Folk music in the UK has a new awards platform.
Music charity Sound Roots and podcast Folk on Foot have launched The Folk Album Of The Year Award.
With the aim of celebrating albums released in the UK and Republic Of Ireland, the Award will spotlight eight shortlisted albums released in 2025, with the overall winner unveiled at an inaugural ceremony on March 17, 2026.
The event will take place at Rochdale Town Hall, with an audience of 200 musicians and industry professionals. A livestream will also be available.
English folk singer-songwriter and executive producer of BBC Radio 2’s The Folk Show Kellie While will chair the judging panel, with the full jury to be announced in the coming months, and the shortlisted albums revealed in November.
Submissions are now open to artists, labels and publishers, and will close on October 31.
This is about supporting artists and championing the creativity at the heart of this vibrant scene
Kellie While, Sound Roots
Each nominated album will be spotlighted in its own album profile show on Folk on Foot as part of a special eight-part series in early December 2025.
Sound Roots commissions the Official Folk Albums Chart, which has run monthly since 2020 in collaboration with the Official Charts Company and highlights around 120 new folk releases each year.
David Agnew, chief executive and artistic director of Sound Roots, said: “This Award is about celebrating the sheer breadth of creativity and artistic innovation in folk music today. We want to spotlight work that might otherwise go unheard, bringing brilliant new music to the widest possible audiences.”
Matthew Bannister, founder and host of Folk on Foot, commented: “While the Official Folk Albums Chart highlights the most popular artists, this Award goes deeper – seeking out the extraordinary, the innovative, and the inspiring. Whether you’ve topped the chart or sold just a handful of copies, if you’ve made a remarkable album, we want to hear from you.”
Kellie While, chair of the Sound Roots board, jury chair and executive producer of BBC Radio 2’s The Folk Show, added: “We’re excited to launch this Award and can’t wait to discover and celebrate the wealth of folk albums being made across the UK and Ireland. This is about supporting artists and championing the creativity at the heart of this vibrant scene.”
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