ENGLISH FOLK EXPO

The annual showcase for folk, roots and acoustic music in England | 20th - 22nd March 2025 | Manchester, UK

APPLY TO SHOWCASE

Each year, we select around 60 artists to present to delegates. Many of these artists perform as part of the public Manchester Folk Festival programme.

Artists are selected through an open call. Eligible artists should be resident in England or English by birth and perform music in the broad genre of folk, roots and acoustic music. This includes ‘global / worldwide’ and ‘singer-songwriter’ genres. For the 2025 event, we expect to launch the open the call for artist applications in December 2023 and will make selections in Spring 2024.

Selected showcase artists receive:
– a fee. We pay all artists who present with us. Because of the nature of the showcase, these fees are designed to contribute towards expenses.
– a pass to attend some festival events – TBC exactly which ones (we have some very small venues and need to prioritise delegates accessing spaces first and foremost, in order to give showcasing artists the best chance of success).
– access to the Trade Fair
– a pass for our accompanying talent development conference
– advance training session about getting the most from the showcase opportunity
– listing on the English Folk Expo website, delegates’ App, and (if applicable) in the Manchester Folk Festival publicity.

We strongly advise artists or a representative to attend as a delegate and/or take a trade stand. Performing at a showcase is an opportunity to present your music to a network of industry representatives, we rarely repeat artists in subsequent years and so recommend seeing a showcase performance as an investment in career development. If an artist has representation (booking agent, manager etc) these representatives are encouraged to purchase a delegate pass. If an artist does not have representation, they may consider attending as a delegate or taking a trade stand in order to capitalise on the networking opportunities of the showcase. With 60 artists showcasing, we find that the best outcomes often come for those who recognise the networking potential of the event.

REGISTER AS A DELEGATE

Artists are welcome to attend English Folk Expo as a delegate.

This is the best opportunity to build a professional network of music industry representatives. Research from the first European Music Business Task Force shows that music industry networking is one of the best ways to build careers.

TAKE A TRADE STAND

We run a three hour trade fair where all artists and delegates can attend. Artists can buy a trade stand, providing the opportunity for delegates and showcasing artists alike to visit the stand, speak to representatives and find out more about the artist.

PRESENT A SHOWCASE

Present your artists: We provide bespoke opportunities to present selected artists to English Folk Expo delegates through a dedicated showcase. This is aimed at agents, labels, management companies or similar who are looking to present artists they work with to delegates and raise the profile of their organisation.

These events are tailored to meet an organisation’s requirements, but as a guide they are usually 2 hours in length and showcase 3 artists. The organisation covers the direct event and catering costs plus a small facility fee to contribute towards EFEx’s producing team.

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