Helios Festival

The Helios Festival, abbreviated HF, is the name of an online song contest held between countries represented in the Helios Broadcasting Syndicate (HBS), starting in January 2022.

Each competing country is represented by a Head of Delegation, who will submit entries and determine the countries' votes through a points format, which they can award to their ten favourite entries. The winner is the country with the most points at the end of voting, and they earn the right to host the next edition. All entries must abide by the rules.

History
On 29 May 2016, the earliest ancestor of the Helios Festival, the Maia Song Contest was created. The first edition contained only 24 participants. Between the second and thirty-first editions, there were between 40-48 countries, with a format of two semi-finals and the grand final. Due to declining interest and frequent delays, it was decided in early 2020 that the thirty-second edition would be the final edition of the contest, which consisted of one grand final with 27 participating countries.

On 26 April 2020, it was announced that the Maia Song Contest would be succeeded by the Avalon Song Contest, a similar song contest consisting of one grand final of 26 participants only, and introducing an innovative relegation system. This contest would be a instant hit during the first editions, but would quickly lose momentum from the same problems that led its predecessor to its demise, along with mixed relations between council members. Avalon would eventually only last seven editions, with the contest ceasing to exist in September 2021.

On 26 December 2021, a member of both Maia and Avalon contests, helped by a team of friends and veterans, announced the creation of Helios Festival. Meant to be a "return to the roots", Helios' particularity will be that the contest will be community-run, with only a small reference group to act as moderators. While it is not meant to be a direct continuation of the former contests, it will try as best as it can to be as faithful to the old fantasy contests we all used to love.

Participation
As of edition #3, 45 countries have entered the contest at least once.