Festival Congress Award Nominees

The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) has announced the shortlist for The Festival Congress Awards 2015.

Taking place on Thursday, 5th November 5, the ceremony will be hosted by Glastonbury Festival’s Ben Challis and will take place on the evening of the first day of The Festival Congress at Cardiff University’s Great Hall.

There are eight award categories including New Festival on the Block, Mind Blowing Spectacle, Unique Festival Arena, Live Act of the Year, Smart Marketing, Unsung Hero and the ‘Emmet Brown award’ for innovative use of technology. Nominations are put forward and then voted for by AIF’s 55 member festivals.

Nominees include Boomtown Fair, Block9, Bestival, La Fura dels Baus (the Human Net) at Wilderness, ArcTanGent, HMS Sweet Charity at Glastonbury, The Clik Clik Collectives Cabinet of Lost Secrets at Nozstock: The Hidden Valley and Shambala for being the first UK Festival to accept Bitcoin as payment.

Speaking exclusively to The Gen, General Manager of AIF Paul Reed said: “We’re been overwhelmed by the response to nominations and are very excited about the Festival Congress awards and evening celebration this year. It is an incredibly strong and diverse shortlist and the awards are a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge the creativity and hard work of AIF members and, of course, the wider festival community”.

To see the complete list of nominees, go here.

As part of the ceremony, congress delegates will enjoy a festival-themed party, with a street food festival banquet, including food from Cardiff’s Hangfire Smokehouse, The Dusty Knuckles Pizza Company and Mr Croquewich.

AIF DJs including Rob da Bank (Bestival), The Head Gardener (Secret Garden Party) and Chris Tofu (Continental Drifts) will be spinning the tunes at the aftershow party, which takes place in the same venue.

The event is almost sold-out, find out more and snap up the few remaining tickets here.