FEATS

The festival runs for four evenings, usually Friday to Monday. So to make sure you see all the plays you should plan to arrive on Friday afternoon or early evening and leave the following Tuesday morning.

Generally each evening will begin at 19:30 and end around midnight – later on the last evening to allow time for the awards ceremony. During the day on Saturday, Sunday and Monday you can enjoy the FEATS fringe.

The first festival was organised in 1976 in The Hague. For more about the origins of FEATS, see Brief history.

Yes, in the sense that the rules state that “No member of a participating group may be paid for taking part in FEATS”. However, groups composed wholly or partly of professional performers are not excluded under competition rules.

The National Drama Festivals Association (NDFA) was formed in 1964 to encourage and support amateur theatre in all its forms in the United Kingdom, and in particular through the organisation of drama festivals. Each year, the NDFA organises the National Theatre Festival, to which any group scoring 80 points or more in a qualifying festival (including FEATS) is eligible to be invited.

NDFA’s home page  • NDFA on Wikipedia

Any group that puts on productions in English and is based in mainland Europe.

If a group has not taken part before, it is recommended that it applies to put on a production in the Fringe Festival which accompanies the main festival, and also sits in the audience for at least one main festival. Immediately following the FEATS at which it has been present, as part of the Fringe, in the audience or both, the group should then send its application to perform to the following year’s host group. A new group to the Festival has an automatic right of entry for its first appearance and does not have to go through the annual selection procedure for that year.

See also the page containing information for new groups.

There are a large number of amateur dramatic festivals in the UK, whereas there is – to the best of our knowledge – only one in English (FEATS) in mainland Europe. It doesn’t seem fair to allow UK groups yet another festival to enter, when groups in mainland Europe don’t have the same reciprocal possibilities, owing to distance and logistical considerations.

However, high-scoring groups in FEATS may be invited to take part in the UK National Drama Festival each year.