AIF reveals shortlist for 2016 Festival Congress Awards

The nominees for the 3rd Festival Congress Awards have just been announced taking place during the Festival Congress on the 1st November at the DEPOT in Cardiff. The awards will be hosted by Glastonbury’s Ben Challis and are decided on by votes from AIF members.

There are ten award categories including, ‘New Festival on the Block’, ‘Unique Festival Arena’, ‘Mind Blowing Spectacle’, ‘Festival Caterer Most Likely to End up on Instagram' and more.

One newly introduced category is the ‘Act of Independence’ award, highlighting a moment in the festival season that embodied the spirit of independence.

Nominees for this particular award include Shambala for introducing a 100% meat & fish free policy and MAST onsite drugs testing, which was piloted at several AIF member festivals this summer.

Others in the running for awards this year include the likes of Bluedot, Glastonbury’s female-only venue ‘The Sisterhood’, ‘The Good Life Experience’, Deer Shed Festival’s Film Production Big Top, Wilderness Festival’s ‘Saturday Night Spectacular’, Bestival’s ‘Spaceport’ and ‘The Tim Peaks Diner’, the brainchild of The Charlatan’s Tim Burgess, who has also been confirmed as a keynote speaker at the conference.

It has also been confirmed that the 2016 ‘Unsung Hero’ award will be presented to health, safety and welfare expert Penny Mellor, who has worked in the events sector for over 40 years, managing welfare services and developing good practice guidance.

The Awards after-party will feature Rob da Bank and Tayo 3000’s ‘Purple Rave’ Prince tribute alongside a DJ set from Tim Burgess.

We will also be taking some of our key team members up to Cardiff and our presentation on the day about TheTicketSellers and eventree will feature a case study with Jon, the director of Shambala.

We hope to see you there! For tickets and information click here.