.jpg)
I don’t know how I hadn’t heard of Disney Youth Programs before now. I know I didn’t pay any attention to Disney outside of following its films until I started Disney blogging, but given how many events Youth Programs offers I’m just surprised that it took me so long to learn about it.
Soon after announcing the dates for STEP Classic, the official Parks Blog gave word on the 2012 dates for its other music and arts competition: Festival Disney. However, the post on the parks blog site is meager; it mentions that the Festival will run on “select” weekends at Walt Disney World between March 9 and May 5 and June 1-2 of next year.
While the latter is specific enough, the former is confusing. Does that mean the Festival will run every weekend in the spring of 2012? If Disney Youth Programs coordinators have only decided that the Festival will happen next spring, what’s the point of making a “dates announcement” post without the specific times?
The rest of the post isn’t that helpful. There are a few embedded links to the Youth Programs and Disney Festival websites, which will be useful, but the only other “information” actually contained on the post is a typical overwrought Disney promotional video.
I think that I heard the video’s soundtrack, or at least something quite similar, over a trailer for one of the “Chronicles of Narnia” movies. The needlessly dramatic video doesn’t really tell viewers anything practical about the festival.
So there’s a music competition: what are the categories, how does one compete, what type of music is eligible? A clip from the video showed some participants dancing – does that mean dance counts in the festival alongside music?
Silly sarcasm aside, at least the official Festival Disney website has the more relevant details on the event. Instrumental, vocal, and auxiliary ensembles from middle, junior, and senior high schools can register to attend Festival Disney. They can sign up to perform in either competitive or noncompetitive performances.
No matter how groups register, like with STEP Classic groups will be judged and receive constructive criticism on their presentations. Also like with STEP Classic, the participating groups will attend seminars where they’ll learn tips on how to hone their craft.
In fact, Festival Disney is very much like STEP Classic aside from the actual content of the shows. The Festival is open for attendance by those who don’t want to perform, participants must make their own way to Orlando but will receive packages for their hotel stay, special Disney World tickets are available for the groups, and even the registration form looks very similar to that for STEP Classic.
However, the registration form stands out in one way: it provides the actual 2012 dates for the Festival, which are as follows: March 9-10, March 15-17, March 22-24, March 29-31, April 12-14, April 19-21, April 26-28, May 4-5, and June 1-2.
It’s fantastic that Disney World has so many programs not just for youth, but that support the arts.
Related Articles:
July 4 Celebrations at Disneyland
Art Show Coming to Downtown Disney
Adventures by Disney: Alaska and Vancouver
*(This image by woodleywonderworks is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
