THE SHEDIAC MASCARADE · 28 TO 30 MAY 2027

We are looking for artisans, performers, and musicians who fit the spirit of the Shediac Mascarade. If you have a product, performance, or skill that suits a Regency-to-Victorian theme, we would love to hear from you.

Merchants and makers

Small, giftable, wearable, and finely made. We are especially interested in:

  • Masks, fans, gloves, and millinery
  • Ribbon, lace, and haberdashery
  • Jewellery and hair ornament
  • Perfumery, soap, and apothecary
  • Confectionery, chocolate, tea, and coffee
  • Stationery, calling cards, books, and prints
  • Playing cards, walking sticks, shawls, corsetry, and stays

If it could sit on a dressing table or finish an outfit, it belongs here. But we welcome anyone whose work fits the spirit of the weekend, even if it is not on this list.

Hosts and performers

Something that happens in a room, in period dress, that a guest can join within a minute of arriving. We are looking for:

  • Dancing instruction and calling: a caller who can teach a floor a dance in four minutes is worth their weight in gold
  • Card and parlour games
  • Etiquette, duelling, and fencing demonstrations
  • Silhouette cutting, magic lantern, séance theatre
  • Lawn games
  • Tea ritual, fashion promenade

Costume matters here more than at our other festivals. A host who is dressed is doing half the work already.

Musicians

Regency and Victorian repertoire: string quartets and chamber ensembles, harp, fortepiano and piano, waltz and quadrille bands, parlour song, salon repertoire, opera and art song, Victorian brass, and music hall.

Acoustic or lightly amplified. The Mascarade is a room people move through rather than stand and watch.

Volunteers

Costume is encouraged but not required. Fill out the application, tell us when you are free and what you would like to do, and we will be in touch.

How to apply

Merchants, hosts, musicians, and volunteers all apply through festivals.shediacwonderland.ca. Choose the Mascarade, then tell us what you would bring.

If your work does not fit any of these categories but you think it fits the spirit of the Mascarade, apply anyway and tell us about it. We are building something and we want to hear from people who want to build with us.