Folk Album Of The Year Award
2026
Pictured: Rochdale Town Hall for Folk Album Of The Year Award Show 2025, Photo credit: Chris Payne
Building on an incredibly successful launch, the vibrant folk music scene across Britain and Ireland will once again be celebrated through an award presented by music charity Sound Roots and the award-winning podcast Folk on Foot, and supported by Rochdale Development Agency.
The Award will spotlight eight shortlisted albums released in 2026, with the overall winner unveiled at an inaugural ceremony featuring live performances from nominated artists. The event will take place at Rochdale Town Hall on Tuesday 26 January 2027.
The Folk Album of the Year Award, created in 2025, recognises the most artistically acclaimed work by artists furthering, contributing to, and celebrating contemporary and traditional folk, roots and acoustic music. Albums are selected by a distinguished jury of performers, promoters, journalists and broadcasters.
The Folk Album of the Year Award aims to showcase the breadth and diversity of the genre's community across Britain and Ireland, celebrating originality, artistic quality and cultural impact — regardless of commercial profile.
Submissions for Folk Album Of The Year 2026 open on Friday 7th August at midday. Application deadline - midnight, Friday 30th October 2026.
The price to apply is £60 (£50+VAT). This project is managed by Sound Roots - a registered charity. All income is directly linked to running the project and supporting the event.
Please read through the full list of our Terms and Conditions by clicking HERE.
For a list of Frequently Asked Questions please click HERE.
At the inaugural Folk Album of the Year Award in 2025, Barry Kerr's Curlew's Cry was crowned the winner from a shortlist of nine outstanding albums, which also featured Peggy Seeger's Teleology, Poor Creature's All Smiles Tonight, Grace Stewart Skinner's Auchies Spikkin' Auchie, Joshua Burnside's Teeth of Time, Cynefin's Shimli, Spafford Campbell's Tomorrow Held, Gigspanner Big Band's Turnstone and Edith WeUtonga's Varipasi.
Read more about Folk Album of the Year Award 2025 by clicking HERE.
The Folk Album of the Year Award will highlight eight albums, chosen by a jury of performers, promoters, journalists and broadcasters chaired by celebrated English folk singer-songwriter and Executive Producer of BBC Radio 2’s ‘The Folk Show’, Kellie While.
Edith We’Utonga performing at the Folk Album
of the Year Award 2025, photo by Chris Payne
2026 Application Guidelines
Please note, albums must meet all criteria to be considered eligible for the award.
Folk, roots and acoustic albums from the British Isles and Ireland are eligible for the Folk Album of the Year Award.
Albums only qualify for entry.
What constitutes an album? An album is 5 or more tracks OR more than 25 minutes in length.
Compilation albums and EPs under 25 minutes in length are not eligible.
For soundtrack albums, at least 65% of the album’s running time must be an original score or new recordings.
The album must have a digital release date between Thursday January 1st 2026 and Thursday December 31st 2026.
The album must, as a minimum, be available to buy from at least two selected major digital download retailers and/or to stream from at least two selected streaming services (please see cl. 4 of the full Terms & Conditions for the list of selected digital download retailers and streaming services).
Entries can only be made by the person or company owning or controlling the recordings, or by a person authorised by the artist or company owning or controlling the recordings on the submitted album i.e. the self-releasing artists or their record company.
The record company, artist or artist representative submitting an entry must obtain all of the relevant permission(s) and clearance(s) for Sound Roots and Folk on Foot to use the album cover artwork, artist/band photograph and tracks from any shortlisted album for promotional purposes in connection with the Folk Album of the Year Award.
The record company, artist or artist representative submitting an entry must obtain the relevant permission(s) and clearance(s) for Sound Roots and Folk on Foot to use one artist/band promo video and any audio tracks from the nominated album for promotional purposes on the award website, at the Folk Album of the Year Launch Event and Awards Show and on their social media channels and digital platforms.
Shortlisted artists will make themselves available to take part in a nominations announcement show and an album profile interview, both with Folk on Foot. Both will be recorded on Zoom.
Shortlisted artists will actively participate in the promotional campaign of the Folk Album of the Year Award (please see cl. 1.9 of the full Terms & Conditions for the list of requirements).
Shortlisted artists will attend the Award Show in Rochdale on 26th January 2027 (and perform at the Award Show if requested).
Entries must be received by the deadline of Friday 30th October 2026. Entries received after 30th October 2026 will not be considered for the award.
Joshua Burnside performing at the Folk Album
of the Year Award 2025, photo by Chris Payne
Please read through the full list of our Terms and Conditions by clicking HERE.
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 showcased in its own special episode of Folk on Foot in winter 2026.
The award is delighted to be supported by Rochdale Development Agency, which has recognised the importance of platforming the work of exceptional artists and the vital role that cultural initiatives play in enriching communities and preserving cultural heritage.
The Award also complements the Sound Roots-commissioned Official Folk Albums Chart, which was launched in 2020 in collaboration with the Official Charts Company and provides monthly charts highlighting around 120 new folk releases each year.
Reflecting on her time on the jury and at the ceremony in 2025, Jude Rogers of The Guardian said:
“The very first, and incredibly impressive, Folk Album of the Year award ceremony… The whole experience was a proper salve for the soul. Covering four albums a month in my column barely scratches the surface of what’s going on.”
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.”
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