The Folk Album Of The Year Award has been launched to celebrate the most artistically acclaimed folk, roots and acoustic albums 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 featuring live performances from nominated artists. The live streamed event will take place at Rochdale Town Hall on Tuesday 17 March 2026 in front of an invited audience of 200 musicians and industry professionals.

Nominees will be selected by a distinguished panel of performers, music and media professionals, chaired by celebrated English folk singer-songwriter and Executive Producer of BBC Radio 2’s ‘The Folk Show’, Kellie While. The full jury will be announced in the coming months, and the shortlisted albums revealed in November.

The Folk Album of the Year Award aims to showcase the breadth and diversity of the genre’s community across all four nations of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, celebrating originality, artistic quality and cultural impact, regardless of commercial profile.

Submissions are now open to artists and their representatives, including labels and publishers, and will close at 23:59 on Sunday 31 October 2025.

The Award has been created by music charity Sound Roots and the award-winning podcast Folk on Foot hosted by broadcaster Matthew Bannister. 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.

The Award also complements the Sound Roots-commissioned 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.

The Award is supported by Rochdale Development Agency and forms a key part of Rochdale’s 2026 Town of Culture celebrations.

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