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Awards Business News Live Business
Nominations announced for Independent Festival Awards, including four new categories
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 8 October 2019
The nominations for this year’s Independent Festival Awards, organised by the Association Of Independent Festivals, have been announced. Set to take place on 6 Nov as part of the trade group’s Festival Congress event, the ceremony will this year be hosted by comedian Thanyia Moore and will include the presentation of some new gongs.
“We’re refreshing the Independent Festival Awards this year with a new host and four new categories”, explains AIF CEO Paul Reed. “The awards were set up as an irreverent alternative to other award shows, and the ultimate end of season celebration for the independent sector – so it’s important to keep moving. We’re delighted with the shortlist after receiving a record number of nominations from our members, proving there is no shortage of creativity and innovation in the independent festival sector”.
Expanding on some of the changes, Reed adds: “We’re doing even more with the production and theme of the awards this year to emphasise that festival feel – and we’ve introduced a European Festival Of The Year category to demonstrate that, no matter what, the UK industry will remain a Europe-wide market and community”.
As well as Brexit-jibing European Festival Of The Year, the other new categories are Backstage Hero, In On The Ground Floor – recognising forward thinking artist bookings – and Never Mind The Pollocks – for the best festival artwork.
Here’s the full list of nominations:
Unique Festival Arena: Smirnoff Arctic Disco (Snowbombing Austria), The Street (Beat-Hearder), Elephant’s Grave (Nozstock: The Hidden Valley), The Roadhouse (Black Deer Festival), Seaside Stage (Victorious)
Live Act Of The Year: Kokoko, Yola, The Murder Capital, Black Futures, Bloxx
Smart Marketing: Lewis Cowpaldi (Standon Calling), Potato Line-up (Truck Festival), 2000 Palm Trees (2000trees), Dinosaurs April Fools (Kendal Calling), Pre-event videos (The Mighty Hoopla)
Backstage Hero: Megan Evans (Deer Shed Festival), David Peverly (Shambala and Boomtown), Nathan Stephenson (Nathan Stephenson Audio Production), Jean Lennihan (Black Deer Festival), Rob Nosworthy (Nozstock: The Hidden Valley), Alex Barton (Elderflower Fields)
European Festival: Pete The Monkey, Snowbombing, Let It Roll, Dunk! Festival, Blue Balls Festival
In On The Ground Floor: Barn On The Farm, End Of The Road, Twisterella, Standon Calling, Hanwell Hootie
Never Mind The Pollocks: Pete The Monkey, Standon Calling, ArcTanGent, Deer Shed Festival, End Of The Road
Caterer Of The Year: Ghetto Grillz, Flavours Of Africa, Manjula Kitchen, Open Sesame, Eat Like A Greek
