Yearly Performance Bookings
Your year-round guide to getting on stage, coast to coast. Yearly Performance Bookings collects the annual festivals, showcases, competitions, and legendary venue stages across America’s East Coast and West Coast that open their doors to artist submissions — each with a brief look at the show and exactly how to submit, apply, or audition. Every listing below was verified against the event’s official website.
Submission windows, fees, and deadlines change every year — always confirm the current cycle on the official page before applying.
East Coast
Amateur Night at the Apollo
A weekly talent competition at Harlem’s Apollo Theater running since 1934, open to singers, dancers, comedians, rappers, spoken word artists, variety acts, and musicians who perform in front of a famously vocal live audience that decides who advances. Seasonal winners progress toward a grand finale, and the show has a long track record of launching major careers, making it a high-visibility proving ground for emerging performers. “Amateur” here means anyone without a recording contract with a major label or studio.
How to submit: Audition anytime by completing the online audition form on the official Amateur Night page (the “APPLY NOW” form linked there, hosted on Formstack). One online audition per contestant; no phone calls or emails. The page lists a grand prize of up to $20,000 for the adult category and $5,000 for the Child Star of Tomorrow category (ages 5–17). Official page
globalFEST
An annual global-music showcase festival whose flagship edition takes place each January in New York (at Lincoln Center), presenting genre-crossing world-music artists in short showcase sets. The audience is unusually rich in presenters, agents, press, and touring decision-makers, so a single set can translate into North American bookings — it is one of the most career-focused world-music platforms in the United States.
How to submit: Apply through the official application page: https://www.globalfest.org/apply — applications are currently closed; check the page for the next application window.
Make Music New York
A citywide, free celebration of music held every June 21 across all five boroughs, built on a matchmaking model: musicians of any age, style, or skill level create a free Performer profile and connect with host venues — stoops, cafes, shops, gardens, museums, and cultural spaces — to set up public concerts. It is a low-barrier way for any artist to land a real New York performance as part of a day when thousands of performances happen citywide.
How to submit: Register and create a Performer profile via the official Perform/Host page (registration runs through the ny.makemusicday.org platform linked there); participation is free. Questions: info@makemusicny.org. Official page
Musikfest
A 10-day August festival run by ArtsQuest and billed by the organizer as the nation’s largest free music festival, with more than 400 performers and 500 performances across 16 stages (15 of them free) and over a million attendees. Open performer submissions are reviewed by ArtsQuest’s Music Programming Department and Music Arts Committee, and the lineup deliberately mixes new artists, local and regional acts, and returning national performers, so emerging acts have a genuine route onto the bill.
How to submit: Use the “Apply to Perform” / “Musicians Wanted” application on the official Musikfest site — performer submissions for Musikfest 2027 are currently open via the online application form linked from that page. Official page
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival — Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase
The discovery stage of this long-running folk festival, now held at the Goshen Fairgrounds: 15 emerging artists chosen by a committee of music professionals each play a two-song, 10-minute set on the main stage on Friday afternoon in front of folk fans, presenters, agents, and media. An audience survey sends the top three showcase artists back the following year for a featured Most Wanted Song Swap slot. The festival also considers a limited number of feature-artist submissions from acts with an established following.
How to submit: Emerging Artist Showcase submissions are online only via Submittable: https://showcasefalconridgefolkfestival.submittable.com — $20 application fee; deadline is usually May 25. Feature-artist submissions: email FalcRidge@aol.com with the subject line “FRFF FEATURE ARTIST SUBMISSION” plus the year, including bio, contact info, stage preference, photo, and links to 3 songs or videos.
FreshGrass Awards (FreshGrass Festival)
FreshGrass, the roots and bluegrass festival held at the MASS MoCA contemporary art museum, does not accept general band submissions — its one official route in is the FreshGrass Awards, a competition aimed at unsigned and emerging artists with band and individual-instrument categories. For string-band and roots musicians it is a targeted way to get heard by the festival and earn a place in its orbit.
