FARM 2026 Official Showcase Artist Applications
Judging and Timelines
Showcase Menu
Judging and Timeline
There will be fourteen juried Official Showcases at the 2026 FARM Conference on Friday and Saturday evening, October 23 & 24.
Official Showcase Coordinator: Smitty Smith at [email protected]
Please note that if you performed an Official Showcase at either the 2024 or 2025 FARM Conference, you are not eligible to apply for an Official Showcase this year. You may not perform both an Official Showcase and a DJ Showcase, nor Performance Lane, in the same year. FARM has a limit of three showcase performances at the conference, and an official showcase spot does count towards this limit.
Deadline for applications is midnight, end of day, Eastern time, June 1, 2026.
Applications for the FARM 2026 Official Showcases are scored by active venue and house concert presenters, folk DJs, previous FARM Official Showcase artists (during the time they are ineligible to apply) and other industry professionals and fans from around the FARM region and beyond, most of whom regularly attend the conference.
Think about this: If you apply for an Official Showcase, and then come to the conference (whether or not you are given an Official Showcase spot) you are already known to many conference attendees, including venue presenters and DJs. Musicians have been booked based on their Official Showcase application. It happens!
Timeline for showcase applications, scoring, notification and the FARM Conference:
There will be fourteen juried Official Showcases at the 2026 FARM Conference on Friday and Saturday evening, October 23 & 24.
Official Showcase Coordinator: Smitty Smith at [email protected]
Please note that if you performed an Official Showcase at either the 2024 or 2025 FARM Conference, you are not eligible to apply for an Official Showcase this year. You may not perform both an Official Showcase and a DJ Showcase, nor Performance Lane, in the same year. FARM has a limit of three showcase performances at the conference, and an official showcase spot does count towards this limit.
Deadline for applications is midnight, end of day, Eastern time, June 1, 2026.
Applications for the FARM 2026 Official Showcases are scored by active venue and house concert presenters, folk DJs, previous FARM Official Showcase artists (during the time they are ineligible to apply) and other industry professionals and fans from around the FARM region and beyond, most of whom regularly attend the conference.
Think about this: If you apply for an Official Showcase, and then come to the conference (whether or not you are given an Official Showcase spot) you are already known to many conference attendees, including venue presenters and DJs. Musicians have been booked based on their Official Showcase application. It happens!
Timeline for showcase applications, scoring, notification and the FARM Conference:
- March 16, 2026 Official Showcase Applications Open
- June 1, 2026 Official Showcase Applications Close at Midnight Eastern Time at end of day
- July 1-14, 2026 Showcase artists and alternates notified and confirmed privately
- July 15, 2026 Showcase artists and alternates announced publicly, all submitting artists notified of final status
- October 22 - 25, 2026 FARM Conference at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Minneapolis, MN