Singtime 2026 - Portland FolkMusic Society

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Singtime '26
Registration is Open - and Closes Thursday March 5!

Friday through Sunday, March 27-29, 2026, at Menucha Conference Center.

Please review all the information on this page, and then click on the Register For Singtime button at the bottom of the page. Problems? Questions? Write to Singtime@portlandfolkmusic.org

Three reasons why you probably should register now rather than putting it off:
(1) We have reserved 90 spaces and they are filling pretty well, and when they are full, you'll be on a waiting list, and noone wants that.
(2) Registration closes March 5. Everyone forgets things. The best strategy is to do it now.
(3) Room choices are First Come First Serve. You'll have a good time wherever you end up sleeping but why not get the bed you want?

Schedule

We won't be able to share the schedule until Singtime is much closer in time, but we will post some information about participant led events when we have it organized.

But in the meantime, we can tell you that there will be a Participant Song Circle (for everyone) on Friday evening and a Participant Concert on Saturday evening,

Please see the boxes on Saturday Participant Song Circle and Singalong with Projected Lyrics.

Saturday Participant Song Circle

A traditional highlight of Singtime is the Friday night welcoming song circle for everyone. (Of course, nothing is obligatory, but you will want to come to this).

However, please note that with a lot of people the song circle can last a long time, and sometimes too long for folks who have traveled from other time zones to come to Singtime. This year, we ask everyone to take no more than three minutes start to finish to sing their song. That includes introducing yourself and your song. Three minutes. So please: Know what you are going to sing and be ready to go. You can introduce your song but doing so comes out of your three minutes. We recommend that even before you come to Singtime, you rehearse your song and time it. If it's too long, you can leave out a verse or two, or sing it faster (well, maybe!) or choose a shorter song.

There will be plenty of time for longer or more spontaneous songs in the small group events and late night sings. Just - for Friday night - it's gotta be three minutes max. Thank you for understanding!

Singalong with Projected Lyrics

We strongly urge you to choose a song that people can sing along with at the Friday night song circle. Very often, participants choose a song with verses and a chorus - the leader sings the verses, and then everyone comes in on the chorus. But sometimes, the leader wants everyone to sing the whole song with them. Either is fine.

This year, as an experiment, we will offer the option of having the lyrics of the parts of the song that you want people to sing along with projected onto a screen that everyone can see. Participants who would like to have their singalong lyrics projected will have a chance to inform the tech team of this in advance, and if it all works well, the words will be there as soon as you start to sing. Stay tuned for precise instructions about how this will happen.

We will do this for the Friday night song circle. For the concert on Saturday, we will offer the same service to any performers who want people to sing along with their concert piece.

There's magic that comes from singing together with a group of people. Let's make that magic happen!

Guest Artist
Tom May

Tom May has been singing folk songs across the US and in many other countries for nearly five decades. He is a respected song writer, and equally known and loved for his covers of other people's songs. He has toured with and opened for many other artists, including Gordon Lightfoot, Alabama and Willie Nelson. He also produces and hosts his own national radio/TV broadcast, River City Folk, which airs weekly on over 100 radio stations. He has shared his knowledge and experience through books and articles. Finally, he is the creator and organizer of the annual Winterfolk Festival an annual live charity event in Portland which has become Oregon's largest annual acoustic music festival.

Tom's commitment to his music is clear in his impeccable musicianship and heartfelt singing. His songs often tell stories and strongly evoke places that perhaps you have heard of but haven't been. Tom will give a short concert and will conduct a workshop to share some of what he has learned in his extraordinary career.

Menucha

We will get together again at the lovely, quiet, peaceful Menucha Conference Center. It's about as beautiful in the Spring as you can get, overlooking the Columbia Gorge. In addition to the Great Hall, where our big group events occur, there are breakout rooms for workshops and song circles, and lots of paths for walks in the woods. We will eat good food family style together, but please note:

If you have special dietary needs, go to https://menucha.org/dining/alternatediet after you register, and let Menucha's kitchen staff know. You don't need to inform PFS, nor will we be able to help you.

We will try to accommodate housing preferences as much as possible, on a first come basis. When you register, you'll have a chance to tell us about your needs and preferences.

