The Youth Music Awards have announced that they will be moving to Liverpool for the 2026 edition.
The annual event is the UK’s biggest grassroots music awards and celebrates the next generation of music talent, as well as working to shape a more diverse and inclusive future for British artists.
For the past six years, the ceremony has been held in London, however the 2026 instalment will now be taking place in Liverpool for the first time.
The move comes as recent statistics show that 86 per cent of Youth Music funding organisations are based outside of the capital, and there is a strong need to provide more support for emerging artists and grassroots venues across the country.
The shift to the North West also comes as there are 33,500 young people currently on waiting lists for Youth Music programmes – with the figure in the North being 20 per cent higher than that of the South – and amid concerns that one third of projects funded by Youth Music are contemplating closing due to financial pressure.
The move follows a growing number of music awards to move outside of London in recent years. In 2009, the MOBOs mixed things up by venturing out of the capital for the first time, being held in Glasgow then and in 2011, before heading to Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and Manchester.
The BRIT Awards held their 2026 ceremony outside of London for the first time in nearly five decades. It was hosted at the Co-Op Live in Manchester this February, and will be returning there next year too. The Mercury Prize meanwhile, took place in Newcastle last year – the first time in its history that it was held outside of London. It will be returning to Newcastle later this year as well.
This year’s instalment of the Youth Music Awards takes place on October 28 and will see more than 60 judges from across music, media and technology help select the winners.
Artist judges include Myles Smith, BICEP, Snoochie Shy, ALT BLK ERA, Emily Makis and lockdownT, and other judges represent organisations including Apple, Meta, Sony Music, Spotify, Universal Music Group and YouTube.
The move to Liverpool has opened up 21 new job roles to help get young people get more hands-on, paid experience.
“As someone whose journey started in grassroots music, I know how important it is to have people who believe in you and opportunities that help you take the next step, which is why I’m proud to be a judge for the Youth Music Awards 2026,” said singer-songwriter Myles Smith. “Access to music shouldn’t depend on where you’re from, who you know or what you can afford. I’m excited to see the awards head to Liverpool this year – a reminder that talent exists everywhere. I can’t wait to see this year’s nominations.”
Carol Reid, Interim Co-CEO at Youth Music also said that the move to Liverpool comes as the awards continue to celebrate “young people and projects, fighting every day to ensure music remains open to everyone, regardless of their background or postcode.”
“At a time when grassroots music projects across the country face significant challenges, it’s more important than ever to recognise the talent, creativity and determination that exists in grassroots communities across the UK,” Reid added.
“We’re delighted to bring the Awards to Liverpool this year and celebrate the people helping to shape a music industry that is more diverse, inclusive and representative.”
The awards are open to Youth Music NextGen Fund recipients, or to any artist who has taken part in a Youth Music funded project since January 2021. Nominees for all 11 categories will be announced later this year.
Sponsorship packages are still available and you can visit here for more information.
In other Youth Music news, earlier this year it was confirmed that Sam Fender had raised £50,000 from ticket sales on his ‘People Watching’ tour for the organisation.
The Newcastle singer was supported early in his career by the North East-based Youth Music-funded programme, Generator, and has now given back to the charity. His donation was matched by Youth Music’s Rescue The Roots campaign – a £2million fundraising initiative to tackle the funding crisis threatening grassroots youth music projects across the UK.
