What's On Reading Awards 2026

Nominations are now closed! 

After last year’s inaugural “Cultural Champions”, we’re back for a second year, with a new name – the What’s On Reading Awards for arts, culture and heritage!

Once again, we want to recognise those within our town’s arts, culture and heritage community who have done great things in the past year – and nominations are now open! 

This year there are 11 categories, and we thank you for nominating the people, places and events that made a mark, made a difference, and made our town such a vibrant cultural space during 2025.

The categories are:

  • Event of the Year – A festival, a gig, a show… whatever! Your pick for the best single event of 2025.
  • Creative Skills Award – Celebrating the people, places and projects that are all about giving back, sharing skills and nurturing talent for future success, from venues and organisations that teach classes and workshops, to events that support personal and professional growth.
  • Creative Wellbeing Award – Celebrating those creative activities that help people feel better in their body and mind, or which support preventative action and behaviours to aid mental and physical wellbeing.
  • Cultural Ambassador Award – An event, organisation, individual or venue that represents Reading on a wider stage, or that promotes recognition of Reading as a cultural destination. This could be an event that brings out-of-town audiences to Reading, or a local organisation that has flown the flag on a national stage.
  • Cultural Partnership Award – An event or project where two or more local organisations, individuals or venues have joined up to create something wonderful. This could be partnerships within the cultural sector or outside of that, such as with community groups or local businesses.
  • Diversity Award – An event, activity, person, group or place that has delivered significant work for or with under-represented groups, including recognition for accessibility within arts, culture and heritage.
  • Film & Screen Award – Celebrates a person, independent film, short production, local cinema initiative, outdoor screening series, or film-based community project that has significantly enriched Reading’s film culture in the past year.
  • Heritage Award – Recognising the people and places dedicated to preserving Reading’s cultural and natural heritage, ensuring it is celebrated, understood, and shared with future generations. This could be a museum or heritage site, an organisation that celebrates local history, or an individual who lives and loves Reading’s past.
  • One To Watch Award – Recognising the unsung heroes who have made bold steps in the past year. This could be a newcomer to the cultural scene, an innovator who’s done something truly different, or a stalwart of the scene quietly doing things that more people should be paying attention to.
  • Sustainability Award – Recognising those who have delivered work sustainably or set sustainability targets within the events they have delivered, or those projects that integrate cultural expression with environmental awareness.
  • Youth Culture Award – Celebrating youth involvement in cultural initiatives and the importance of arts and culture within education. This could range from young individuals or groups, to youth-focused projects or organisations, to someone that has delivered an educational project, to a school that has delivered something within the cultural sphere. 

Nominations will closed at midnight on Sunday 8 February. We now have the unenviable task of coming up with a shortlist of finalists for each category. A panel of independent experts will then decide the winners, with the exception of the “Event of the Year” category – that will go out to the people of Reading to decide! 

The awards will then be given out at a ceremony-party at the end of March… details coming soon.

Supported by

Logos for Reading Borough Council, REDA, Reading BID and Visit Reading

Meet the judges!

headshots of awards judges

This year's primary judging panel is made up of some wonderful voices from across Reading:

