2026 Festival

Chairperson of the St. Thomas Music Festival Committee

The St. Thomas Music Festival has transitioned over to the Ciniki management system. We are excited to offer festival participants access to the user-friendly software for registering. Payment for registration will be accepted in one of two ways: by e-transfer to stthomasmusicfestival@gmail.com or by cheque mailed to St. Thomas Music Festival c/o St. Thomas Christian Church, 451 Wellington St., St. Thomas, ON N5R 5X8.

The Music Festival Committee, an extension of the St. Thomas Christian Church provides musical outreach to the community. I look forward to my third year as Chairperson of a festival that has served the community for 71 years. We are confident that our festival, supported by its hard-working volunteers, will continue to adapt to the ever-changing musical landscape and provide opportunities for competition and performance to musicians of all ages.

School participation has been a valued part of the music festival for many years. Unfortunately, the cost of student bus transportation has become a barrier for many, and can be the deciding factor during registration. To address this, we are working to ensure that music teachers entering school choirs, bands, and groups in our competition are aware of the bursaries and awards available to cover most of their costs. The Exley Performance Bursary provides each participating school band with funding to help cover busing costs. In addition, to support the revival and continued success of speach arts, retired teacher Sue Green has provided funding to assist participants with related expenses. We are grateful for the financial support provided by these two sources, and by the St. Thomas Golden K Kiwanis Club, which last year contributed from its bingo fund to help cover transportation costs.

Our festival is fortunate to receive support from many community members, families and service clubs who provide scholarships and donations. Students who have performed in at least two different classes and achieved a mark of 85 or higher in two, will be considered for a scholarship. For the provincial competitions, adjudicators recommend which student may perform in the OMFA provincials. Donations from Friends of the Festival help cover the administrative costs of running the festival.

We are thankful for the dedicated committee members who have taken on specific duties to ensure the festival operates smoothly and efficiently, as well as for the additional volunteers who assist at the venues during festival week. We are grateful to the churches that generously provide their facilities as venues. In addition to high-quality sound systems and beautiful pianos, performers benefit from carefully prepared gathering rooms and excellent performance spaces.

At the conclusion of the festival week, a competition will be held for the major awards. The awards will be presented at the Keynotes Concert. We encourage students to use the major awards and scholarships they receive to support lessons or participation in future musical competitions. Financial aid is available through the Elgin–St. Thomas Community Foundation Grant (formerly the Doris Evans Music Student Fund) to assist with registration fees for the St. Thomas Music Festival.

We encourage you to support the students by attending their live performances during the week of the festival and a month later at the Keynotes Concert. A free will offering will be gratefully accepted at these events. If you are interested in volunteering during the festival week to help make our festival even more successful, please contact a committee member. Please mark on your calendar February 23 – 27th, 2026 for the Festival competitions. The Major Awards Competition will be held on the evening of Friday, February 27, 2026 at 7 p.m. and the Keynotes Concert will take place on Friday, March 27, 2026 at 7 p.m.