About

About Us

  • The situation of the LMDF has changed since the last festival in 2024, resulting in Acoustic Nations Live CIC (a Lincoln-based not for profit organisation) offering to organise a cut back festival in March 2026. The intention is to build a committee after this 2026 festival and raise funds to secure the festival’s medium-term future. Before the COVID pandemic the festival regularly had up to 2,000 children, young people, and adults taking part. Acoustic Nations Live CIC wants the festival to continue offering a platform for performance, the opportunity to hear the work of others and the chance to receive feedback from a professional adjudicator.

  • The LMDF is for the whole community. The youngest performers are reception-age children who have perhaps learnt a poem off-by-heart. The oldest are amateur choir members, who have found a love for collective singing.  We also have many open classes for performers of any age.

  • Well, there is an element of competition in that most of our performers do compete for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, and for certain classes we do award some spectacular trophies. But we also have non-competitive classes, where people can still perform in front of an audience and get a professional adjudication. Many children will have been working hard learning lines or practising their musical pieces, so our main aim is to give them an opportunity to perform in a public space, in front of proud parents and an adjudicator. Even if they don’t win, for many children it is still a huge achievement and will really boost their confidence. Many adults find the idea of public-speaking terrifying, so the confidence that can be gained from performing at an early age is to be valued.

  • There are reduced classes in the 2026 LMDF due to Acoustic Nations Live CIC resurrecting the festival with limited time and learning on the job. This will change for the 2027 festival, so there will be more classes for performers of all ages and levels of skill from beginners to virtuosos. Nevertheless, there are also classes for choirs of all ages, and more. All the classes are listed in our Syllabus booklet, which can be downloaded on this website, or have already been emailed to your school.

  • The festival is based in Southside, Colegrave Street, Lincoln LN5 8DW, and the large school choir classes will perform at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church, 2A Skellingthorpe Road, Lincoln LN6 7RB.

History

Lincoln Music & Drama Festival was founded in 1936 by Dr Gordon Slater, at the time, the organist of Lincoln Cathedral until his death in 1979. It was established as a competitive festival to promote and encourage artistic and literary appreciation by providing a platform for amateurs to perform a wide range of different aspects of music and drama. It is not a religious or denominational festival. World class adjudicators were engaged from the outset and performers have been awarded trophies, certificates and bursaries ever since. 

Classes are open to performers of all abilities and without geographical restriction. Ages range from about four years old to nearly 90, although approximately three quarters of performers are under 18. In an average year, there is generally 500 speech and drama entries and 400 music entries equating to over 2000 performers. 

Over the years, many of our performers have become renowned professionals in their field, including Sir Neville Marriner, Jane Eaglen and Ashley Wass. Many others have gone on to carve out illustrious careers, working in television and the West End both on stage and in orchestras and ensembles. 

The Lincoln Music & Drama Festival is a charity and is reliant on income from performers’ entry fees, audience admission charges, donations, advertising and Patrons’ subscriptions. 

Lincoln Music & Drama Festival is not just a cultural competition: it is a warm, friendly annual reunion of those who entertain and enthral and those who come to enjoy the wealth of developing talent which the festival attracts.

Perhaps this is the year when you would like to enter.