What Were the Most Frequently Asked Questions

2023: $820 per participant 

The cost listed here is relevant for the current Festival year only.  Prices, discounts and deadlines are subject to change. Pricing for each Festival is determined and finalized one year prior to the event.

Included in the participation fee:

• Room and board from the date of arrival until the date of departure (dinner on arrival and breakfast on departure, 5 nights in the dormitory)
• Evening receptions and Gala Celebration afterparty dinner 
• All transportation during the festival week, including to and from the Eugene airport
• A minimum of 7 rehearsals with the Guest Conductor(s) and 1 individual choral workshop
• picfest t-shirt and swag bag
• Experience of a lifetime

Every participant will be issued a festival t-shirt, which you will be asked to wear on a preselected (TBD) day during the festival.  We also ask that each choir be in formal dress for the gala concert. Apart from these two situations, uniform is up to the discretion of each individual choir’s policy.

Yes, there are a few fun shopping destinations on and around campus, and downtown is just a short bus ride away.

The dormitory has an automated locking system that the festival has programmed to lock and unlock at the safest and most convenient times.  Each individual room is equipped with a manual lock, and each participant will be issued a key to his/her room. As an additional safeguard, the ever-vigilant picfest staff hides an army of butterbeer corks and dirigible plums about the dorm to keep away the nargles.

The rooms are double occupancy for singers, single for adult staff.

There are private shower and restroom facilities on each floor.

We have laundry machines available for use in the dormitory.  Your intern can assist you in getting access to the machines.

picfest provides filtered, refrigerated water in the courtyard at all times.

All festival participants eat at Carson Dining Hall.  It is a buffet style cafeteria, with two main lines, as well as a salad bar, a fruit bar, and an assortment of drinks and deserts.

Yes, picfest works with the University to make sure that all dietary needs are met during the festival.

Parents are welcome to attend any public events. For security and liability reasons, participation in other activities is limited to those on the festival roster.

Yes, in order to have the best experience making music together, the repertoire must be memorized.

Known for its rain clouds, Oregon and the greater Pacific Northwest actually experience a wide range of weather.  It can get relatively toasty during festival days, and cool off throughout the night.

We have t-shirts, bookmarks, posters, and sometimes stickers. Of course, picfest no longer offers festival goldfish, since they are now on the endangered species watch list, so please do not ask.

The interns are hospitality officers who guide choirs around campus, as well as answer any questions that may come up during the week.  While interns are fantastic and magical creatures with many a talent, one thing they are not are chaperones.

The Oregon Bach Festival (OBF) is an annual celebration of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his musical legacy, held here in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1970 by world-renowned German organist and conductor, Helmuth Rilling, and beloved figure of the choral community, Royce Saltzman, the festival brings mesmerizing and breathtaking performances, with artists from all around the globe.

The choral clinics are 25 minutes per choir, with 5-minute breaks in between each session. The workshops usually start with the group performing one or two songs of their choice, and the rest of the time goes to the guest conductor’s response and interaction with the director and the choir. All festival participants are permitted to attend the workshop of any choir, if interested.

picfest ended its 26-year run in 2023. Click me to read more about the decision and the final season.