Industry to convene at London’s Roundhouse on Monday 3rd December in the wake of a challenging and eventful year
Phill Jupitus to compare gala awards ceremony
Public voting to decide the winners in the ninth annual edition of the UK Festival Awards is now open and will run until 31st October 2012. More than 200 British contemporary music festivals have applied to take part in the awards this year which exist to recognise and congratulate the people whose vision, creativity and hard work brightened up the lives of more than 3 million festival-goers in the UK this summer, in spite of the wettest weather conditions since records began. The awards will be presented on Monday 3rd December 2012.
With Glastonbury out of the running this year, the Best Major Festival category is sure to be even more heavily contested than usual, with established giants Reading & Leeds, V Festival, Download and Scotland’s T in the Park all having had strong sell-out years. Or could last year’s newcomer to the group, Bestival, rise up and seize the title?
The crown of Best Headline Performance is a battle between a hugely diverse array of artists, reflecting the UK festival market itself, with Dizzee Rascal at Kendal Calling, Elbow at Lattitude, Patti Smith at Hop Farm, Slayer at I'll Be Your Mirror and The Killers at V Fesival amongst this years' contenders.
Although some reports have outlined poor performance by summer events many new festivals have been welcomed with open arms in their inaugral year. Competition is fierce in the Best New Festival category with No Direction Home, festival from the same team behind End of The Road, and the recent Festival No. 6, to name but two contenders in the running.
Futhermore, in the Best Dance Festival category some of electronic music's most recognised events including Creamfields and Global Gathering go up against the giant that was BBC Radio 1's Hackney Weekend.
Festival-goers can have their say now at www.festivalawards.com/vote across categories also including Best Major/Medium-Sized/Small Festival, Best Dance Event, Best Family Festival, Best Metropolitan Festival, Headline Performance, Best Breakthrough Artist, Anthem of the Summer and, of course, Best Toilets. All participating voters are eligible for the ‘Dream Summer’ prize draw that entitles one lucky random winner to VIP tickets next year to every festival that scoops an award.
Some of the more specialised categories such as Outstanding Contribution to Festival Production and Agent of the Year will be decided by industry expert panels.
To view the full long lists please click here. The top ten shortlists in each category will be announced on Monday 5th November. All will be revealed when the winners are announced and presented with their accolades at the gala ceremony which returns to London’s historic Roundhouse on the evening of Monday 3rd December.
Hosted by Phill Jupitus, this unique and special event will gather the super-heroes of Great Britain's festival indsutry under one roof in celebration and recognition of the remarkable vision, creativity and hard work that produced this year’s music festivals – in spite of some tougher-than-usual meteorological and market conditions. The evening will also feature a three course dinner, complementary drinks, cocktail reception and historically raucous aftershow party.
During the day of the awards show, the UK Festival Conference will be held in the same venue (for the first time), with prestigious key-note speakers and a programme of senior-level panelists addressing the key challenges and opportunities facing the industry at this time. Particular emphasis will be paid to dealing with adverse weather, building and retaining audience loyalty and capitalising on the reformatting revenue streams in the marketplace.
Steve Jenner, Festival Awards co-founder comments: “The overwhelming interest we have received from festivals of all shapes and sizes wanting to be involved in the Awards and Conference this year is an encouraging sign that the market is rallying; what was just a few years ago a fragmented industry is now very much a community. It all makes for exciting progress and a brilliant party, both of which are very important when the going gets tough and it’s rained a lot.”
Tickets from £40 are being handled by official ticketing partner Eventbrite, available to order now from: festivalawards.eventbrite.com.
2012 Awards categories:
Best New Festival
Best Metropolitan Festival
Best Dance Event
Best Overseas Festival
Best Family Festival
Best Breakthrough Artist
Line-Up of the Year
Headline Performance of the Year
Anthem of the Summer
Agent of the Year
Promoter of the Year
Best Small Festival
Best Medium-Sized Festival
Best Major Festival
Fans’ Favourite Festival
The Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grass Roots Festival Award
Concession of the Year
The Greener Festival Award
Best Toilets
Best Sponsor Activation
The Extra-Festival Activity Award
Outstanding Contribution to Festival Production
