Founded at SparkFest 2023, the annual SparkFest competition is a Cliburn-style, 3-day event celebrating and showcasing emerging talent from across the country. For Round 1, the 10 selected actors will perform a monologue of their choosing. For Round 2, the actors will be given a scene and 30 minutes to prepare before performing it for the judges. During each round, audiences will have a chance to hear our judges give the actors notes and feedback.

For the Final Round, actors will perform their monologues and scenes again, taking into consideration written notes provided by the judges. At stake are prizes of $5000 for first place, $4000 for second place, $3000 for third place, and an additional $1000 for the audience favorite as voted by attendees. Judges include Lily Tung Crystal, Spencer Gualdoni CSA, and Ralph B. Peña. (Our festival judges are not part of the preliminary selection process, and will be seeing the actors for the first time during our live Acting Competition Events at SparkFest!)