This Week in UK & Ireland Music: IMRO's Live Music Awards, Feile's Funding Boost, and Grassroots Investment Across Wales and England
By Written by Peter McVeigh
Ireland's live sector gets its night of recognition, west Belfast's biggest festival gets a funding top up, and fresh grassroots investment lands in Wales, England and Scotland this week.
Electric Picnic takes top honours as IMRO Live Music Awards celebrate the whole live sector
The IMRO Live Music Awards 2026 were handed out at a ceremony in Dublin's Guinness Storehouse, hosted by Tom Dunne and Rachel Mae Hannon, with the Overall Winner decided by public vote in partnership with Hot Press. Electric Picnic took the top prize, with regional wins spread right across the country: All Together Now in Waterford took Large Music Festival of the Year, Aurfest in Louth took Small Music Festival of the Year, and venue awards went to Vicar Street in Dublin, Spirit Store in Louth, Dolan's in Limerick, Monroe's Live in Galway and McCafferty's Bar in Donegal Town.
Worth a look for any manager or promoter wanting a sense of which rooms and festivals are actually delivering for artists on the ground right now, this isn't a label showcase, it's a genuine cross section of Ireland's live circuit.
Source: https://www.hotpress.com/music/electric-picnic-named-overall-winner-as-imro-live-music-awards-2026-celebrate-irelands-venues-festivals-and-promoters-23138633
Feile an Phobail gets a 13% funding boost for its biggest ever programme
West Belfast's Feile an Phobail, running since late July into early August, secured a 13% funding increase from Tourism NI ahead of its biggest ever programme, more than 700 events across the city. Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald called it a key driver of tourism and economic activity, and the timing overlapped directly with the Fleadh Cheoil coverage from a few weeks back, meaning Belfast effectively ran two major cultural festivals back to back this summer.
For anyone booking or programming in Northern Ireland, this is more evidence that funders are backing community rooted festivals as genuine economic infrastructure, not just cultural nice to haves.
Source: https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/west-belfasts-feile-an-phobail-gets-13-funding-boost-for-2026-festival-A6RXPRCXB5DD5GJNSNCGYOT244/
Made in Scotland sends 18 shows to the Edinburgh Fringe worth over £2m
Creative Scotland's Made in Scotland showcase is running through the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (7 to 31 August) with 18 shows selected from 121 submissions, a programme Creative Scotland values at over £2 million. Running alongside it, the Momentum Delegate Programme is bringing international industry figures to Edinburgh to build relationships with Scottish artists and companies.
If you're a Scotland based act or company thinking about next year's Fringe, this is the pipeline worth understanding, it's one of the most direct routes from Scottish stages to international attention.
Source: https://www.creativescotland.com/
Music Capital Fund puts over £700,000 into 21 venues and studios across Wales
Creative Wales' Music Capital Fund, now in its third round, has awarded grants of £10,000 to £40,000 each to 21 venues, recording studios, rehearsal spaces and arts centres across Wales, totalling over £700,000. Recipients include Steffan Pringle Music in Rhondda Cynon Taf, building a new recording, mixing and mastering setup, and Musicbox Studios in Cardiff.
This is capital funding for physical infrastructure rather than project or touring money, worth knowing if your venue or studio needs kit or space upgrades rather than a one off event grant.
Source: https://www.gov.wales/striking-right-note-fund-awards-over-700000-welsh-music-businesses
Music Venue Trust opens new grants for grassroots venues after Revive Live
Music Venue Trust has launched a new grants fund offering up to £5,000 per venue for UK grassroots music venues, backed by the Music Venues Alliance and funded through ticket sales from MVT's Revive Live gig programme, run in partnership with the National Lottery. It sits alongside the wider Grassroots Music Venues Levy, the voluntary £1 added to tickets for shows over 5,000 capacity, which has now raised £1.5 million since January 2025.
For venue owners feeling squeezed by energy costs and touring costs alike, this is a live, open route worth applying to rather than a future promise.
Source: https://www.musicweek.com/live/read/music-venue-trust-unveils-new-initiatives-for-grassroots-sector-funded-by-industry-levy/093975