YOUTH PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL

YOUTH PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL 2026

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7 AT 2:00PM (CAST A) AND 6:00PM (CAST B)

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8 AT 1:00PM (CAST B) AND 4:00PM (CAST A)

TICKETS: $5-$15 (KIDS), $10-$25 (ADULTS) AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE

The Youth Performance Festival is a collaborative program of Play Incubation Collective and the Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley, in partnership with Holyoke Media. Now in its 7th year, YPF is a FREE opportunity for youth artists ages 8-18 to create original performance pieces with the guidance of mentor artists in the fields of music, dance, theater, poetry/spoken word, video/animation, and more. YPF centers the creative agency of young artists, and is committed to supporting them as they discover their own creative processes. For YPF 2026, we are partnering with Holyoke Media to offer a Holyoke-based youth cohort in addition to the Northampton cohort as part of our ongoing commitment to expanding YPF in Western Mass. YPF is an outstanding festival experience that warms hearts and inspires creativity in audience members of all ages!

The 2026 Youth Performance Festival is sponsored in part by the Northampton, Hadley, and Holyoke Cultural Councils, local agencies that are a part of the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, as well as the City of Northampton ARPA Funds.

We are deeply grateful for our 2026 business sponsors: Art Always, Cedar Chest, Downtown Sounds, Dostal Eye Care, J2Guides, Northampton Area Pediatrics, Smith College, Wohl Family Dentistry, Workroom Design Studio, PeoplesBank, Greenfield Savings Bank, and the Beveridge Foundation, as well as our food sponsor, Antonio’s Pizza.

Thank you also to our longtime media partner, Northampton Open Media, and a multi-year commitment from our Angel Donor, the Spero Charitable Foundation.

YPF 2026 Schedule:

Sat. Dec 6: 10:00-10:30 Holyoke Info Session & 10:30-12 Session 1 | 2:30-4:30 Northampton Session 1 , 4:30-5:30 Info Session

Sat Dec 13: 10-12 Holyoke Session 2 | 2:30-4:30 Northampton Session 2

Sat Jan 3: 10-12 Holyoke Session 3 | 2:30-4:30 Northampton Session 3

Sat Jan 10-12 Holyoke Session 4 | 2:30-4:30 Northampton Session 4

Sat Jan 17: 10-12 Holyoke Session 5 | 1:30-4:30 Northampton Session 5

Sat Jan 24: 10-12:45 Holyoke Session 6 | 1:30-4:30 Northampton Session 6

Sat Jan 31: 10-12:45 Holyoke Session 7 | 1:30-4:30 Northampton Session 7

Thurs Feb 5: 4-7pm Dress Rehearsal for CAST A

Fri Feb 6: 4-7pm Dress Rehearsal for CAST B

Performances: Sat Feb 7th at 2pm and 6pm, and Sun Feb 8th at 1pm, and 4pm

(All youth artists will be in 2 out of the 4 performances and will know which cast they're in by Jan 24th)

The Youth Performance Festival is a FREE program for youth artists, and mentor artists are compensated fairly for their work. We could not do this without the support of our community, and donations are gratefully accepted throughout the year.

Are you interested in sponsoring YPF as a business or an individual? We need your support! Please contact Kelly Silliman at kelly@nohoarts.org for more information. (All other inquiries, please email Sarah Marcus at sarah@playincubation.org.)

Payment can be made by mailing a check made out to NCFA to PO Box 366, Northampton, MA 01061 or by Paypal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Pay Later or Credit Card by clicking the links below.

MAKE A DONATION TO YPF

BECOME A YPF SPONSOR