Nominations are open for the Manchester Culture Awards, giving artists, venues, organisations and members of the public until midnight on Sunday 21 June to put forward the people and projects they think deserve recognition.
The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday 14 November at the Manchester Deansgate Hotel. A start time and ticket or attendance cost have not been stated in the source information. The awards are aimed at Manchester’s cultural and creative sector, including professional, amateur and community contributors, as well as residents who want to nominate work they have seen or been part of.
Manchester City Council says the annual awards recognise the city’s cultural and creative highlights from the last twelve months, with nominees expected to be based in Manchester or to have a strong track record of work benefiting people who live in or visit the city.
November ceremony at Manchester Deansgate Hotel
The Manchester Culture Awards 2026 ceremony is scheduled for Saturday 14 November at Manchester Deansgate Hotel. The event will bring together shortlisted creative work across the city, from large organisations to independent artists and community projects.
The awards were launched by Manchester City Council in 2018, at a time when the city’s cultural profile was continuing to grow. Last year, more than 400 nominations were received, covering events, individuals and organisations of different sizes.
For this year’s awards, nominations must reflect activity that took place between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026. The exception is the Cultural Welcome Award, which recognises achievement over a number of years.
Twelve categories cover events, performance and storytelling
Nominations are invited across 12 categories. They include Best Event, Best Performance, Best Exhibition, Young Creative of the Year, and awards linked to creative health and wellbeing, equality and social justice, climate action, education and talent development, and business partnerships.
A new Outstanding Storytelling Award has been added for 2026. It will recognise compelling and relevant stories created through word, film, digital media or other cultural forms.
The Cultural Welcome Award also returns in partnership with the Manchester Evening News. It will go to an organisation or venue that provides a strong welcome to audience members, visitors or participants, with the winner chosen by public vote.
The full set of eligible art forms includes visual art, music, theatre, performance, dance, film and broadcast media, literature, digital art, photography, craft and heritage arts.
Who can be nominated before the deadline
Nominees must either be based in the city of Manchester or have a clear record of delivering activity that benefits residents, visitors or the local economy. Nominations are welcome from the professional, amateur and community sectors, and members of the public can also submit nominations.
The categories include Bright Spark: Young Creative of the Year, for a young person aged 13 to 25 who is inspiring future generations through creativity or supporting others to be creative. The Independent Creative Award is for a person working independently in the creative sector who is innovating through their artform and projects.
Special Recognition Awards will also be made by judges at the ceremony for significant contributions to culture over a number of years. Previous recipients have included poet Lemn Sissay, former Hallé Music Director Sir Mark Elder, poet, performance artist, dramatist and writer SuAndi OBE, DJ Paulette, Abasindi Black Women’s Co-operative, and former Manchester Jewish Museum chief executive Gareth Redston.
Nominations close at midnight on Sunday 21 June
The key date for anyone planning to nominate is midnight on Sunday 21 June. Manchester City Council has said more information about the awards and the nomination process is available through its culture awards information.
Councillor Shazia Butt, Executive Member for Culture, Libraries and Leisure at Manchester City Council, said the city’s creative communities are central to Manchester’s cultural reputation, adding: “We can’t wait to get this year’s nominations in and hear more about who you think deserves an award.”
Source: Manchester City Council
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This preview is based on Manchester City Council’s published awards notice and keeps missing details, such as ceremony time and cost, clearly unstated.
- Confirmed the nomination deadline as midnight on Sunday 21 June.
- Confirmed the ceremony date as Saturday 14 November.
- Confirmed the venue as Manchester Deansgate Hotel.
- Checked that the article does not add unsupported booking, transport or accessibility deta...
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- Manchester City Council
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- 2026-06-01 19:18
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