How to submit: Submit music through the FreshGrass Awards — the festival’s official FAQ states this is the only way to submit music for consideration, and links to the Awards information from that page. Watch the official site for the next application opening. Official page
Club Passim (including campfire. festival)
A historic Harvard Square listening room that presents predominantly acoustic music year-round and is a landmark stop on the folk and Americana circuit. Its campfire. festival — held twice a year with around 75 acts playing solo, in-the-round, and band sets — is specifically geared to developing artists, and many of the club’s regular headliners got their start there, so it functions as both a booking target and an artist-development pipeline.
How to submit: Email your website and links to your music to Matt Smith at matt@passim.org. For campfire. festival, follow the same booking procedure and include a note that you are interested in playing campfire. Official page
Eddie’s Attic Songwriters Open Mic Night & Bi-Annual Open Mic Shootout
For over 20 years, this famed Atlanta-area listening room has run a Monday-night songwriters open mic where local and national acts each perform two songs, with three finalists returning for a third song to compete for a cash prize and a spot in the venue’s bi-annual Open Mic Shootout. It is one of the Southeast’s best-known songwriter proving grounds and a realistic first stage for touring and local writers alike.
How to submit: Sign up online at https://eddiesattic.com/sign-up/ (linked from the official event page).
AthFest Music & Arts Festival
A free, three-day downtown festival celebrating Athens’ deep local music scene, with three free outdoor stages, an artist market, KidsFest, and ticketed late-night club shows at the city’s iconic venues. It is produced by the nonprofit AthFest Educates as a fundraiser for local K–12 music and arts education, and its performer applications are aimed squarely at local and regional musicians.
How to submit: Apply through the official musician applications page: https://athfest.com/athfest-musician-applications (applications for the 2026 edition are closed; that page carries information on applying for future editions).
DCJazzPrix (DC Jazz Festival)
An annual international band competition for emerging jazz groups, run by the DC Jazz Festival and judged by a panel of established jazz artists, with an emphasis on how band members interact rather than solo virtuosity. Three finalist bands travel to Washington, DC to compete live during the DC JazzFest; the winner receives a $15,000 grand prize, a paid festival engagement, publicity support, and a year-long association with the festival including career-development services.
How to submit: Apply via the official DCJazzPrix page: https://www.dcjazzfest.org/dcjazzprix — open to emerging bands in the early-to-mid career stage (no age restriction). Application deadline for the 2026 cycle: March 8, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET (per official page).
Artscape
One of the largest free outdoor arts festivals in the country, running since 1982 in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon and Bolton Hill neighborhoods, with main-stage music, visual art, and large-scale installations. Beyond its headliners, Artscape runs open performer applications each cycle — including the Echoes of the City stage for local emerging artists, The Flipside DJ stage, and a Pop-Up Performer category — giving Baltimore-area musicians and DJs a direct application route onto the festival.
How to submit: Apply through the official applications hub: https://www.artscape.org/artscape-applications/ — performer categories include “Echoes of the City Application (Local Emerging Artist Stage),” “The Flipside – DJ Stage Application,” and “Pop-Up Performer Application” (applications run through Eventeny, linked from that page).
Sing Out Loud Festival — Local Artist Showcases
Since 2016, the Local Artist Showcases of this St. Johns County festival have placed more than 100 local and regional performers — spanning indie rock, bluegrass, hip hop, country, comedy, and spoken word — into free shows at more than a dozen venues across three September weekends, alongside the festival’s national headliners. Artists and venues must be based in St. Johns County or the surrounding region, making it a dedicated platform for Northeast Florida talent.
How to submit: Artists apply online through the Local Showcases section of the official festival site, singoutloudfestival.com, when the annual submission period opens (the festival has announced artist applications opening in spring, in May for the 2026 cycle; the current year’s submission period has closed — check the official page for the next opening). Official page
SunFest — Fresh Local Artists
Florida’s large waterfront festival in downtown West Palm Beach reserves real stage slots for homegrown talent through its Fresh Local Artists program: Florida bands performing original material apply to play alongside the festival’s national headliners, with hundreds of bands applying in a typical cycle. The same application also covers Community Stage spots across categories such as dance, vocal, and performance art.
