{"id":209113,"date":"2025-06-24T01:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T01:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/209113\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T01:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T01:27:11","slug":"dundee-to-host-scottish-album-awards-for-next-three-years-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/209113\/","title":{"rendered":"Dundee to host Scottish album awards for next three years \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dundee will host the Scottish Album of the Year (Say) Award ceremony for the next three years, the award\u2019s organisers have announced.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Caird Hall will host this year\u2019s ceremony on November 6 and then again in 2026 and 2027, marking the first time it has been held outwith the central belt in the award\u2019s 14-year history.<\/p>\n

The venue takes over the from Stirling\u2019s Albion Halls, which hosted the event from 2022-2024, with the ceremony moving to a different part of the country every three years.<\/p>\n

The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), which runs the award, made the announcement a week before submissions for this year\u2019s prize open on July 1.<\/p>\n

\"Key<\/a>\"Heatwave<\/a><\/p>\n

To be eligible albums have to meet the Say Award criteria, including being released between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s eligible artists include Primal Scream, Franz Ferdinand, Nina Nesbitt and Erland Cooper, among many others.<\/p>\n

Previous winners of the award include Young Fathers, Mogwai, Fergus McCreadie and Auntie Flo.<\/p>\n

Robert Kilpatrick, chief executive and creative director of SMIA said: \u201cFollowing three incredible years hosting Scotland\u2019s national music prize at Stirling\u2019s Albert Halls, the SMIA is both delighted and proud to be calling Dundee\u2019s iconic Caird Hall the new home of the Say Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cEstablished in 2012 and originally hosted in Glasgow, we introduced our Host City model in 2016 to broaden the Say Award\u2019s reach, deepen place-based impact and ensure nationwide cultural benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince then, we\u2019ve worked in three-year cycles to move the ceremony across the country; supporting regional industry development, establishing local partnerships and celebrating the strength and diversity of Scotland\u2019s ever-evolving recorded output in a range of cultural contexts.<\/p>\n

Mr Kilpatrick said they had long aspired to hold the ceremony in Dundee, and that now was the \u201cperfect time to do so\u201d.<\/p>\n

He went on: \u201cFrom iconic artists and grassroots music venues to major cultural institutions and a proud DIY spirit, it\u2019s a place where creativity, innovation and collaboration are deeply embedded, and we\u2019re honoured to be adding to its rich musical heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough our partnership with Leisure & Culture Dundee, V&A Dundee, Dundee City Council and Unesco Dundee City of Design, we\u2019re excited to amplify the city\u2019s creative identity and welcome over 1,500 guests from across Scotland, the wider UK and beyond to our 2025 Ceremony on Thursday 6 November.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RockersRockers Franz Ferdinand are among the eligible artists for this year\u2019s award (Ian West\/PA) <\/p>\n

In recognition of Dundee\u2019s status as a \u201ccultural powerhouse\u201d \u2013 and the UK\u2019s first and only Unesco City of Design \u2013 the trophies for this year\u2019s awards are set to be created by a local Dundee designer.<\/p>\n

The 2025 ceremony will feature a performance by 2024 winner Redolent, and the winner of the Say will take home \u00a320,000 along with the coveted award, while nine runners-up will each receive \u00a31,000.<\/p>\n

Alongside the main prize the winner of the Modern Scottish Classic Award will be announced, recognising a cherished album from Scotland\u2019s past that still inspires Scottish musicians today.<\/p>\n

The winner of the Sound of Young Scotland Award will also be named, with a young and emerging artist being given a funding package to support the creation of their debut album.<\/p>\n

Councillor Lynne Short, Dundee City Council\u2019s spokeswoman for culture, sport and history said she was \u201cdelighted\u201d the city had been chosen to host the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cMusic of all kinds provides the soundtrack to our city, whether it\u2019s the vibrant busking culture we have in the city centre, open-air gigs by established acts at Slessor Gardens or up and coming grassroots bands in many of our small pubs and clubs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always been a city with a passion for music, and I am delighted that the SMIA has chosen to make Dundee the home of the Say Award for the next three years in a way that recognises this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anna Day, head of libraries and culture at Leisure & Culture Dundee said she \u201ccouldn\u2019t be happier\u201d the award was coming to Dundee.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the musical heart of the city for generations, Caird Hall is ready for a bold new chapter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPartnering on the Say Award marks a major step in our broader ambition to re-energise what the Caird Hall offers to audiences, artists and partners. We now can\u2019t wait to welcome the Scottish music community through its doors and onto its stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early bird Say Award Ceremony tickets on sale now at www.sayaward.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dundee will host the Scottish Album of the Year (Say) Award ceremony for the next three years, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5009],"tags":[4021,14010,748,83695,18866,4884,83696,83697,26659,712,83698,16,15,83699],"class_list":{"0":"post-209113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scotland","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-awards","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-caird-hall","12":"tag-dundee","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-mogwai","15":"tag-redolent","16":"tag-say","17":"tag-scotland","18":"tag-scottish-album-of-the-year","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-young-fathers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114735746055085008","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}