printed form or use the paper form from the printed syllabus

The blank printed form can be photocopied or downloaded and printed from the Downloads section of the Syllabus menu on our website. All paper forms must be posted with an S.A.E. and cheque as in previous years.

Audience members should pay at the door card/contactless payment facilities will be available at most venues.

Syllabus Available Online

The Syllabus is now available in the Syllabus section of this web site.

We will begin distributing the printed version of the syllabus as soon as we receive it from the printers.

The online entry system will be open very soon, keep checking this web site.

Please read this syllabus carefully as there have been extensive changes including some exciting new classes. Our aim has been to make the festival even more inclusive by extending the range of choice.

A Concert for Your Diaries

Our partnership with local orchestras comes to fruition this year when our 2025 Oxford Piano Competition winner, Drew Steanson, performs Rachmaninov’s 2nd Concerto on the 8^th November 2025 at 7.30pm in St. Andrew’s Church, Linton Road.

Don't Forget Facebook & Twitter

the Festival runs a Facebook page www.facebook.com/TheOxfordMusicFestival and a Twitter feed @OxfordFestival. The hash tag #OxfordMusicFestival can also be used to find posts and tweets. Please pay them a visit and share/like/retweet our posts. The News section also shows the feeds from the Facebook page and Twitter account.