Schools

PRIMARY BIG SING
Thursday 23 October 2025, Millennium Forum

Primary school children from throughout Ireland and the UK are invited to participate in a Kodaly-based interactive workshop, where they’ll be introduced to songs, games and rhymes – a must for every primary school teacher.

To register for this event, please email info@derrychoirfest.com.

POST-PRIMARY SCHOOL COMPETITIONS
Friday 24 October 2025, Millennium Forum

Unison/Two-Part
Repertoire: 2 contrasting pieces, in unison or 2 parts, both of which may be accompanied
Time Limit: Not exceeding 8 minutes in total
1st Prize: Trophy and £150

Three/Four-Part
Repertoire: 2 contrasting part songs, in 3 or 4 parts, both of which may be accompanied
Time Limit: Not exceeding 8 minutes in total
1st Prize: Trophy and £150

In addition to 1st Prize in each of the school categories, Certificates of Participation will be awarded to each participating school in the following categories: 

90% or above: Gold Award Certificate
85% – 89%: Silver Award Certificate
80% – 84%: Bronze Award Certificate

Big Sing 
All post-primary school choirs are invited to take part in a Big Sing workshop that will take place during the competition session. Details will be provided in advance of the festival.

CMC Library
We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland and would encourage participating choirs to consider repertoire composed by Irish composers for competition at this year’s Choir Festival. CMC will present a special award at the Closing Gala Concert to the choir that best performs a piece by an Irish composer, as listed in the CMC Library. To visit the library please follow this link.

Special Awards 
Choirs will also be eligible for a number of special awards. Click here for full details.

Applications
Please read our Rules & Regulations and then visit our Application Procedure page, where you will find full details of how to apply.