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A féis (roughly “FESH”) is a festival, commonly used for a sanctioned Irish dance competition. Feiseanna are held around the world. The most important principle for a new musician is that regional practices differ: learn the specific rules, tempos and syllabus for the event you will play.
​Your mission: provide steady, appropriate music that lets dancers concentrate on their dancing while helping the competition run smoothly.
Understand the Dance
Competition levels

​Levels include Beginner, Advanced Beginner, Novice, Prizewinner/Open Prizewinner, Preliminary Championship and Open Championship. 
​Dance types

​Reel, jig, hop/single jig, treble jig, slip jig, hornpipe, traditional set, nontraditional set and treble reel are among the dances a musician may encounter.
Things to Note:

Different levels dance to different speeds and different lengths of tunes as well as different types of tunes. Feis musicians who are just starting to build their repertoire normally start on a "grades" stage which requires a smaller number of tunes.