MACT*Fest 2027 will be held February 18-20
at the Reif Performing Arts Center in Grand Rapids
hosted by the Grand Rapids Players
The MACT Board is thrilled to announce that MACT*Fest 2027 will be held February 18-20 in Grand Rapids. Rehearsals, workshops and performances will be at the Reif Performing Arts Center. Our hosts will be the Grand Rapids Players.
Entries for shows will be accepted starting September 1. The entry deadline will be December 1, 2026 (received by date).
The theatre registration fee is $250 as it was last festival. The entry fee includes one full package. Again This Festival: If your theatre has not participated in a MACT*Fest in the last 10 years (5 MACT*Fests), we are offering a $100 discount to encourage your theatre to give MACT*Fest a try. MACT also dedicated the funds raised through our 2025 annual “Give to the MACT” fundraiser to help presenting theatres offset part of their costs of presenting a show at MACT*Fest. Additional funding for presenting theatres will be provided from the William Muchow Memorial Fund. ($222 was presented to each presenting theatre in 2025. It should be considerably higher in 2027)
We try very hard to keep costs low for participating theatres. Your suggestions regarding ways for us to keep costs low are always welcome. A festival budget is typically over $23,000 and, as usual, is budgeted to break even. The costs include facilities rental and staff, adjudicator and AACT Festival Commissioner costs (travel, hotels & meals), mailing and promotions, socials costs (rent & food), insurance, ASL interpreters, audio describer and many more items. (The festival’s full budget is still being set but will be available on request when finalized.)
As we have done in the past, MACT Fest 2027 will limit the number of entering companies to 12.
Should more than 12 companies apply by the entry deadline (December 1, 2026), there will be a random drawing to select the 12 participating companies and their performance order – filling the last performance slot first and working backwards from there – and to establish a waiting list for the remaining companies.
If less than 12 companies apply by the deadline, a random drawing will be held to select the performance order – filling the last performance slot first and working backwards from there. Additional entries will be accepted at the higher registration fee ($350) on a first-come-first-served basis until January 16, 2027 (Tech day) or until all 12 performance slots are filled.
In addition to the registration fee listed above, your theatre (and/or the people involved with your show) is responsible for all travel, lodging, meals and other expenses associated with your participation in the festival. While we hope everyone involved with your show will purchase a full package for the festival, and enjoy all the benefits of the festival, they are required to at least purchase a ticket to the performance session they are performing in. (Even though they may not get to see any other show performing in their performance session.) NOTE: at the regional and national festivals, it customary that all persons involved with a show (basically anyone allowed at the show’s rehearsal) MUST purchase a full package.
Tentative MACT*Fest 2027 timeline
- September 1: Theatre registration opens
- December 1: Theatre registration deadline (received by date)
- December 7: Drawing for performance order (date approximate)
- January 16: Tech Day
- Deadline for scripts & forms
- Deadline for special accommodations requests
- February 1: Early Bird attendee pricing ends
- Deadline for program information
- February 18 – 20: MACT*Fest at Reif Center in Grand Rapids
Theatre registration forms will be available here by September 1.
Attendee registration forms will be available here by December 1.
Two shows from this festival will be selected to represented Minnesota at
the Region V AACTFest to be held April 1-3, 2027 at Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center in Worthington, MN.
At least one show from the Region V festival will advance to the national AACTFest
The AACTFest 2027 national festival is set for
June 22-29, 2025, in Rochester, Minnesota,
at the Mayo Civic Center Theater.
Click here for an article on cutting plays for a festival
Click here for more information on what we are looking for in a host theatre