RULES 2025
PARTICIPANTS OF THE GALA CONCERTS AND REGISTRATION FEE
Various Cypriot dance, music, theater and sports groups, in which children of ages 5-16 are engaged, are invited to participate in the gala concerts. Participation for children is free of charge; however a registration fee of €100 euro (plus VAT) is levied on the institution (schools, clubs, sections, associations). The institution is prohibited from charging children for participation in the Galaxy of Talents project.

CONCERTS
6 March 2025 at 19:00 at Rialto Theatre (Limassol)
2 November at 11:00 and 15:00 at Pattihio Theatre (Limassol)
There might be the third concert organized on the 2nd of November at 18:00

For the first two concerts only groups of 20+ children are accepted. If the application was accepted (i.e. at the time of submission the group met all criteria), but during preparation the number of children decreased, the organisers have the right to remove the group from participation in the gala concert. If the third concert is arranged, small groups (from 12 to 20
participants) will be able to perform there.

  1. APPLICATION FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE GALA CONCERT
Applications are accepted until 15 September 2025 by email: events@vkcyprus.com. Applications from groups with fewer than 20 participants will be rejected for the two main concerts but accepted for the evening concert.

2. MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT

The following audio formats are accepted: MP3, WAV. The recording must be of high quality, with clear sound, recorded in a professional studio. The organisers reserve the right to refuse files with unprofessional soundtracks.
The soundtrack must be sent to email: events@vkcyprus.com by 15.10.2025.
Upon arrival at the gala concert, participants must have duplicates of the soundtrack on a USB stick.

3. PROCEDURE OF THE GALA CONCERT
  1. Ticket prices for the performance are agreed with the Municipal Theatre and range from €15 to €35 depending on the row and seat. Tickets are not distributed centrally; each parent buys their own tickets directly at the Pattihio Theatre box office or online. The school director may advise parents to buy tickets in a certain row or block of the hall, but the organisers are not responsible for ticket availability and are not obliged to provide access to parents who did not take care of purchasing tickets in time.
  2. The order of performances is decided by the organisers. The organisers cannot adjust the time or order of performance because one child is involved in the programme of two or more schools. It is not allowed to split the five-minute performance into two parts for the purpose of changing costumes.
  3. The performance of groups must last a minimum of three minutes and a maximum of seven minutes (depends on the number of children). The soundtrack must be provided by 15
October and will be reviewed by the organisers in advance; replacement of the soundtrack is possible until 25 October. The organisers recommend preparing a composition specially for
Galaxy of Talents, combining musical fragments and choreography in such a way that all children have time to perform and – if necessary – to change costumes.

4. Performance duration is determined as follows: for groups with 20–30 participants – 3 to 5 minutes (at the teacher’s discretion); for groups with 31–49 participants – 3 to 6 minutes. If 50 or more children appear on stage in one performance, the soundtrack duration may be up to 7 minutes. In the evening concert (if it happens), small groups (12–20 participants) will be able to perform with a 2–3 minute show. Attention: if the submitted soundtrack is longer than the allowed time, it will not be accepted.

5. Before the performance, all children performing in numbers 1–5 must remain backstage and in the dressing rooms. Teachers of participating schools are responsible for keeping silence backstage and for children’s behaviour. Children whose schools perform under numbers 6–10 must wait for their turn on the balcony (after the concert begins they will gradually be invited backstage).

6. After performing, children and teachers are not allowed to return to the dressing rooms to collect their belongings during the concert. Immediately after the group’s performance,
children, accompanied by representatives of the organisers, go to the balcony. Children remain on the balcony until the end of the concert. Responsibility for the children lies with a
representative of the school, who must stay on the balcony until the concert ends, and afterwards accompany the children to the theatre foyer, where parents can collect them.

7. Parents’ access backstage is restricted. Each school may request 2 to 5 passes (badges to be worn on clothing). Other parents are not allowed into the backstage area (security at the entrance). Fifteen minutes before the start of the concert, all parent helpers must leave the backstage area. Each school is allowed to keep 2 teachers/helpers/parents for every 10
children.

4. AWARDING OF PARTICIPANTS
All children registered for the contest receive participant diplomas. Sets of diplomas are given to participating schools on the day of the performance. School directors fill in the names of the children in the diplomas themselves.
All school directors are invited to the stage at the end of the concert to receive honorary certificates. The list of school directors for the closing ceremony is prepared in advance. If a
director/leader of a group does not plan to go on stage, he/she must inform the organisers one week before the concert. In this case, the diploma for the school will be given backstage and not on stage. Replacing school directors at the awarding ceremony with parents, teachers, or participating children is not allowed.
Dress code for the final ceremony: festive clothes. Shorts, jeans, and beachwear are not permitted. The organisers reserve the right not to invite to the stage those who do not follow the dress code.

5. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION IN THE GALA CONCERT
Schools and children’s centres officially registered in Cyprus may take part in the gala concert. Children aged 5 to 16 are accepted, regardless of citizenship or residence status in Cyprus (up to 20% of children in the group may be younger or older).
The participation fee must be paid to the organising committee within 10 days after the application is approved and no later than 01.10.2025. In the case of force majeure, the organizing committee of Galaxy of Talents must be informed immediately. Withdrawal from participation is only possible until 01.10.2025 with a full refund of the paid fee. After this date, the fee is non-refundable.

Participation in the gala concert means agreement with the rules published on the website www.vkfestival.com, including the use of photos and videos from the gala concert in open access on the Internet.
The organising committee covers all expenses for organising the concert, preparing and awarding diplomas and certificates, renting the venue and necessary sound and light equipment, and promoting the event in the information space of the Republic of Cyprus. All responsibility for minors during the event lies with parents and teachers.

6. CONTACT INFORMATION
Editorial office of “Vestnik Kipra”. Tel. 25 590530 (9:00–13:00).
Gala concert coordinator – Sofya Bondar. Tel. 97 831435 (time allocation, receipt of soundtracks, questions until 1 November).
Concert director – Irina Patsalidou. Tel. 97 745594 (rehearsal schedule, rehearsals, backstage management during concerts).
Questions and applications of participants: events@vkcyprus.com