How to submit: Apply at https://www.sunfest.com/how-to-perform — the festival’s official call for local performers set a mid-January application deadline in its most recent posted cycle (January 19, 2024); check the page for the current cycle’s deadline.
Florida Folk Festival
One of the oldest continuously running folk festivals in the United States, presented by Florida State Parks at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park on the Suwannee River. It showcases Florida folk, roots, blues, bluegrass, and heritage performers across multiple stages, and every performer gets in through a formal application with required recordings — a rare genuinely open route into a major state-run festival.
How to submit: Performer applications are submitted through the “Performer Guidelines and Application” linked from the official participant information page. For the 2027 festival, applications must be submitted by October 15, 2026, and required recordings by October 25, 2026. Official page
West Coast
Bands at NAMM (The NAMM Show)
The NAMM Show is the music-products industry’s flagship annual trade gathering, and its Bands at NAMM program fills multiple stages across the show floor with live acts of all genres. Performers play for retailers, brands, media, and other music-industry professionals rather than a ticket-buying crowd, making it a trade-visibility and networking opportunity.
How to submit: Apply online through the Bands at NAMM submission page: https://ww2.namm.org/bands-at-namm — open to artists of all ages, genres, and compositions. Per NAMM’s official deadline checklist, 2027 submissions opened August 6, 2026 and closed September 16, 2026. NAMM Artist Relations contact as published: artistrelations@NAMM.org
OC Fair — Community Entertainment
Orange County’s big annual fair invites local and community performers — bands, dance groups, and other acts — onto its community stages around the fairgrounds. Sets are short (roughly 25–40 minutes per the fair’s entertainment guide), which makes it an accessible, family-audience performance credit for Southern California acts of many styles.
How to submit: Apply through the OC Fair’s Community Entertainment page. The official page states that Community Entertainment applications for the 2027 OC Fair open January 11, 2027. Official page
California State Fair — Community Entertainment
California’s state fair books community entertainers for its stages each year, with separate online applications for Bands & Musicians and for Dance & Other Performances. It offers high foot traffic and a broad family audience, and performers must re-apply every year — past appearances don’t carry over.
How to submit: Online applications only, via the fair’s entertainment page. For the 2026 cycle, applications opened January 1, 2026, with a deadline of Saturday, February 28, 2026 and notifications on April 30, 2026. Official page
Joshua Tree Music Festival
A desert music-and-arts festival held twice a year near Joshua Tree National Park, built around live performance, visual art, and camping. Its programming leans eclectic — roots, funk, world, electronic, and singer-songwriter acts — and unlike most festivals its size, it openly invites musicians to submit themselves for consideration.
How to submit: Use the Artist/Band Submission Form in the “Music/Visual Artist Submissions” section of the festival’s Get Involved page. The festival states it listens to every submission and will get in touch if a spot is available. Official page
Sofar Sounds
Sofar stages small, secret-location shows in living rooms and other intimate spaces, where audiences come specifically to listen quietly. For emerging artists it is a way to play attentive rooms and build an audience city by city, starting in one city and expanding from there.
How to submit: Every artist starts with Sofar’s official application form, linked from sofarsounds.com and explained in Sofar’s help center. The application requires 1–3 live performance videos; emailed submissions are not considered. Artists apply for one city first and can be considered for up to five cities; Sofar aims to respond within 8–12 weeks. Official page
Whisky a Go Go
The historic Sunset Strip rock club, operating since 1964, is a roughly 500-capacity room that hosts live music most nights — touring acts, local up-and-coming bands, and tribute shows. Playing its stage is a long-standing rite of passage for Los Angeles-area rock acts, with name recognition far beyond the room’s size.
