Have your say on The Journal's Culture Awards

By Sam Wonfor, The Journal

IT’s that time of year again folks. The nights are getting darker, pumpkins and fireworks are poised to light up the sky, it won’t be long before someone irritatingly mentions the number of shopping days left until Christmas and – most importantly of course – we’re asking you to turn your attention to this year’s Culture Awards.

Once again celebrating and recognising the wealth, diversity and concentration of talent we’re lucky enough to have in the North East, The Journal Culture Awards, in association with Arts Council England, are a looked-forward to gathering in the region’s cultural diary.

The next such ceremony will be taking place on March 23... but in a break from the norm so far, the event will be migrating to the south of the region – the Gala Theatre, Durham, to be exact.

Following three lovely years at Newcastle’s Northern Stage, the Awards have found a new place to be for 2009.

Now in their fourth year (time flies and all that), the awards will once again see 15 accolades being bestowed on worthy winners across a broad range of categories.

Previous winners have included The Futureheads (pictured- Ross Millard, left, and Jaff) Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, Liv Lorent, Laura Lancaster, Durham Enlightenment and last year’s inaugural winner of the Special Contribution to Arts and Culture award, Jon  Bewley  from long-standing arts organisation Locus+ and its predecessor Projects UK. And we love shouting about each and every one of them.

But as in years gone by, we can only be confident we’re rewarding the best of the best if we’re sure that we’ve wrung every last nomination out of you – and this year is no different.

We want you to have a big role in the nominations process, so it’s time for thinking caps and action. We want your nominations in the following categories:

Visual Artist of the year; Performing Artist of the year; Writer of the year; Performance of the Year; Best Newcomer of 2009; Events of the year in sub-regions Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland, Durham and Tees Valley; Renaissance Museums Award; the Arts Council Award for Excellence; Best Arts and Business partnership; and the award for a Special Contribution to Arts and Culture in the region.

The closing date for entries is December 31. Any event, exhibition, performance or publication during the period January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009, is eligible for nomination.

Judging will take place in early 2010, with the winners being announced at the ceremony on March 23, which will also see some of the region’s most talented performers take to the stage.

In the three culture-soaked ceremonies thus far, the great, good and downright wonderful of the North East’s creatives have enjoyed a raft of performances from the likes of Beccy Owen, Sakoba Dance, Katie Doherty, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, (who went on to Mercury Music Prize nominations), Sharks \Took the Rest, Liv Lorent Dance and performance poet Kate Fox.

Hence the bar has been set rather high... just imagine who we’ll be recruiting for 2009.

Brian Aitken, editor of The Journal, said: "Northern Stage has provided a terrific home for the Awards for the past three years. Now Durham's Gala Theatre is taking on the baton and we're really excited about the 2009 event. Plans are already underway to build on last year's success.

"The Culture Awards have quickly become a celebrated entry in the cultural calendar of the region and are something we're very proud of. While the ceremony offers a great night of celebration and entertainment, the awards themselves have gained a reputation as a valuable and credible stamp of achievement for the deserving winners and nominees.

"The standard of nominations was up there when the awards began in 2007, and has just got higher year on year.

“We're looking forward to a very difficult judging process so we can again honour the absolute cream of the North East's cultural talent."

Mark Robinson, executive director, Arts Council England, North East said: “We’re thrilled to be involved in the Culture Awards.

“We have a huge amount to celebrate in arts and culture in the North East, and these awards provide a great opportunity to reflect on our achievements.

“The Culture Awards will give recognition to brilliant people, and turn the spotlight on the positive impact this work is having in our communities.

“The news that the next Culture Awards are due to take place in Durham, coupled with Durham’s bid to become the first UK City of Culture, demonstrates that our region has a array of fantastic arts organisations and individual artists that produce excellent work for the people of the North East.”

To make a nomination for The Journal Culture Awards, visit www.journallive.co.uk/cultureawards .