IT’S time to sign up if you want to perform at the 5th Perisher Snowy Mountains of Music, to be held in Perisher Valley and Smiggin Holes in the NSW alpine area during the opening weekend of the 2013 ski season, June 7-10.

Organisers are assuring would-be performers, but it will definitely be cold and there will be snow  at the front of PerisherValley and elsewhere. Snow-making machines have been installed to ensure skiing is an option as well.

But just as certainly, at  the festival, staged  by the Perisher Resorts Chamber of Commerce but under the direction of  Illawarra Folk Festival legend David De Santi, the music will be hot.

De Santi’s concept is to present a variety of Australian and world, folk, roots, Celtic, blues, acoustic and traditional music, song, dance, performance poetry and yarn-spinning.

In case you don’t know, PerisherValley is about 500km south of Sydney, 210km south of Canberra and 800km north of Melbourne via Tumut.

Artist applications for the 2013 PerisherSnowyMountains of Music Festival close on  January 20, but first you’ll need to read the guidelines fairly carefully at snowymountainsofmusic.com.au/guidelines_for_artist_applicants