What is the IAPS Festival of Singing?
The Festival of Singing is a celebration of music and community, hosted by IAPS Districts in support of our charitable trust, iTrust. These festivals bring together schools from within the District to perform a repertoire of songs, showcasing the talents of their pupils in front of parents, families and friends.
Each festival is organised locally by the District, making it as large or as small as you wish, but always with two aims in mind: to unite schools through the shared joy of singing and to raise valuable funds for iTrust, supporting the education of children and their teachers.
Why take part?
Our Festival of Singing events are more than a performance – it’s an opportunity to bring schools, staff, pupils, and families together for a common cause. iTrust supports access to an excellent education. Its broad aim is to support the education of children and their teachers. Discover more about iTrust and our work here.
How to get involved
We invite Districts to take part by hosting their own festival and encourage as many schools to take part. Your District can organise an event of any size, from a standalone concert to a large-scale performance.
First steps:
- Gauge interest – Speak with Heads and Directors of Music in your District.
- Contact us – Let us know your District would like to be involved by emailing [email protected].
- Plan your repertoire and date – Give schools plenty of time to prepare.
We will provide support throughout, including promoting your event to schools within your District, offering access to a ticketing platform and managing bookings, sharing highlights on social media and supporting budget management.
Helpful resources for hosting schools
The examples shared here are from District 2, who were the first to deliver a Festival of Singing. Their event was large in scale and thoughtfully put together, offering a helpful illustration of what can be achieved. This is simply one approach. There is no expectation for other Districts to replicate it and we recognise that each District will have its own context, capacity and ideas.
We encourage you to shape your festival in a way that works best for your schools, whether that’s a smaller, more informal gathering or something more ambitious over time. This might involve a few schools coming together, a shared song, or a short collaborative performance. The aim is simply to bring pupils together through singing and to celebrate music within your District, whatever the scale.
