KDA has for many years run an adjudicated full-length play festival each Spring for amateur drama societies.

The Festival's professional adjudicator attends a performance of each society's production at its own venue, and gives a full public adjudication to the audience followed by an opportunity for private discussion with the cast and production team.

The Festival ends with an awards ceremony evening - twenty two Awards, for all aspects of a production ranging from Best Overall Production to Best Actor in a Cameo Role. Marks for the main categories of production are given to each society (but are not publicised, except for the overall winner and runners-up).

The adjudicator of several years' Festivals, Charles Evans, produced some notes that may be of interest to societies and which can be downloaded here. These are the copyright of Charles Evans and should not be reproduced or disseminated outside members of KDA without his consent.

A list of all award winners in recent years can be downloaded here.

2025 Full-Length Play Festival

The 2025 Full-Length Play Festival will run from 4th February to 24th May, and will be adjudicated by Jack Davidson - who will be adjudicating for us for the first time.

There are twelve entries, and entry is now closed. Details of the entries are shown on the Productions page.

The Festival's Rules can be downloaded here.

Radio Play Festival

Unfortunately, some entries had to be withdrawn due to other commitments, and we had to cancel the 2014 festival. We hope to include some of the remaining entries in a festival next autumn, if more societies can participate.

This format provides an opportunity for learning about, and participating in, a different form of drama, and an opening for those who prefer not to participate in staged plays and for budding playwrights.

A short radio play (20-60 minutes) is submitted as an audio file for adjudication, and an Awards Ceremony is held and certificates are given to the winners and runners-up in a range of categories.

There were six entries in the 2023 Radio Play Festival, and the overall winner was Alternate Shadows for their production of "What Nots of my Dad" by Brian Walsh. A list of the award winners can be downloaded here.

2024 Full-Length Play Festival

There were 14 entries in the 2024 Full Length Play Festival, and the overall winner was Masquerade, for their production of Oil by Ella Hickson. A full list of awards and the marking schedule can be downloaded here.

Other Local Festivals

There are other play festivals open to societies in Kent - including:
Medway Little Theatre usually runs the Duncan Rand Festival each July - a one act festival with separate competitions for Youth and Adult entries.
Southern Counties Drama Festival - see barntheatreoxted.co.uk