VTBF2027 Yields 220 Act Submissions—Burlesque Is Alive and Well!

There are some numbers that make a producer’s job a little more difficult—and make me incredibly happy at the same time.

When I opened up the application list for the January 2027 Vermont Burlesque Festival and started looking through the submissions, one number really jumped out at me: 220

Two hundred and twenty acts submitted their work for consideration to perform at VTBF2027.

And there are only 12 open performance slots available.

As the Executive Producer, I can tell you that creates a pretty difficult job for our judging team. But as someone who has been producing VTBF for many years, I can also tell you that it's a problem I'm very happy to have.

220 Acts Is Something Worth Celebrating

Let's be honest: 220 acts competing for 12 spots means that a lot of talented performers are not going to receive the answer they're hoping for.

That's the difficult part.

But before we get to that, I think it's important to stop for a moment and appreciate what those 220 submissions actually represent.

They represent hundreds of performers who are creating.

They're writing music, choreographing routines, building costumes, developing characters, making people laugh, telling stories, taking risks and finding new ways to express themselves through burlesque.

And they're excited enough about what they're doing to put their work out there and say, “I want to be part of this.”

That's pretty damn exciting.

Burlesque Is Alive and Well

I've been involved in live entertainment and production for a long time, and I've watched burlesque change considerably over the years.

The art form continues to evolve. New performers are finding their voices. Established performers are continuing to experiment. Genres continue to blend. Audiences continue to discover burlesque.

And every once in a while, you get a number that gives you a pretty good snapshot of where things stand.

For me, 220 submissions is one of those numbers.

It tells me that performers are still excited about burlesque.

They're still creating.

They're still looking for opportunities to perform.

And they're still interested in coming to Vermont to be part of what we've built here.

Burlesque is alive and well.

And that's worth celebrating.

Now Comes the Hard Part

Our judging team is currently working through all 220 submissions, with the goal of completing the process by September 14.

I expect to begin making performer announcements later that week.

I know waiting can be difficult—especially when you've put time, energy and creativity into an application. And I also know that receiving a “not this time” message can be disappointing. ...especially when VTBF had earned a reputation of accepting every performer who applied.

But I want everyone who applied to understand something:

Not being selected for one of 12 spots does not mean your work isn't good enough.

I simply don't have enough stage time and budget to accommodate everyone who raised their hand this year.

That's a limitation of the festival—not a judgment on the value of your art.

Thank You

To everyone who submitted an application: thank you.

Thank you for your interest in VTBF. Thank you for your creativity. Thank you for trusting me and the VTBF team enough to share your work.

And thank you for being part of a community that continues to make burlesque such a vibrant, weird, funny, sexy, creative and wonderfully unpredictable art form.

The team and I will be making some tough decisions over the next couple of weeks.

But regardless of who ultimately makes it onto our January stage, I'm walking away from this application process feeling pretty optimistic about the future.

I'm feeling incredibly optimistic about the future of this art form. I can't help but feel excited about where burlesque is headed. There are so many artists creating, experimenting, challenging themselves and pushing this art form forward—and I'm grateful that VTBF gets to be a small part of it.