The UK Festival Awards 2013 shortlist announced

Photograph: Leeds Festival

With everything from 'Best Large Festival' to 'Best Toilets' up for grabs, The UK Festival awards have become the barometer of the UK Festival calendar, covering every base and recognising excellence in all avenues for this much loved UK past time. With the winners facing stiff competition from the huge number of festivals that the British summer is home to, winning a UK Festival Award is no mean feat, and guarantees the the envy of every other festival in the country.

Up for Best Major Festival this year are some of our favourite edifices of excellence in festival terms. Rob Da Banks' Bestival is once again up for the gong, and after winning in this category last year, the pressure is on to repeat the same trick. Other highlights include dance music giants Creamfields and GlobalGathering, metal and rock festivals Leeds & Reading and Download, and perhaps Britain's most iconic festival Glastonbury. 

The medium sizes up for the award include the surf-tastic and sun drenched Boardmasters, the ultimate family friendly festival Camp Bestival, heavy metal heaven Bloodstock Open Air, quirky Kendal Calling and Suffolk's cerebral and laid back Latitude festival. By all accounts each of these festivals enjoyed a blinding 2013, so this is really going to be anyone’s call.

Small Festivals up for the title this include last year's winners of best new festival, Festival No. 6. In no time at all the small Welsh festival has entrenched itself in our hearts, with perhaps the most unique setting for a festival on British soil. Other favourites nominated include Lancashire based Beat-Herder, with numerous reviews and a number of Skiddle attendees all attesting to its brilliance once again in 2013. Shrewsbury Fields Forever is also in the running. The Shropshire festival yet again exceeded expectations this year, with a killer line up meeting one of the most relaxed and friendly festival crowds in the land.

Award nominations for Best New Festival sees We Are FSTVL, Folkstock, and Lost at Sea all receive a nod, whilst Best Dance Event sees Beat-Herder get a second nomination, as does Bestival, Creamfields, GlobalGathering. South West Four and RockNess also get a bit of well deserved recognition.

The list of award nominess goes on, check out the full list below:

BEST MAJOR FESTIVAL

Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park
Bestival
Creamfields
Download
Glastonbury
GlobalGathering
Parklife Weekender
Reading & Leeds
T in the Park
V Festival

BEST MEDIUM-SIZED FESTIVAL in association with Eventbrite

Bloodstock Open Air
Boardmasters
Camp Bestival
End of the Road Festival
Green Man
Kendal Calling
Latitude
Secret Garden Party
We Are FSTVL
Y Not Festival

BEST SMALL FESTIVAL in association with Intelligent Venue Solutions

2000trees Festival
ArcTanGent
Bearded Theory
Beat Herder
Blissfields
Brownstock Festival
Festival No6
Glasgowbury
Strawberry Fields Festival
The Zoo Project Festival

BEST NEW FESTIVAL in association with Robertson Taylor

ArcTanGent
Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park
Chilfest
Folkstock
FOUND
LIVE in Barnsley
Lost at Sea
Love Supreme Jazz Festival
The Fusion Festival
We Are FSTVL

BEST DANCE EVENT

Beat Herder
Bestival
Creamfields
GlobalGathering
Gottwood
Nozstock: The Hidden Valley Festival
RockNess
South West Four
The Zoo Project Festival
We Are FSTVL

BEST METROPOLITAN FESTIVAL

Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park
Dot To Dot
Live at Leeds
Liverpool Sound City
Love Saves The Day
Slam Dunk Festival
South West Four
The Great Escape
Tramlines
Vans Warped Tour Uk (2012)

BEST FAMILY FESTIVAL

Beautiful Days
Beverley Folk Festival
Cambridge Folk Festival
Camp Bestival
Chilfest
Green Man
Lakefest
Larmer Tree Festival
Latitude
Truck Festival

BEST GRASSROOTS EVENT in association with ID&C

2000trees Festival
Bearded Theory
Beautiful Days
Blissfields
Green Man
In The Woods
Kendal Calling
Larmer Tree Festival
The Zoo Project Festival
Y Not Festival

BEST TOILETS in association with XL Video

2000trees Festival
ArcTanGent
Bearded TheoryBlissfields
Creamfields
Download
GlobalGathering
Kendal Calling
We are FSTVL
Y Not Festival

BEST OVERSEAS FESTIVAL

Benicàssim (Spain)
Berlin Festival (Germany)
Dimensions (Croatia)
Electric Picnic Music & Arts Festival (Ireland)
EXIT Festival (Serbia)
Outlook Festival (Croatia)
Rock Am Ring/ Rock Im Park (Germany)
Snowbombing (Austria)
The Garden Festival (Croatia)
Tomorrowland (Belgium)

HEADLINE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR in association with Relentless Energy Drink

Arctic Monkeys – Glastonbury
Biffy Clyro – Reading & Leeds
Elton John – Bestival
Eminem – Reading & Leeds
Foals – Latitude
Rammstein – Download
Sigur Ros – End of the Road
The Prodigy – Creamfields
The Rolling Stones – Barclaycard Presents British Summertime
The Rolling Stones – Glastonbury

ANTHEM OF THE SUMMER in association with Jagermeister

Do I Wanna Know – Arctic Monkeys
Feel the Love -Rudimental
Freak Out – Chic ft Nile Rodgers
Get Lucky – Daft Punk
Ho Hey- The Lumineers
Inhaler – Foals
Ni**as in Paris – Jay-Z
Pompeii – Bastille
Radioactive- Imagine Dragons
White Noise – Disclosure

BREAKTHROUGH ACT OF THE YEAR

Bastille
Disclosure
Frightened Rabbit
HAIM
Imagine Dragons
Kendrick Lamar
London Grammar
Rudimental
The 1975
The Strypes

Stuck for how to celebrate New Years Eve? Check out our complete guide to New Year's Eve events here.