The MACT*Fest 2027 committee is hard at work planning for MACT’s biennial adjudicated play festival. MACT*Fest will be held February 18-20, 2027 at the state of the art Reif Performing Arts Center in Grand Rapids. Our hosts will be the Grand Rapids Players. We hope you are planning on submitting a show for this festival. The 2027 festival handbook (including all rules), along with other information and forms, is now available on the MACT*Fest ’27 page on our website. The registration deadline to submit a show is December 1, 2026.
In 2027, Minnesota will be home to the trifecta of community theatre festivals. This includes MACT*Fest in February, Region V AACTFest in April (in Worthington) and the national festival, AACTFest, in June (in Rochester). This is the second time that Minnesota has been home to all three festivals in the same cycle, the first being in 2017. This is a unique opportunity for Minnesota’s community theatres to experience the electricity of participating in festivals.
These festivals offer a great opportunity for your theatre, and the people involved, to be recognized for the hard work they put into every production. And to hone their skills as theatre practitioners. It also offers opportunities to meet similarly minded people from across the state, region and country. Friendships that can last a lifetime.
MACT*Fest is the state-level entry point for the festival process. It is held in odd numbered years. Each presenting theatre is adjudicated by a panel of three adjudicators. They provide valuable feedback to help your theatre, and the people involved, learn and improve their skills. There are many awards presented at MACT*Fest. While the awards are all selected by the adjudicators, there are normally awards for shows, ensembles, actors, directors and tech personnel. Two shows from the state festival will be selected to represent Minnesota at the Region V AACTFest.
The AACTFest Region V festival will be held April 1-3, 2027 at the beautifully restored Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center in Worthington. This festival brings together community theatres that have advanced from their state festivals. The “Best of the Midwest” will be represented. The region V consists of the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. While not every state submits a show, we are expecting 6 to 8 shows in this festival. Again, awards will be presented similar to at the state level festivals. At least one show from this festival will advance to AACTFest 2027.
AACTFest 2027 will bring together the 12 best shows from the regional festivals. This Wednesday through Saturday festival will beheld in Rochester at the Mayo Civic Center, June 23-26. There have been many shows from Minnesota that have had the opportunity to represent Minnesota and Region V at this level. In additional to being a great experience in and of itself, participating in festivals offers great potential for local PR when your theatre company is, and/or individual are, selected as award recipients in the state, region or even the country. Many of the shows from this festival will have the opportunity to apply for international festivals, if they so choose. I can think of at least two Minnesota theatres that have participated in international festivals.
Each of these festivals offer attendees, not just participating theatre, the chance to see shows from around state, region and country. The adjudications help attendees hone their skills as actors, directors, and production staff. There are also workshops at each level of festival to provide opportunities to increase your skills as a theatre practitioner.
Start planning your theatre’s entry into MACT*Fest 2027 now. Visit the MACT*Fest 2027 page on our website for more information, rules and registration forms.