COMING SOON: Step-by-step info to help you survive your first Feis.
Your teacher has given the green light for the next Feis as your child's very first competition... now what?! (I'm going to break down this info over a few posts to make sure its not too overwhelming. I swear you've got this!)
First things first - let's get the word right.
"Feis" is the Gaelic word for Irish dance competitions. Literally translated from Gaelic it means festival. It's easier to pronounce than it looks! Simply say "FESH". Not feese, fiz, fise.... (Check out my other blog post for other words and their meanings.) If you want to talk about more than one Feis use the plural Feiseanna! (FESH-ANNA).
Ok so now that we know how to say it - what next?!
Your teacher has more than likely talked to you about registration. Next, either they will enter your child into the correct competitions for you or explain to you how to set up a registration account for websites such as FeisWorx. They will have information ready for you to explain how to log in and register for the first time. You will register anywhere from 1 month to 2 weeks before a Feis.
For each individual Feis, a syllabus is emailed out to your dance teacher. They can also be found on sites like FeisWorx, as well the hosts website and/or social media. Hotel information for out of town competitions as well as a tentative schedule will be found in the syllabus. At the beginner level you are most likely only dancing one day.
About a week before the Feis a schedule will come out. Here you can find your child's competition times and it may also list how many competitors are in each competition. A day or two before the feis the program is released. The program will include all information for the weekend and list dancers in their categories by name. You can also see who is competing and find your child's competitor number.
The next post will be about Feis day. What to expect and a helpful step by step guide to hopefully calm some first Feis nerves. In the meantime check out my other post "Packing for a Feis: Travel Edition".
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