The World Festival of Creativity in Schools

International Finals

Sanremo Ariston Theatre – 14/17 April 2026

International School Festival of Music

LIVE STREAMING OF THE PERFORMANCES AND THE AWARDS

Promotion and coordination:

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International Festival of School Music

REGULATIONS

Who can participate in the competition

All our artistic and cultural events are messengers of peace, love and friendship. Participants, regardless of ethnicity, skin colour, religion and nationality, will be able to participate in the competition without discrimination, in a spirit of mutual respect with the other participants.

Art. 1

The “International Festival of Scholastic Music” is organised in the framework of the 27th edition of the GEF, and Finals will be held in Sanremo.

Selected pieces will have to be performed live by the finalist schools during the Final Phase in Sanremo on the stage of the established venue.

Registration Fees

Each entity participant (school, association, etc.) for a SINGLE category listed below (BAND or CHORUS/CHOIRS):

  • € 190 – registration fee for participating school, association etc, which can send 1, 2 or 3 representations for each category
  • € 280 – Fee for each song admitted to the Sanremo Finals

Art. 2

The festival is open to state and officially recognized private both Italian and foreign schools. A special section is for private music schools and choral and choir associations.

The are 3 main Categories in the Festival:

  1. Bands
  2. Orchestras, Musical Groups
  3. Choirs

Each category has 4 sections:

A – Primary schools

B – Junior Secondary schools

C – Secondary schools

D – Special section for “Music and singing schools of all levels” and Choral/Choir Associations

School children ages: from 5 to 19 years.

IMPORTANT – Based on the number of finalist entities, the Jury, at its sole and final discretion, for one or both categories, can stipulate a single final ranking for the various joint sections of each category and not for each individual section.

Art. 3

Each registered school may enter a maximum of 3 pieces of music performed by its students in the BAND and Orchestras categories and 3 pieces of music in the CHORUS/CHOIR category, only if each piece is performed by different students. Each individual student may only participate in one performance. Compositions, songs or covers belonging to any musical genre and performed by groups or ensembles of any type and formation, including youth and school choirs/choruses and bands, will be accepted.

The GEF Selection Committee may admit one or two songs to the Sanremo Final with its unquestionable and decisive decisions.

Each piece must be performed by a minimum of 8 (eight) students (musicians and/or singers) for the BAND/orchestra categories and by a minimum of 20 (twenty) student singers for the CHORUS/CHOIR category.

Students participating in the Music Finals may not also take part in the Dance and/or Musical Festivals, in which the school may of course take part but with other students.

Art. 4

The individual pieces must have a maximum duration of 3’ and 30” (three minutes and thirty seconds).

The pieces sent for selection will be evaluated by a Selection Commission which will decide those admitted to the Final Phases.

All participants must be students at the school entered in the competition.

Art. 5

Schools and associations that intend to participate in the competition must send exclusively via e-mail to info@gef.it, no later than 8 February 2026:

  • application form 2026 – completed in all its parts.
  • the individual songs in mp3 or wave format, with the following indications: name of the school, name, surname and class to which the performers belong, title of the song, genre (see art. 3), author, duration. It must also be specified whether it is an original composition, reworked, unpublished or otherwise.
  • proof of payment of € 190 registration fee for each participating entity (Schools, Associations, Foundations, etc.) for registration to a single category, BAND or ORCHESTRA or CHORUS/CHOIR

Payments of the registration fees must be made exclusively to the following account:

UNICREDIT BANK  Sanremo

Beneficiary: KISMET s.r.l.

Purpose of Payment: DEPOSIT (please specify the name of the school)

IBAN: IT 59 G 02008 49090 000010138260

BIC SWIFT: UNCRITM1D05

No credit cards accepted.

Art. 6

All material delivered will remain the property of GEF according to the uses permitted by law and will not be returned.

Art. 7

Only the Finalist schools/associations selected for the Sanremo Finals will be informed by 21 February 2026 with:

  • the indication of the selected song/s.
  • the SIAE (copyright) form.
  • the SIAE release form for performances that require it. All participating schools whose texts are not subject to SIAE, must send a disclaimer to the Organising Committee.
  • personal data processing forms according to the EU regulation n.679/2016 (GDPR)
  • consent form (release for the publication of images)
  • the technical form
  • the Hotel Booking Form

By 28 Februay 2026, the schools admitted to the final stages must then confirm in writing, exclusively via e-mail, also sending various forms received with our confirmation, duly completed, namely:

info@gef.it

  • Euro 280 for each song admitted, send copy of payment
  • the SIAE (copyright) form
  • the SIAE release form for performances that require it. All participating schools whose texts are not subject to SIAE, must send a disclaimer to the Organising Committee.
  • personal data processing forms according to the EU regulation n.679/2016 (GDPR), duly completed and signed
  • consent form (release for the publication of images), duly completed and signed
  • the Technical Sheet with any scene requirements (which must be agreed with the Production Manager)
  • the complete list with name and surname of each official participant, teacher, principal, family members, accompanying persons, etc

prenotazioni@gef.it

  • the duly completed Hotel Booking Form.
  • The copy of the payment for the whole stay must reach us by 5 March 2026
  • the complete list with name and surname of each official participant, teacher, principal, family members, accompanying persons, etc

UNICREDIT BANK Sanremo

Beneficiary: KISMET S.r.l.

