Artist Information and Selection Process

The Nanga Music Festival is a small, not for profit festival with a focus on participation, from both artists and the audience.

We pick 10 or 11 artists by invitation only. If you would like to be considered, please email us a link to your online material. We do not have a formal cut-off date but generally we have finalised the acts list by April of each year.

We have only one musical performance scheduled at any one time.

Main acts typically perform at least two sets which need to be different, because they will be heard by the same audience. Contributing to our workshop program will also help your case.

A large proportion of our funds goes to artists, but since we are a very small festival, high fees are beyond our budget.

We aim for a balanced mix of acoustic styles and influences; from bush ballads to blues, from celtic to world music, with a leaning towards contemporary singer-songwriters. Our program is anchored by well-known local and interstate performers, but we also aim to provide exposure to young and emerging artists of high quality.

The focus is on acoustic folk, so if you play pub rock or pop, your music probably won’t fit our mix unless you're prepared to play in a more acoustic style. We have a rule of not accepting drum kits, but laid-back percussion is fine.

Part of our support for young and emerging artists is via our ‘Short n Sweet’ sets. ‘Short n Sweet’ acts get a modestly paid contract to perform one 20 minute set on the main stage.

As we said earlier, our festival relies on a high level of audience and artist participation, and we depend upon your involvement to support many elements of that participation. In particular we hold a Blind Date concert on the Sunday of the festival, where we seek to partner a bunch of motivated festival-goers with an artist to collaboratively prepare and perform at the concert. If this sounds terribly serious, it's not. A good proportion of the acts at the Blind Date concert are humorous.

Being involved in the Blind Date concert is an integral part of your acceptance to perform at the festival – in other words, even if your gigs finish earlier, it's important to us that you plan on staying for this concert. In addition, your involvement in the other music sessions of the festival is appreciated and builds strong links with your Nanga fans.

If you think your act would fit our mix, please send us your details and a web link to your music through the contact form, and we will consider you in our next round of artist selection.