The Youth Music Awards will relocate to Liverpool for the 2026 edition. The annual ceremony, the UK’s biggest grassroots music awards, has been held in London for the past six years.
Organisers said the shift aims to support emerging artists and venues outside the capital. Recent figures show 86 per cent of Youth Music funding organisations are based beyond London, while 33,500 young people remain on waiting lists for programmes, with numbers in the North 20 per cent higher than in the South.
The 2026 ceremony is scheduled for October 28. It will feature more than 60 judges from music, media and technology, including artist judges Myles Smith, BICEP, Snoochie Shy, ALT BLK ERA, Emily Makis and LockdownT.
Singer-songwriter Myles Smith said the move reminds people that “talent exists everywhere.” Carol Reid, Interim Co-CEO at Youth Music, added that the awards continue to fight “to ensure music remains open to everyone, regardless of their background or postcode.”
The relocation has created 21 new job roles. The awards are open to Youth Music NextGen Fund recipients or artists who have taken part in funded projects since January 2021.
