Cream of the UK biz honoured at first LIVE Awards

The UK live music industry came together to celebrate outstanding talent and achievements across the sector at last night’s inaugural LIVE Awards.

Held at The Brewery in London, trade body LIVE welcomed 450 representatives from every corner of the sector to highlight excellence throughout 2022 while looking forward to 2023.

The 14 award winners, decided by a panel of industry experts, included Reading & Leeds festivals, The O2, Bluedot, CAA, One Fiinix Live, and King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow.

The event ended with the awarding of the first LIVEtime achievement award to Kennedy Street Enterprises owner and promoter Danny Betesh, whose seven decade-long career has seen him work with the likes of The Beatles, Take That, and Meat Loaf.

“The hangover from the effect of Covid, cost-of-living crisis, and rapidly rising costs have not stopped our industry from delivering memorable occasions to people in record numbers”

“The inaugural LIVE awards was a truly excellent evening which gave us the opportunity to recognise and reward those who have really raised the bar in 2022,” says LIVE CEO Jon Collins. “The hangover from the effect of Covid, cost-of-living crisis, and rapidly rising costs have not stopped our industry from delivering memorable occasions to people in record numbers.

“The LIVE Awards reflect the breadth of talent across all parts of our industry – from classical to grime, baroque to rock. The LIVE Awards recognises excellence in the field, and at the venue.”

Proceeds from the ceremony will help to fund LIVE’s ongoing work as it continues to champion the live music industry’s interests with policy makers, regulators, the public, and the wider music and entertainment industries. Headline sponsors on the night were Ticketmaster, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Resorts World Arena and Ticketswap.

The full list of award winners is as follows:

The LIVE Green Award – A Greener Festival
The LIVE Workforce Award – Bristol Beacon
Venue of the Year – The O2, London
Grassroots Champion – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
Booking Agency 2022 (<30 team members) – One Fiinix Live
Booking Agency 2022 (>30 team members) – CAA
National Promoter of the Year – Kilimanjaro Live
Regional Promoter of the Year – Bird on The Wire
Ticketing Service 2022 – AXS
Major Festival of the Year – Reading & Leeds Festivals
Festival of the Year – Bluedot
Production Supplier – Creative Technology
Brand Partnership – The National Lottery with MVT
The LIVETime Achievement Award – Danny Betesh, Kennedy Street

The awards took place a week after the return of the UK Festival Awards, which were held at Manchester’s Escape to Freight Island on 6 December.

The awards were decided by either fan votes or judges’ verdicts in categories, with the Outstanding Contribution to Festivals award handed to two winners this year: Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) general secretary Steve Heap and former Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) CEO Paul Reed.

The full list of winners was as followed:

Innovation Award – Exit Festival/NFT-TiX
Marketing Campaign of the Year – Parklife
Positively Perfect Pivot Award – Back 2 Festival,
Sarah Nulty Community Impact Award – Beat the Streets
Brand Activation Award – Mighty Hoopla/Vodafone
Best Overseas Festival – Altitude Comedy Festival
Best Non-Music Festival – Mighty Dub Fest
Best Metropolitan Festival – Sound City
Grassroots Festival Award – 3 Wishes Fairy Festival
UK Greener Festival Award – Green Gathering
Best Festival for Emerging Talent – The Great Escape
Best Family Festival – Teddy Rocks
Best New Festival – RADAR Festival
Line-up of the Year – Bluedot
Best Festival Production – Boomtown
Promoter of the Year – Black Deer
Best Small Festival – Woo Fest
Best Medium Festival – 2000 Trees
Best Large Festival – Manchester Pride
Outstanding Contribution Award – Steve Heap & Paul Reed

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