News / Bristol festivals
Bristol festivals win big at UK awards
It was a night of celebration for Bristol’s movers and shakers of the events sector as they stepped up time and again to receive trophies in recognition of contributions made to the festival scene on both a local and national scale.
While the UK Festival Awards ceremony took place in Manchester this year, following the 2024 edition being held in Bristol, the city was amply represented across the 21 categories.
The awards denote definitive recognition for people working in the festival industry, with this year’s judging panel including representatives of Skiddle, event design magazine TPI, music industry advocacy body Live, the Night Time Industries Association and musician Frank Turner.
A special panel put together to judge the Green Award consisted of members of ecosystem restoration charity Earthed, event sustainability experts A Greener Future, Hope Solutions and transport decarbonisation initiative Onboard Earth.
Bristol Pride was one of several events organised by groups in the city to take home an award – photo: @darrencphotography
Bristol Pride was arguably the city’s biggest winner, taking home the title of Non-Music Festival of the Year.
The city-wide celebratory event is back next year over June 27 to July 12, with the party on the Downs taking place on Saturday, July 11.
Kambe Events organised the first Shambala festival 25 years ago and it has grown to be a hugely successful independent event, an environmental pioneer and a favourite of many festival goers – photo: Lindsay Melbourne
Shambala, a festival held in Northamptonshire for the last 25 years, the brainchild of Bristol-based Kambe Events and known for its diverse music lineup and eco-forward approach, took home three awards.
It was named overall Independent Festival of the Year as well as Medium Festival of the Year, and also received the Sarah Nulty Community Impact Award that recognises money raised for good causes.
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Another Bristol-born event that has grown into a nationally-celebrated force raising the bar of festival creativity, Boomtown Fair was awarded Large Festival of the Year.
It also received the Tech Innovation of the Year award for its Boomtown Unboxed initiative which delivers personalized, AI-generated video recaps to every attendee as a digital souvenir of their festival weekend.
Boomtown’s 2026 lineup, that includes Kneecap, Princess Nokia, Ashnikko, Eve and Venga Boys, has been loudly hailed as one of its most diverse and exciting yet.
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Festival Production of the Year was awarded to Bristol art and engineering collective Arcadia’s latest spectacular creation, the dragonfly fire-and-sound system built from a repurposed Royal Navy helicopter that hosted sets from Four Tet, Max Cooper, Annie Mac, Girls Don’t Sync and Fatboy Slim at Glastonbury festival.
Arcadia Spectacular, known for the giant spider that took over Queen Square in 2015, won an award for their latest creation, the Dragonfly – photo: Matt Eachus
And finally, Thatchers cider won the Brand Activation of the Year award for their Balloon Bar with its ‘very Bristol’ hot air balloon frontage, wicker basket seating and live DJ sets.
Thatchers’ Balloon Bar appeared at at a number of events this year including Truck Festival and Kendall Calling – photo: Neil Phillips Photo & Film Ltd
Main image: Rob Browne
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