The email sent to registrants on March 14, 2020 is posted here.

The newsletter sent out about the cancellation is here.

The April Lyrids are a meteor shower occurring in April, also called April’s shooting stars. These meteors tend to be bright and often leave trails. The radiant point of the Lyrid meteor shower is near the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp. The word “Lyric” derives from the Greek word λυρικός (lyrikos), meaning “singing to the lyre”. Of course, the constellation Lyra represents the lyre, an ancient stringed musical instrument.

Up until shortly before our April 2015 festival, I would have said that Lyrids is pronounced like the word Lyrics replacing the “c” with “d”. However, when finding interesting tidbits of information to send to all of you, I discovered that in fact the correct way to pronounce Lyrids is [LYE-rids].  Don’t believe it? See for yourself here or here or in the dictionary or Google for more… hmmm… there are some sources that pronounce Lyrids the other way… However you say it, Lyrids is an awesome festival and I promise not to bug you about its pronunciation.

Yes. Just contact us with your changes and we will be glad to do that for you.

Yes, there is USD pricing for full-weekend registrations. The Canadian dollar’s value is still low compared with the US dollar. If you are American and registering for the festival, you will find that getting a bank draft in Canadian dollars from an American bank is time-consuming and expensive. Your choices are to pay by PayPal (4% extra) through which you pay in Canadian dollars, or to mail a US dollar check. We now have US pricing for full-weekend registration. For part-time registration please pay the posted rate.

No. Your full weekend registration covers the entire weekend including the Saturday evening dinner and party. Since the Saturday evening dinner is a considerable expense for the festival, it is not eligible for a discount if purchased separately. This only applies to part-time registrants. That is the reason it appears in a different section of the registration form. If you select the full weekend, you will find that selecting the Saturday dinner and party is disabled.

Yes. On the last page of the registration form, choose to pay by PayPal. After registering, enter your Grand Total in the PayPal form on the Lyrids Register page. You will be able to pay with a credit card without needing to have a PayPal account.

There are two ways to donate. If you donate towards operating expenses, your donation will go towards keeping fees as low as possible. If you donate towards scholarships, your donation is used to subsidize the tuition fees for work-exchange dancers, elders and youth.

No. Tineke and Maurits have asked for $5 for the digital syllabus. It will have only the dances taught and be available after the festival. You can pre-order the digital syllabus.

No. Tineke and Maurits will be providing links to online videos of all the dances.

The funds received from DVDs that are ordered or pre-ordered through the Lyrids Folk Dance Festival stay in the Lyrids Festival bank account. Also, this year, Tineke and Maurits will receive $5 each ($10 total) for every Festival 2020 DVD that is pre-ordered. This is the same amount that teachers in previous years received from the sale of Quickie DVDs.

  • Syllabus: The syllabus of the dances taught at the festival will be available after the festival, as Tineke and Maurits want to retain the ability to choose the dances to teach during the festival from a long list of dances. The link to the digital syllabus can be pre-ordered for $5 on the registration form, or purchased on the weekend.
  • Video: Online movies of the dances taught at the festival will be available right after the festival. The link to these movies will cost $20. Available for purchase on the weekend.
  • Music: A CD of the long list of dances will be available for purchase on the weekend for $25.
  • Festival DVDs: As usual, the 2019 Festival DVD will be available for purchase on the weekend. The 2020 Festival DVD, which will be available in April 2021, can be pre-ordered on the registration form. Tineke and Maurits will be receiving $10 per pre-order. A big thank-you to Maurits and Tineke for allowing us to video record them – a rare opportunity!