The Runas Contest, which celebrates its 27a, starts with updates as the winning band not only will perform at the main stage in Ortigueira but it also will have the opportunity to participate at the Festival Internacional Sierra Celta, as part of the Jornadas Medievales of Ayuntamiento de Cortegana (Huelva). Likewise, the increased amount last year remains.

The registration period is now open for the Runas Contest 2026 of the Festival Internacional do Mundo Celta de Ortigueira. This initiative is aimed at new bands whose repertoire is related to traditional folk-celtic music, consisting of between two and ten members.

The registration period will remain open until 23:59 on Sunday, April 26, 2026 and the process consists of two phases. The first one, a technical committee designated by the Ayuntamiento de Ortigueira will select a maximun of ten bands. The second one, in which the public can vote for their ten top bands on the website, will begin on Monday, 4th. Voting will remain opened until Tuesday, May 19th at 2:00 PM.

The finalists will be determined through a five votes system. One got throught the online voting on the Festival website – with scores ranging from 1 to 10 based on the total votes received – and the remaining four votes will come from a professional jury from the music industry as musicians, journalists and/or promoters selected by the mentioned committee. The trhee finalists of the Runas Contest 2026 will be announced between May 19th and 22th on the Festival’s social media and website.

The three finalists will perform on Thursday, July 9th, 2026 at the Festival Internacional do Mundo Celta de Ortigueira, concert for which they receive a 2.000€ fee, and will share the stage with international artists as Yves Lambert, Lúnasa, Solas or Noon, as well as artist from the Galician scene as Anxo Lorenzo or from Asturias like Rubén Alba. Xara, last year’s winning band from Madrid, will also be among those artists. The winner will be selected from among the three finalists based on their stage performance by a professional jury designated by the committee and will return to the Festival’s main stage the next summer, in July 2027, with an increased fee of 3.000€, thus reaching a total of 5.000€. The winning band will also have the chance to be on the line up of the Festival Internacional Sierra Celta of Ayuntamiento de Cortegana (Huelva).

The Runas Contest aims to promote the Celtic culture and music by showcasing emerging bands, prioritizing original compositions. Over 250 national and international bands have already participated, demonstrating the importance of this platform for promoting new groups within the Celtic and folk music scene.

More info at: https://festivaldeortigueira.com/en/runas-en/