The UK Festival Awards is a ceremony that rewards the biggest and best festivals in the United Kingdom – and abroad. The awards were presented last evening – and the winner of the “Best Overseas Festival” was, once again, Sziget.

Best Overseas Festival

The UK Festival Awards is presented for the 16th year, acknowledging the achievements of “organisers and suppliers in the fields of production, innovation, emerging talent, marketing, catering and more”. While it is dedicated especially to the events held in the United Kingdom, it has a category dedicated to those outside of its borders – and for the second year in a row, Sziget has been voted the best of its kind in the “Best Overseas Festival” category, “defeating” contenders like Altitude Comedy Festival, Pol’and’Rock Festival, and Tomorrowland.

This has been an especially competitive year for the UKFA, Michael Baker, the event’s Awards Manager told the press upon revealing the shortlist for the event.

With over 450 submissions made and 55,000 votes cast, this has been an especially competitive year that stands as a testament to the incredible efforts of the UK festival industry in 2019. Thank you to all of those who participated, and congratulations to our finalists.

Michael Baker, Awards Manager, UK Festival Awards

Other categories

The other categories rewarded at the event include “Best Major Festival” with brands like Download, Glastonbury, Latitude, and others, “Best Medium-Sized Festival” with Bluedot, Camp Bestival, and Clockstock Festival, “Best Metropolitan Festival” with Whitby Goth Weekend, Cleethorpes Gathering, and All Points East, and several others.

Next up: European Festival Awards

The next major event to honour this year’s music festivals will be the European Festival Awards, where Sziget was once again nominated in several categories. In 2017, Sziget won the “Best Lineup” award at the ceremony – we’ll see if it can repeat this performance when the awards are presented on January 15, 2020.