Singer-songwriters from throughout the U.S. are invited to enter the 2014 South Florida Folk Festival’s singer-songwriter competition. The submission deadline is Nov. 10. A preliminary selection committee from the local folk community will choose 12 finalists, each of whom will perform two songs live during the South Florida Folk Festival at Hugh Birch State Park in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 18.

Three winners selected by a panel of judges will each receive the Vic Heyman Songwriting Award – a $200 cash prize and an invitation to perform at next year’s festival. In addition, all winners and runners-up will be afforded the opportunity to play ‘in-the-round’ during the festival’s second day on Sunday, Jan. 19.

Entries consisting of two songs may be submitted either via Sonicbids or email. The entry fee is $25 and the songs must be original works in the acoustic, folk, indie, Americana, singer/songwriter and associated genres. To submit via Sonicbids, http://sonicbids.com/SouthFloridaFolk; to submit via email, submission forms available at http://www.southfloridafolkfest.net/SFFF/S-SCompetition.html. More information on the competition also is available at both websites.

The songwriting competition is co-presented by Reba Heyman. Along with her late husband, Vic, Reba has been an integral part of the folk community in South Florida and nationally for many years. The couple has been known for decades for their generous financial backing of folk festivals and artists. They ran a concert series in Rockville, Maryland known as Vic’s Music Corner, established scholarship funds for artists, and served on the boards for several music festivals.

The singer-songwriter competition will be the lead-off event during the South Florida Folk Festival, which marks its 20th anniversary in 2014 and is expected to feature more than 40 Florida-based and nationally touring artists performing on two stages as well as a number of workshops. Since the Broward Folk Club, the nonprofit organization that sponsors the festival, also encourages participatory folk, there also will be a jam area where amateur musicians can play traditional folk and other acoustic styles of music each day.