  • Adam Koszary is a social media consultant for the arts and heritage sector, and his main contribution to Reading is a viral tweet of a large sheep while working for The Museum of English Rural Life. You may see him around town with a toddler and a fox terrier called Keith.
  • Dr Alice Mpofu-Coles is a Community Researcher at the University of Reading, Mayor and a Local Councillor for Reading, UK. She has a PhD in Human Geography, a BA in Social Work, and an MA in International Relations. She trained as a diplomat. She is a trustee and Ambassador for the City of Sanctuary – a refugee organisation, and the Vice-Chair for the Alliance for Cohesion and Racial Equality (ACRE).
  • Jess Plant is Policy Director at Creative Lives. She led the Creative Lives On Air programme of work, promoting creativity in partnership with BBC local radio stations, before driving Creative Lives' place-based work across England and the UK, developing partnerships with Local Authorities and Cities of Culture Trusts to highlight the crucial role of volunteer-led creative activity in communities.
  • Lorraine Briffit is Connect Reading's CEO, an award-winning cross-sector network which brings sectors together. She's been a keen supporter of Reading's cultural life since moving here in 2003, knowing many of Reading's amazing artists. As a keen musician and painter, she previously ran the Acoustic Obviously open-mic nights alongside her charity jobs. She's so grateful (and excited) to be back again to be on the panel.
  • Tiam Koravand is President of the Reading Students Union and enjoys being immersed in and exploring Reading. She spent her second year putting on gigs around town, creating cultural events and enjoying the company of many Reading students. Tiam aims to create a unified campus, to bring a representative student voice to the Students' Union and University decision-making, while serving the people of Reading.

We also have some specialist panels to judge specific categories:

One To Watch Award

Judged by representatives of Reading's Arts Council National Portfolio Organisations - CultureMixArts, Jelly, Museums Partnership Reading and Readipop:

  • Mary Genis is the Artistic Director and Founder of CultureMix Arts. Mary is on the Board of Notting Hill Carnival organiser Carnival Village Trust. She is also a trustee for arts organisation Jelly. Mary is a visual and performance artist, a musician, writer, designer and producer devising and delivering projects, activities and digital content that celebrate the arts by drawing inspiration from different cultures.
  • Nathifa Jordan is the Business Director at CultureMix Arts. She is a Trustee on the Board of Youth Music - a national charity investing in music-making projects for children and young people aged 0-25. She is also the Chair of the EMCCAN - East Midlands Caribbean Carnival Arts Network board, a partnership between Derby, Leicester and Nottingham Caribbean Carnivals and Northampton Carnival.
  • Kate Arnold-Foster is a museums professional with more than 30 years’ experience as a curator, consultant, director and trustee in London and the South and has a strong personal commitment to enabling how heritage bring benefits to communities and people. This includes as Director of the University of Reading’s Museums and Collections and of the Museum of English Rural Life. She has led major programmes of capital re-development and renewal and since 2018 has led Museums Partnership Reading, the largest Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in Reading.
  • Suzanne Stallard, Emma Bradbury, Kate Powell - Jelly
  • Gavin Lombos - Readipop

Sustainability Award

Judged by representatives of the Cultural Sustainability Forum. 

  • The CSF started early 2024, as a space developed by Reading Rep and Jelly, for organisations and creatives to come together to talk about Climate and Environmental issues, within our work, the cultural sector and our communities. They meet the last Thursday of every other month 12.30 - 1.30pm, and invite a guest speaker to give a short talk at the start followed by a chance for us all to share. New members are welcome, either creative individuals or cultural organisations.

Youth Culture Award

Judged by members of Young Voices.

  • Young Voices are a group of local young people aged 13-19 who are supported by a cross-sector group of professionals and local organisations to campaign, raise awareness, advocate for change, and influence strategy and decision-making on issues that matter to them in their communities. To date, they have worked with the Extra Familial Harm Board, the Community Safety Partnership, Thames Valley Police, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the Oracle Shopping Centre, and Reading Buses.

Terms and conditions

Nomination rules: nominations must reflect events, activities and projects – and those that put them on – that took place in 2025 only. Nominees must have been listed in some capacity on whatsonreading.com during 2025. You may nominate as many different people, places and events as you wish, but cannot make multiple nominations for the same nominee in the same category. Judges reserve the right to discard any nominations that they believe to be invalid, to divert nominations to a more suitable category, or to contact nominators for clarification if required. Nominations close at midnight on Sunday 8th February and any nominations received after that point will not be counted. A judging panel will assess all nominees to create a shortlist of finalists which will be announced in the weeks leading up to the ceremony. The judging panel will be made up of independent experts and will be revealed when the list has been finalised. Shortlisted finalists may be further assessed to determine the winner of each category. The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into.