Huntsville Festival of the Arts is committed to providing free or low-cost educational opportunities to our community. We offer diverse workshops facilitated by professional artists and educators, our annual scholarship program, and a number of mentorship & volunteer opportunities that facilitate learning.

• Since 1997, we have directly engaged over 10,000 students in arts education opportunities

• We Budget approximately $8,000.00 each year to support arts education

• We have awarded scholarships for further training to 45 senior performing artists

• We proudly award a $1,000 scholarship for Visual Arts to a Huntsville High School student each year.

• We have welcomed over 4,000 students to the theatre to enjoy upcoming musicals in order to immerse them into the world of musical theatre.

HFA Scholarship Programs

APPLICATIONS FOR 2026 ARE NOW OPEN

The Huntsville Festival of the Arts Scholarship Award was introduced in 1997 to foster the development of the performing arts talent in our community. HfA offers both a Junior (16 & under) & Senior (17 & older) Performing Arts Scholarship.

The Scholarship Awards foster the development of performing arts talent in our community by increasing accessibility to performing arts education. The program provides financial assistance for youth who are currently studying or who plan to pursue studies in music, theatre, or dance. Individual candidates may be awarded $1,000 (senior scholarship) and $250 (junior scholarship). The total contribution to the program is $4,500.

In 2023, Senior scholarship award winners included:
– Simon Johnson who will continue his studies in violin with the Huntsville Suzuki School of Music
– Silas Knappet who will continue his studies in percussion through private lessons with private teacher Richard Jackson
– Gwynne Daynard who will be using the funds towards tuition at Humber College in the Vocal Jazz Program
– Evin Park who will be using the funds towards Univeristy Tuition

Junior Scholarship winners each receive an award of $250. The 2023 recipients include:
– Patricia Mann who will be using the support to cover piano lesson fees with Sarah Spring.
– Samantha Beattie who will put her funds towards tuition fees for studies in Musical Theatre at Hub Productions
– Rachel White who will use the funds towards furthering her studies in music

Since 1997, a total of $11,800 has been awarded to 60 Senior candidates in addition to $15,500 awarded to 38 recipients of Junior and Intermediate Scholarships over the same time period.

Festival Scholarships

Previous Festival scholarships have been awarded to students pursuing studies in dance, theatre and music. The program will also accept applications for technical skills (ie stage management, lighting or sound design). Scholarship recipients and applicants have participated in a number of performance opportunities over the years, both during main stage concerts at the Festival and Music at Noon concerts. Since 1997 a total of $77,350 has been awarded to 66 Senior candidates, and $16,650 to 43 junior/intermediate candidates over the same period.

Kareen Burns Scholarship Fund

In 2010, the festival undertook a $1,000 Huntsville Festival Visual Arts Scholarship (formerly The Tobias Award) to be awarded to a graduating visual arts student. Each year the art department at the school identifies a worthy candidate to receive this honour. This award is in honour of Kareen Burns who was a past HfA Board member and valued member of the Huntsville Community. Her spirit of creativity, imagination and ingenuity continues to make a positive impact on our community. In total, HfA has awarded $12,000 to students through the Huntsville Festival Visual Arts Award.