The four winners of the regional AMP Awards will for the first time enter a final of finals, to see which is crowned overall champion. The AMP Awards, which showcase the best bands in Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate and York, have teamed up with organisers of the Galtres Parklands Festival for a grand final, which will run alongside the festival’s G-Factor competition for young musicians.
“This is a brilliant way for us to put more talented young people on our stages,” said festival director James Houston, who has also been invited to judge the York AMP final in March. “The AMP Awards are an established and excellent opportunity for emerging bands to play to large audiences. Galtres has always been keen on supporting the aspirations of promising young people, and this is a terrific opportunity to extend the reach of our event to schools throughout Yorkshire. Bring it on!”
Since the AMP Awards were launched in 2009 by staff at St Aidan’s High School (Harrogate) and Boroughbridge High School, as a combined musical/business skills event, this glamorous but friendly competition has featured 90 bands in its grand finals alone. Some previous finalists, such as Purple Mafia and Dukes of Bevington, have already played Galtres in their own right. Altogether more than 1,000 students have participated to date in the pupil-run business teams which help put the AMP Awards together each year, including organising each school’s pre-final heat for competing bands.
Josh Hill, co-founder and musical director of the awards, announced today: “We are proud to reveal that the winner from each of the regions – Harrogate, Bradford, Leeds and York – will now get another opportunity to compete. The AMP Yorkshire Grand Final will take place on Sunday 24th August at the Galtres Parkland Festival in Helmsley.”
Josh continued: “This new and exciting development means that young bands from all four AMP regions will have the chance to perform at one of the best family festivals in the country. Galtres Parkland Festival is now ten years old – combining eight stages of music and cabaret, fine food and drink sourced from across Yorkshire, and activities for all, from film making to music workshops.
“It is an ideal partnership event for the AMP Awards. Young AMP musicians will be performing alongside such successful bands as Bellowhead and the Levellers, demonstrating the festival’s commitment to young and emerging talent.”It really is proof that, given the right support, young talent will emerge! Thank you to Galtres Festival for collaborating on this project and helping further the opportunities for young bands from the AMP Awards.”
