Summer Idol Festival

Idol Festival is back and bigger than EVER! The last few years, Idol Festival has become one of the most popular events on the NärCon Sommar Main Stage and a sweet summer tradition! For the 2026 edition Idol Festival now has two full hour slots on the Main Stage, one on Thursday at 22:30 and one on Saturday 23:30. Double the idols, double the energy and double the pen lights! The festivals will be named Idol Festival NOIR and Idol Festival BLANC but will essentially both be the same thing, just different days and time!

Idol Festival, shortened as idolfes, strives to be an event where both fans and performers of idol and idol adjacent culture can come together, both on and in front of the stage. Our goal is to put on a diverse showcase of the idol world so that everyone who comes to celebrate the love of idols will find something or someone to cheer on.

If you haven’t heard of Idol Festival before and is more of an observer than a performer then this is the perfect opportunity to come see the magic live at NärCon Sommar 2026!

If you’re a performer who loves idols and being on stage please don’t hesitate to apply for the festival, either solo or with friends, cosplay or no cosplay, live singing or playback, no matter the country, planet or galaxy, if this sounds like you, then idol festival is the place to be and we want YOU on our stage!

For questions about the event you can contact us at idolfesproducer@gmail.com or at our Instagram account @idol_festival! We urge you to please read through the application form thoroughly before applying!

Summer Idol Festival Thursday

• Date: Thursday July 23
• Time: 22:30
• Location: Main Stage, NärCon Sommar 2026

Summer Idol Festival Saturday

• Date: Saturday July 25
• Time: 23:30
• Location: Main Stage, NärCon Sommar 2026

There are 12 slots PER festival (a group counts as one spot. The slots can be somewhat increased if demand is high) in the festival and each performance can be a maximum of 5 minutes.

• Performance length: Maximum 5 minutes. You are allowed to use one or more songs within your five minutes, but please make sure you write and link all songs you want to use in the application.
• Type of song: The song must be an idol song or idol adjacent. (ex. The Idolm@ster, Love Live!, Macross, Hololive, Ensemble Stars, AKB48, Dempagumi inc. General Japanese music is also allowed! If you're wondering if a certain songs "counts" you can always contact us!)
• Dance: (if applicable): Choreography should if possible be largely the same as the original song to give the audience a chance to chant and dance along. However modifying the choreography is allowed, and in the case of a choreography not existing or the performance being an original song, original choreography is allowed.
• Cost: Free to enter, but every member of the troupe needs to have a valid ticket to NärCon Sommar 2026 (day passes for the day of performance are valid).
• Information Contact: idolfesproducer@gmail.com, for general questions you can also contact us at @idol_festival on instagram
• Duplicates: Two groups are not allowed to perform the same song. In the case of more than one act wanting to perform the same song, they will be contacted to try and figure out the best solution.
  • A performer is not allowed to perform in more than one act in the festival. Even if there is time to do a costume change in between acts we want to give as many people as possible the chance to be on stage. So please only apply once.
  • The main goal for the show is to be as versatile and fun as possible for the performers and the audience. We want to show as many sides of the idol world as possible. This is why first come, first serve does NOT apply. This means that if more than the amount of slots available are applied for you do not automatically have a spot in the show even if you sent in your application first. You don't have to feel pressured to send in your application as fast as possible in order to "reserve" a spot in the show.

To apply for the festival, please fill out this form before midnight April 5. The selected performers will be contacted in May with further details regarding the performance.

• • A file with the music/song that will be played during your performance.
  • If your group wants to prepare their own video/image on stage that should be sent in too. This isn't mandatory and is up to each group to decide if they want to use the screen. If not, we will provide a static background. (Information about exact format etc will come at a later date.)
  • Information about whether you are going to sing live or not.
  • A picture of your group that we can use on social media and credits to the photographer of said picture. (This picture can also be a logo for your group/act and does not have to be a photography if you don't have access to one or want one published)