New for 2026, HOT MIC – The Celebrity Sessions, invites celebrity artists to participate in a 30 minute Q&A with the local public. The project is in collaboration with Frederick County Public Schools’ Academy for the Fine Arts (AFA), and is primarily designed to educate Frederick County students regarding what it is like to work at the highest levels of the performing and recording arts. Students may synchronously pose questions to the guest artist in real-time. Celebrity guests participate in the sessions via Zoom or face-to-face in the Governor Thomas Johnson High School Auditorium, host to AFA.