Christopher BarrettFormer Association of Independent Festivals CEO Paul Reed and ongoing Association of Festival Organisers general secretary Steve Heap (pictured) both collected Outstanding Contribution trophies at the UK Festival Awards last night, 6 December.
The two were commended for their work representing the festival industry during the pandemic. Among the other big winners of the night was Manchester Pride, which was declared Best Large Festival. Boomtown won Best Festival Production, Black Deer was awarded Promoter of the Year, 2000 Trees collected the Best Medium Festival trophy and The Great Escape was declared Best Festival for Emerging Talent.
The event, held at Manchester’s Escape to Freight Island, also saw the inclusion of the Positively Perfect Pivot Award, which acknowledged the festival business that applied its skills to alternative activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was won by Back 2 Festival.
Beat the Streets, the charity festival set up in response to the growing number of rough sleepers, won the Sarah Nulty Community Impact Award. Since launching in 2018, Beat the Streets has donated £320,000 to Framework, a charity working to support rough sleepers.
DHP Family MD George Akins said, “I’m really proud of what we have accomplished so far but going into this winter what Beat The Streets provides is needed more than ever and we hope to build on this success to enable us to help Framework support rough sleepers for as long as we can.”
The winners:
Exit Festival/NFT-TiX – The Innovation Award
Parklife – Marketing Campaign of the Year
Back 2 Festival – The Positively Perfect Pivot Award
Beat the Streets – The Sarah Nulty Community Impact Award
Mighty Hoopla/Vodafone – The Brand Activation Award
Altitude Comedy Festival – Best Overseas Festival
Mighty Dub Fest – Best Non-Music Festival
Sound City –Best Metropolitan Festival
3 Wishes Fairy Festival – The Grassroots Festival Award
Green Gathering – The UK Greener Festival Award
The Great Escape – Best Festival for Emerging Talent
Teddy Rocks – Best Family Festival
RADAR Festival – Best New Festival
Bluedot – Line-Up of the Year