How to submit: Booking inquiries go to the venue’s published booking email: booking@whiskyagogo.com (8901 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069, as listed on the official site). Official page
Insomniac Discovery Project — EDC Las Vegas DJ/Producer Competition
Insomniac’s Discovery Project is a long-running platform for emerging electronic-music artists, and its EDC Las Vegas edition is a DJ/producer competition whose single winner performs on stage at Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, one of the world’s biggest dance-music festivals. The 2026 edition was hand-selected by the Insomniac team with guest judge Kaskade, with prizing including artist and guest passes, a hotel stay, and $5,000.
How to submit: Enter through the official competition page in the Discovery Project section of insomniac.com. Official page
Mesa Music Festival
Downtown Mesa’s emerging-artist festival is free to the public and packs 200+ performances into downtown venues and outdoor stages over three days. Beyond the stage slots, participating artists get mentoring sessions and one-on-one time with music-industry professionals, so the event is aimed squarely at up-and-coming acts rather than established touring names.
How to submit: Submit via the “Submit Your Band” form on the official site. For the 2026 edition, artists were selected on an ongoing basis through December 15, 2025, and the usual $20 application fee was covered by a sponsor; the festival notes that performing is unpaid, with mentoring, hotel and food discounts, and light hospitality provided. Official page
Tucson Folk Festival
One of the largest free folk festivals in the country, run by the nonprofit Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association, with more than 150 performances across a spring weekend. Most stage spots are filled through a blind juried process based on recorded submissions, and there are separate tracks for a songwriting competition and a young-artist showcase for musicians 18 and under.
How to submit: Juried performer applications run October 1 – November 15, 2026 on the official applications page — free through October 31, then a $30 late-application fee November 1–15. Songwriting competition applications run October 1 – December 1, 2026 ($30 fee). Performer Coordinator contact as published on the page: jerrymmartin@mail.com Official page
Arizona State Fair — Community Entertainment
Arizona’s state fair reserves community stages (the Citrus Grove Stage and the Backyard Stage) for local performers — bands, singers, dancers, and other acts — in front of its large family audience. Screening starts fresh each year and weighs stage presence, family-friendliness, and presentation; the fair also added a Battle of the Bands competition for Arizona acts in 2026.
How to submit: Online application only via azstatefair.com’s Community Entertainers program — no faxed, mailed, or emailed applications are accepted. Program contact published in the official handbook: communitystage@azstatefair.com Official page
Spokane Fall Folk Festival
A free, volunteer-run folk weekend (31st annual in 2026) hosted at Spokane Community College, featuring traditional music, dance, storytelling, and workshops from roughly 350 performers in about 100 groups for some 6,000 attendees. Performers donate their time but receive publicity and a listing in the festival’s year-round Performers Referral Directory.
How to submit: Apply online at spokanefolkfestival.org/performer-application.html; the application deadline was July 1, 2026, and applicants are asked to include at least two audition samples. Booking questions: (509) 828-3683, as published on the official site. Official page
MoPOP Sound Off!
The Museum of Pop Culture’s annual showcase for Pacific Northwest musicians aged 21 and under, running since 2001. A dozen selected artists perform on MoPOP’s Sky Church stage across a winter season of showcases and are mentored by industry professionals, making it a recognized launchpad within the Seattle music scene.
How to submit: Apply through MoPOP’s Sound Off! program via mopop.org. MoPOP’s official site describes the annual selection — 12 artists chosen by its Youth Advisory Board, staff, and community partners — and its blog confirms artists apply during an annual application season. Official page
Washington State Fair — Entertainer Applications
Washington’s largest fair books both unpaid community acts and paid grounds entertainers across several stages — the Showplace, Fair Park, Coca-Cola, and Family Fun stages, plus strolling acts. The same official application system also covers the venue’s Spring Fair and Taste NW events, and applications stay on file.
How to submit: Apply online on the fair’s official Entertainer Applications page — choose the Community Group Application (no performance fee) or the Grounds Entertainment Application (paid acts; not for grandstand acts). Questions: paiger@thefair.com, as published on the page. Official page
Run a yearly show that belongs on this list, or need help preparing your submission? Reach out through the contact page.