Yes, it’s fair to day the summer is now over. Time to start the nesting season, thinking back to hazy summers evenings drinking cider, lying in the grass and listening to music. For most music fans, a festival or two (or five) is one of the great things about the British summertime. Well now you have your chance to vote on the best festival of the season with the UK festival awards.
This year’s awards have been changed from previous years, in that the majority of the categories are now being judged by a panel of industry insiders and music journalists, so alas the public have no say on the main categories of:
Best Major/Medium/Small Festival
Best Metropolitan Festival
Best New Festival
Best Toilets
Best Family Festival
Best New Festival
Line-Up Of The Year
We have to say, we’re not entirely convinced of the new strategy, as surely the public experience should have more weighting? Journalists do tend to receive a higher level of hospitality and comfort at most festivals thanks to dedicated hospitality entrances, VIP areas and back stage access, (not that we’re complaining), as such Plain and Simple are not convinced that the voting will be unbiased, although the official line is: “The aim of the change is to make the UK Festival Awards more accessible to all festivals. We recognise that not all festivals have audiences which would go online to vote, so wanted to make sure the Awards are as inclusive as possible.” Ummm…we remain unconvinced.However, a new award has been created which will be based entirely on public opinion: The Fans Favourite festival Award. In addition the following categories are still up for public vote:
Best Overseas Festival
Anthem of the Summer
Best Break through Artist
Best Headline Act.
To cast your vote simply log on too http://www.festivalawards.com/vote/ and enter your choices.
We’ll bring you news of the winners when they are revealed on 15th November.
