Access to performing arts education.
It takes more than talent to grow a young performer. It takes opportunities. The Vernon Performing Arts Festival offers scholarships to help families continue to choose music, voice, and dance education for their children.
Why scholarships matter.
Music, voice, and dance education is expensive. A child taking weekly piano lessons, dance classes, or voice instruction often pays $1,500 to $5,000 per year, before recital fees, festival entries, and exam costs. For families with multiple children, or for parents stretching to afford one student's path, the costs are real.
The Vernon Performing Arts Festival keeps entry fees low so any young performer can enter. But many of our most dedicated participants are also working toward Royal Conservatory exams, provincial competitions, summer intensives, or further training. These costs add up quickly.
Our scholarships help families continue to choose performing arts education for their children. We want to remove barriers, not raise them.
Our scholarships.
Festival scholarships
The festival awards scholarships across each of our four disciplines. In 2026, we disbursed $4,000 in scholarships to 30 recipients across piano, strings, voice, and dance.
Recipients are recommended by adjudicators and announced at the Gala Awards Night each March. Each scholarship is funded by a sponsor (a local business, an individual donor, or VPAF general funds) and recognizes both achievement and continued investment in performing arts education.
Provincial Festival support
Performers recommended by VPAF to compete at the BC Provincial Festival often face significant additional costs: travel to the host city, accommodation, registration fees, and time off school. Our scholarships help offset these costs for the most committed performers.
Workshop and intensive opportunities
The festival also partners with regional and provincial dance organizations to give selected performers access to advanced training. In 2026, our partners donated workshop attendance scholarships at the 25 percent and 50 percent levels.
Sol Convention Sol Dance Collective, founded by Jade DeLaronde, donated eight Sol Convention attendance scholarships to VPAF performers across all dance levels.
Okanagan Intensive Nicole Byfield and Nate Fadear donated two Okanagan Summer Intensive attendance scholarships to selected VPAF performers.
How scholarships are funded.
Every scholarship is funded by a donor: a Vernon-area business, an individual community member, or general donations to the festival. We work with sponsors to align their giving with their interests, whether that is a particular discipline, level, or named scholarship in someone's honor.
The 2026 scholarships were funded by:
- Angelkeys Music Studio
- Gail Hawke
- Jade DeLaronde (Sol Dance Collective)
- Marilyn Brodie
- Nicole Byfield and Nate Fadear (Okanagan Summer Intensive)
- Nicole and Mitch McMillan
- Nixon Wenger LLP
- Sunderland Dental
- Vernon Community Singers
- The Vernon Performing Arts Festival Society
Help us grow scholarships.
The festival's scholarship program is small but growing. Our goal is to expand the scholarships we offer each year, both in number and in size, so more families can choose performing arts education for their children.
Donations of any size help. A $50 gift covers a single workshop entry. A $500 gift funds a discipline-level scholarship. A $1,000 gift establishes a named scholarship for a specific level or category, with sponsor recognition at the Gala and on this website.