Bearded Theory is up for major national industry awards, with fans able to vote for the Derbyshire camping festival in Marketing Campaign of the Year before UK Festival Awards ballots close on Tuesday 3 November 2026. The Catton Park event is also shortlisted for Access All Areas Best Independent Festival, giving it two shots at a title.
The nominations recognise a campaign that brought the festival’s independent, alternative spirit to life. Bearded Theory is known for an eclectic alternative to the mainstream, with curated line-ups that bring together alternative legends, punk firebrands, indie favourites, folk storytellers and electronic pioneers. In 2026, Pixies, Garbage and Skunk Anansie headlined a bill featuring CMAT, Kae Tempest, The Horrors, Sprints, The Twilight Sad, Ozric Tentacles, A Guy Called Gerald, Ferocious Dog, Lambrini Girls, Fat Dog, BCUC, Opus Kink and more, with discovery at its heart.
Next year’s festival runs from 26 to 30 May 2027. The latest shortlistings follow Line Up of the Year at the UK Festival Awards for the 2024 edition, headlined by Jane’s Addiction, Amyl and the Sniffers, Future Islands, Sleaford Mods, Orbital and Dinosaur Jr. Public voting applies to the UK Festival Awards categories. Access All Areas winners are chosen by industry professionals.
The wider DHP Family company is also on the shortlists. Fans can vote for Beat The Streets in Charity Initiative of the Year and for DHP Family in Promoter of the Year, alongside Bearded Theory’s marketing nod, before ballots close on 3 November. Organisers are asking festival-goers to use the vote to back independent music, creative festival-making and the fight against homelessness. Voting is open at festivalawards.com/shortlist2026.
Beat The Streets, the festival raising funds for Framework to help end homelessness, is up for Charitable Initiative of the Year for its partnership with Framework and for bringing Nottingham’s music community together across the city’s venues. The festival turns a day of live music and discovery into support for people experiencing homelessness. In 2026 the multi-venue event raised more than £50,000 for Framework, money used to complete new high quality homes for rough sleepers with round the clock support.
That takes the fundraising total to £604,155 since DHP Family launched Beat The Streets in 2018. The money has supported accommodation for people sleeping rough, winter shelter provision, mental health workers and street outreach, as well as raising awareness of the issues faced by unhoused people. Beat The Streets previously won the UK Festival Awards 2022 Community Impact title. The 2027 edition takes place on Sunday 31 January, with tickets on sale and line-up announcements coming soon.
It is a double chance of a title for DHP Family, which is up for Access All Areas Best Operations Team as well as UK Festival Awards Promoter of the Year. For more than 45 years the Nottingham company has remained independent, putting on live music driven by artists, audiences and a passion for music. As a venue operator, festival organiser and national promoter, it pairs a small experienced team with the scale of a national operation. It currently puts on around 1,000 gigs a year, and also runs independent ticketing platform alt. tickets.
Its festival portfolio spans Bearded Theory and Beat The Streets, new music discovery at Dot To Dot in Nottingham and Bristol, and Footsteps’ celebration of London’s independent venues. Splendour brought its 18-year run to a close with a final celebration in Nottingham. Dot To Dot marked 20 years in 2025, having won Best Metropolitan Festival at the 2023 UK Festival Awards. Venues include Rock City, Rescue Rooms, The Bodega, Stealth and The Palais in Nottingham, The Garage, Grace and Oslo in London, and Thekla in Bristol.
Anwyn Williams, Head of Marketing at DHP Family, said: “We’re really proud to see our festivals and DHP recognised in these awards. We’re all massive music fans here, and deeply proud to be independent, so we always want to give people a great experience, support artists as they grow, and highlight the importance of the grassroots. Being independent means we can do things our own way, putting on shows and festivals that offer something a bit different and it’s great for that approach to get recognition.”
The UK Festival Awards take place at DIECAST in Manchester on Tuesday 1 December 2026, with voting closing on 3 November. Access All Areas winners will be announced on 8 December. DHP Family has previous form in the promoter categories, including UK Festival Awards 2023 Promoter of the Year, and was a LIVE Awards national promoter finalist in 2022 and 2023.
Image credits: Izzy Challoner, Luke Brennan
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