The Festies will now fill the void, creating excitement and debate among fans and recognizing the festivals and the people who make them happen. Casey, Founder of MelodyTrip, remarked, "While award programs such as the Grammys and MTV Awards do a great job recognizing the accomplishments of artists in studios and arenas, some of the most memorable musical experiences are happening on camp grounds and city parks, under blue skies and moonlight nationwide. That is why we have launched The Festies.
" Artists nominated for best festival performance include (New Orleans Jazz Heritage Fest, (Bonnaroo), the (Austin City Limits) (Coachella) and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Sasquatch). Among the nominees for Best Festival are New Orleans Jazz Heritage, South by Southwest (Austin), and CMA (Nashville). Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN) Coachella (Indio, CA) and Austin Limits are finalists in this category and among the favorites in the Best Rock Festival category.
For the most part, awards will be granted only to US festivals, but there is a category for Best International Festival which includes T in the Park (Scotland), Benicassim (Spain) Roskilde (Denmark), Big Day Out (Australia) and the Reading/Leeds Festival, which is held in the music festival world headquarters, at least for now! (England). Awards will go out to the best festival in all major genres and other categories will include Festival Producer of the Year, Most Scenic Festival Site, Best Emerging Festival, and Best Festival Website and many others.
Voters will automatically be entered into a random drawing for free airfare and tickets to any US music festival this summer. Fans can also nominate themselves as Festival Fan of the Year. Contestants will become eligible themselves by writing an essay of 500 words or less describing why they are that fan, and the winner will be recognized along side the other award winners and will also receive an all expenses paid trip to the US music festival of their choice this Summer!
Fans will be able to vote at http://melodytrip.com/MTFesties/Festies.aspx starting March 1.
Fan voting will be representing 1/3 of the overall score. MelodyTrip will enlist 10 of the top music bloggers nationwide as our expert voting panel, and the final 1/3 of the score will be determined by the MelodyTrip staff, which has exhaustively tracked the festival scene throughout 2006, and is gearing up for another exciting season. Casey said, "We wanted to put the voting in the hands of the fans, but we also wanted to level the playing field somewhat since some festivals are much bigger than others in terms of attendees, and members of individual festival's websites, newsletters, fan clubs, etc.
" The winners will be announced March 19, so stay tuned!
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