The Maine Arts Commission is pleased to be working with a number of conferences and festivals to support Maine performing artists wishing to showcase or participate. Maine presenters that are interested in attending any professional opportunity can apply for travel support through the New England Foundation for the Arts Presenter Travel Fund.

The 2020 Contact East Conference will be held in Moncton New Brunswick on September 24-27, and the Maine Arts Commission will cover the application fee of the first ten (10) Maine artists/groups interested in showcasing. Application deadline is March 27, 2020. 

INSTRUCTIONS

In the ‘I Want to Showcase’ online application system there is an option to pay the Contact East fee by mailing a check. Artists from Maine should select the 'mailing a check' option for payment, but  do not need to mail any money. Instead, please send an email to Kerstin Gilg at the Maine Arts Commission to let him know you have applied.  vog.eniam@glig.nitsreK... That's it, good luck on being selected to showcase.

There are many other terrific showcasing opportunities through I Want to Showcase, however, Contact East is the only application for which this subsidy can be used.  

Contact East is Atlantic Canada's premiere performing arts booking conference. The event is made up of high-quality showcases, provocative speakers, professional development sessions, and informal meetings and networking. Each year the conference brings together performing arts presenters and in-demand, tour-ready performing artists to showcase contemporary and classical music, dance, theatre, and youth-oriented programming. 

Showcasing artists are chosen through a juried system administered by the conference, so applicants need to be tour-ready and of high caliber. This means artists/groups must:

• Be able to tour in Canada in 2021
• Have strong work samples for the application
• Have a solid showcase performance (15 to 20 minutes)
• Have a professional web and social media presence
• Possess business cards/ sample cd/dvd, one sheets, etc. share with booking presenters
• Have enough experience to know about touring dynamics (everyone on the tour has a passport, you have experience with contracts, you have an understanding of tour logistics, etc.) 

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Festival 506 Showcase Support - The 2020 Festival 506 Music Festival and Conference will be held in Edmundston New Brunswick on October 22-24, and the Maine Arts Commission will cover the application fee of the first ten (10) Maine artists/groups interested in showcasing. Application deadline is April 24, 2020.

Maine artists should apply to showcase through https://form.jotform.com/200633450518246. This form will allow Maine artists to create an application without paying membership dues to MusicNB or be charged the application fee. 

Maine artists should NOT apply through Music NB website or the link: https://www.musicnb.org/en/festival-506/festival-506-2020/showcase! However, Maine artists should go to the showcase link so they can get information to prepare their application materials ahead of time.

The Music NB Festival 506 presents some of the best developing talent New Brunswick and encourages submissions from members of diverse communities, including Indigenous artists, artists of color, artists with disabilities, artists from the LGBTQ+ community, and artists who identify with other intersectional and marginalized groups.

Festival 506 offers musicians workshops, one-on-one meetings, showcasing opportunity, and more business cards than you knew even existed. Managers, bookers, venues, festivals, radio stations, producers will be making new connections and rekindling old contacts as they discover new music and new industry practices. Festival (506) is also a great place to hear and discover great music for any music fan