On Tuesday last, IMRO hosted the highly anticipated Live Music Venue of the Year Awards.
Wexford Spiegeltent Festival was nominated in two categories – ‘Small Festival of the Year’ and ‘Tech Crew of the Year’.
As these are national awards, the Spiegeltent team faced stiff competition from other Festivals and Venues across Ireland but nevertheless, they took home both awards on the night.
Presented by IMRO, the awards recognise the very highest standards in live music entertainment across Ireland.
The shortlist was compiled by over 19,000 members of IMRO.
Nominees were assessed by Ireland's musicians, songwriters, composers and publishers on a number of criteria including general ambience, staging, sound, lighting, diversity of music, artist relations and promotion.
Eleanor McEvoy, IMRO Chairperson said of the awards, “Enormous praise is due to each of our award winners tonight. These winners have been recognised for their excellence and for their contribution to live music across Ireland after a very difficult few years. Huge congratulations to you all.”
In 2022, Wexford Spiegeltent Festival celebrated 10 successful years.
It is fitting for the Festival to receive this accolade after a decade of bringing renowned national and international acts to Wexford Quay, much to the delight of audiences from Wexford and beyond.
It is the second time that the Festival has won the ‘Small Festival of the Year' award.
Festival organiser, Brian Byrne of Lantern, commented “It means a lot to get this recognition from IMRO. We have a great bunch of people who work hard to create a very special Festival every year and these awards acknowledge the contribution made by everyone. Such acknowledgement is very motivating to continue to bring the best shows and performers we can to Wexford and to give our audiences the best experience possible. I was especially pleased that our Tech Crew won, these are the guys who are in the venue long before the show starts and are still working on the stage long after the shows are over and the audience is gone. They’re rarely noticed but they are absolutely vital to every show that we do and deserve all the recognition.”
The first gigs for the 2023 Festival are already being announced.
The Waterboys have added a second show on November 1st, having sold out their November 2nd show.