Purpose of Payment: hotel booking – name of the school

IBAN: IT 59 G 02008 49090 000010138260

BIC SWIFT: UNCRITM1D05

No credit cards accepted.

Art. 8

The pieces submitted for selection will be evaluated by a Committee of experts who will select those admitted to the finals.

Art. 9

Songs selected for the finals must be presented live in Sanremo, on the stage of the Ariston Theatre, by the participants unless excluded from the final classification, in which case no refund is possible and will be judged on site by a Jury selected among experts in the field.

In addition to the usual technical and artistic parameters (intonation, dynamics, performance technique, expressiveness, etc.), evaluation criteria will also focus on potentialities that may characterise the proposed pieces and their performance. The content of the proposal will also be assessed from an educational and training point of view.

Decisions both by the Selection Committee and of the Jury, are unquestionable and decisive.

Each institute selected to the final stages must provide everything necessary for the performance of the pieces (texts, instruments or other). The Organisation will provide a professional sound/lighting system (according to a technical sheet participants will receive at a later stage).

Art. 10

IMPORTANT:

For GEF-2026 the person in charge for the accommodations is Mr Alessandro Pioli – “BITO Viaggi”, FOR INFORMATION AND HOTEL BOOKINGS, call +39 377 322 8667, or contact him by email prenotazioni@gef.it

The main aim of the GEF is to offer the opportunity to experience other situations and creative experiences. Performances and the award ceremonies will therefore be opportunities for exchange and mutual listening.

An accommodation package price has been arranged for the finalists (minimum 2 overnight stays for the Theatre and Musical competitions, 3 nights for Theatre and Music Festival Participants), for accompanying persons and for all those who will have to stay to take part in the final stage of GEF 2026. Types and conditions can be found on the website www.gef.it. For organisational and control reasons, such bookings must be made through GEF (only schools in the province of Imperia are excluded).

Considering the thousands of participants in the final stages of the various competitions, from Italy and abroad, it is advisable to book as early as possible to be able to arrange the type of accommodation more easily.

Official participants in the Sanremo final stages of all competitions will receive GEF gadgets.

All finalist schools will be included in the official bilingual (Italian/English) GEF catalogue.

Art. 11

The final performance (Finals) will be held at the Ariston Theatre in Sanremo, on Friday 17th April 2026, where prizes will be awarded to the absolute winners in the music, singing, dance and fashion competitions. Prizes will also be awarded to the winners of other competitions and the GEF 2026 Awards (entertainment, music, sport, health, etc.) will be presented, including the prestigious “Global Education Award”, the only international education award presented each year to personalities and associations that, with thoughts, words and deeds, have favoured the development and growth of education.

Art. 12

The Festival awards the “GEF Trophy” to the winner of each section (A/B/C/D) and the prestigious “School Creativity Award” (Silver Dolphin) to the overall first place winner, among the winners of the various sections, after the final competition that will take place live in Sanremo.

The Jury may award other special prizes (best arrangement, best interpretation, etc.), also for non-strictly musical reasons (niceness, professionalism, hospitality, look, etc.).

All prizes will be awarded to the school, which will also receive the GEF certificate of participation in the finals. Prizes will be exclusively delivered on the stage of the Ariston Theatre to the schools present and cannot be handed over at a later date or sent by mail.

Art. 13

GEF will request to sign a disclaimer for the right to record and/or film and/or broadcast the event – in its entirety or in part – by any means (press, photography, radio, television, audiovisual, internet, etc.) as well as to combine the event with one or more initiatives of a promotional/advertising nature, without anything being due and none of the participants having any claim.

Art. 14

Each School must send the completed and signed forms for each participant (see Art. 7):

  • Information for the processing of personal data in accordance with EU Regulation No. 679/2016 (GDPR)
  • Consent form (release for the circulation of images) to be able to broadcast footage of the performances.

Art. 15

For technical/organisational reasons, the finals at Sanremo may be subject to variations, which will be promptly communicated to the interested parties.

Art. 16

All the works submitted will remain property of GEF, which reserves the right to publish them or present them in other shows without any liability whatsoever and none of the participants may have any claim whatsoever.

Art. 17

All printed materials and trademarks are protected by Copyright, therefore their use and reproduction by any means is forbidden. Any use not expressly authorised will be prosecuted according to law.

Art. 18

The Organising Committee, the Promoting Association and the Company in charge of the technical organisation are not responsible for occasional accidents to persons or property either during the journey or throughout the duration of the Festival.

Art. 19

Participation in the event implies knowledge and unconditional acceptance of the rules for the processing of personal data pursuant to EU Regulation No. 679/2016 (GDPR)