About Drika Overton's MaD Fest

Known for its intimate environment, spectacular surroundings, and great artists/faculty, MaD Fest has become an internationally recognized dance festival, attracting students, audiences and artists from around the country and the world.

MaD Fest is traditionally held the last week in June in the neighboring waterfront communities of Kittery Maine and Portsmouth, NH. We love our seacoast home, and strive to showcase its history, culture, and environment.

Our first festival in 1995 (originally the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival) showcased various percussive forms of expression, including Irish step dance, flamenco, and body music.  The festival has evolved to include not only core classes in tap and jazz dance, but also week-long intensives in African dance and drumming, vocals, and specialties of our featured artists.

The festival has featured a variety of special events open to the public, including jam sessions, performances, film nights, and discussions.

The friendships fostered among the festival artists gave creative birth in the year 2000 to Clara's Dream: a jazz nutcracker and Music Hall Follies, which premiered during our PPDF Vaudeville celebration.