Tuition

We have always had a scholarship fund available to allow everyone who wanted to, to attend Singtime. Last year, we made it even easier by instituting a sliding scale: we ask you to pay what you can, using the categories below as guidelines. Please note that we need to balance out any underpayments with extra donations, and we are very grateful for those who are able to pay extra. Choose the donation category that works for you when you register. Thank you!

It's all I can do	$100
I'm just getting by	$200
Member breakeven fee	$300
Non-member breakeven fee	$320
I can afford to pay a bit more	$350
Life's been good to me	$400
I've been blessed and I'm happy to share.	$500

Covid Policy

We want everyone who comes to Singtme to be safe, and we don't want to ask people to sing through masks all weekend (unless they choose to), so we have established the following policy:

We require that you test before coming, and again on Saturday morning. You have several testing options:

1. You can have a PCR test done on Thursday if you can ensure the results are ready and available before Singtime starts on Friday March 27. (Free drive through tests may be available at some pharmacies or test centers.)
2. You can do a home rapid COVID test on Friday March 27 before you come to Singtime. You do not need to bring us the test kit nor a photo of your result. By arriving at Singtime, you certify that you had a PCR test on Thursday or a home test on Friday, and the results were negative.
3. You can test when you arrive - if so, please bring your own test kit and be prepared to wait for results before you unpack your car and mingle.

For the required Saturday test, please bring an extra test kit from home for Saturday.

If you feel sick prior to coming to Singtime, please stay home. If you have any questions you can call Helene Rippey at 206-304-2188.

We will have a few extra test kits, but only a few. Please test yourself with your own test kit, and bring another one for testing on Saturday. We would greatly appreciate extras if you have them.

Refund policy: if you test positive on Friday, we will refund your tuition less 15%. If you test negative on Friday but positive on Saturday, we will refund half your tuition.

What Happens at Singtime?

The day at Singtime consists of big events that we all do together, and smaller events in breakout rooms. Together, we have breakfast, lunch and dinner - and the meals are a great time to meet the people you don't know. We also have some big events that everyone is invited to on Friday and Saturday evenings - a song circle for everyone on Friday, and a participant concert on Saturday.

Then we have smaller events: song circles and workshops led by participants like you during the day. There are usually three or four happening at any time, and you'll have a program showing you what is happening and where, and you can just drop in to any event.

But there are a lot of unscheduled events too. Many of us will grab some time to appreciate the beauty of the location and the views of the Columbia River Gorge. And believe it or not, Spring will be beginning, and we will see some of the first signs of warmer weather. And, in the evening, after all the scheduled events, there will be sessions for singers and players to make music and chat far into the night.

Of course, you are free to attend or not attend anything. We ask that everyone be together for the very first meeting on Friday - because we'll get a short briefing from the Menucha staff. But after that, it's up to you what you choose to participate in.

On the right, you can see some pictures from last year's Singtime.

Leading Events...

While we have wonderful guest artists, the participants who lead song circles and workshops are at the heart of Singtime. When you register, you can say if you would like to lead an event. If you do, we will help you prepare an event which is well organized and worthwhile for the participants (if you want help). So, if you have something that excites you that you would like to share, let us know when you register. If you are not sure about this at this time, or if you have questions about leading an event, you can let us know later by writing to Singtime@PortlandFolkMusic.org

...and volunteering in other ways

Participants at Singtime pitch in to clear tables, move chairs around, and help people with special needs. If you know you are up to taking on a task at Singtime, you'll have a chance to tell us that also when you register. We hope everyone will volunteer for a task, big or small.

Registration

There is a registration button below. When you click on it, it will take you to another page where you tell us who you are, select your tuition, tell us what you need, and let us know if you want to lead an event or volunteer in other ways. Then you will be registered!

If you are a PFS member, you will need to log in to the website to register. Go to the upper right hand corner of this page. If you see your name, you are logged in and you can go ahead and register. If you see Member Login please follow the instructions to log in, and then register. If your browser asks if you want it to remember your password, say Yes to make it easy to log in in the future.

If you get stuck, quit everything and try again. If you are still stuck, write to Singtime@PortlandFolkMusic.org and describe your problem, include your phone number, and we'll help get you unstuck.

Ready to Go? Great! Click below to register for Singtime. We recommend that you keep this page open for reference while you are registering. See you in March!

Register for Singtime!