They are great fun and should be regarded as fun. Having compeeted at umteen festivals including Newcaselton, Keith, Girvan, Irvine Merrymass, Auchtermuchty and Kinross, I can only be 100% supportive. It is a great chance to sing and be heard at a festival and reason to practice and work out just what and why your singing and a great chance to hear some good singing, good singers and good songs. The competitions at Kinross were often 3 to 4 hour epics and Newcaselton's Border Ballad competition often went into extra time.

BUT take the competition for real; learn your songs, don't sing from a book or paper; have a selection to pick from, if a song has already been sung do another one; get some background and details, put a bit of effort into reserch, it realy will help your performance; make sure the song is eligible; introduce your song and song title, this helps the adjudicators, the audence and you