New groups
FEATS is open to theatre groups based in continental Europe (i.e. not the UK or Ireland). It’s an amateur competition: the rules say that no one may be paid for taking part in FEATS.
Entries from new groups are welcomed; however, any group planning to take part in FEATS for the first time is strongly encouraged to come to the festival as spectators for the first year in order to see how the festival is organised and get an idea of the standard of the productions that take part.
An alternative is to take part in the Fringe, which is an addition to the main competitive festival. The Fringe festival is held during the afternoons and provides an opportunity for groups to present some form of theatrical entertainment that does not have to comply with the rules of the main festival. It also allows groups which have not been selected to take part in the main festival to put on a production.
FEATS is a non-profit-making group run by a voluntary steering committee, and as such can make no payments to clubs which enter the Festival, nor can any contribution be made to costs such as travel or accommodation. All the FEATS community clubs, therefore, pay their own expenses, in addition to which we charge a (small) entrance fee of €80 to each group which performs in the festival (although not in the Fringe).
If you need to know more, or would like to express an interest in taking part, please contact FEATS.