Dear Friends of Folk and Fantasy!

If you voted for this edition’s Longlist of the CeltCast Fantasy Awards, you already received a “Thank You” email on January 1st. Nevertheless we would like to add another VERY BIG THANK YOU because by now we know that we received an incredible 22% more votes than for last year’s Longlist and even 71% more than two years ago. 

What an honor 🙏 to be part of such a strong community which turns out in such numbers to show their appreciation and ❤️ to organizers, artists and merchants who help create our beautiful scene - thank you everyone! Our calendars and lists of artists and events that we need to check out have (thanks to you adding nominees like crazy) yet again grown out of proportion and it’s only eleven days into 2025 - we have yet to decide if we’d also like to thank you for this or curse you instead 😉

Speaking of turning out - remember that this whole thing isn’t finished just yet - beginning next Friday, January 17th, there will be the second round of voting - the Shortlist voting, which will run until February 2nd. Once the shortlist is live, you will be able to find it at www.fantasy-awards.com/vote 

During this round of voting you can only vote on the Top 5 of the respective Longlist and you will only have one vote per category - so, if several of your favorites made it to the shortlist, you might have to make some hard choices. 

If this seems difficult to you - we feel you - there’s so many great choices and we would love to present all of them with an award. However, for obvious reasons that’s neither possible nor feasible. So, don't feel too bad about the hard choices you had to make. Time and time again we hear that nominees celebrate having made it to the Top 5 at all, cheering each other on during that final race instead of viewing each other as rivals. After all, the CeltCast Fantasy Awards are meant as a celebration of all the fantastic people who contribute to our scene, not as a winner-takes-it-all competition and collaboration and mutual support is definitely a strength within our scene.

If your experience has been quite the reverse and you feel disappointed that your favorite Longlist nominee(s) did not make it into the Top 5, don’t fret! Every year people discover hidden gems and diamonds in the rough on the CFA Longlists. Perhaps, next year people will discover your personal hidden gem and end up supporting it. Likewise, you might have overlooked a potential new favorite of yours in the depth of the Longlist. So don’t miss your chance to check out the Shortlist and while you are at it, it doesn’t hurt to leave your vote, does it?

Speaking of gems: there will certainly be some gems to discover or enjoy once more during Fantasy Fest, where our Awards Show will be taking place this time around, spread out over both days. 

Impression of the Market at Fantasy Fest Oct 2024

To discover the whole breadth of the event, consult Fantasy Fest’s channels, but we’d like to highlight two points:

While there is always a Costume Competition at Fantasy Fest, this edition’s Costume Competition will have the additional perk of determining the winner of the “Best Costume” CeltCast Fantasy Awards category 

So prepare your costumes to compete or come over to check out all the beautiful costumes on stage - let’s make this a big party. We’ll let you know about the details of when, how to sign-up etc. very soon.

You wonder whether some of those bands even made it to this year’s Shortlist - well, I wouldn’t know - at this point only a select few of our team members have seen the voting results - the rest of us ordinary mortals will just have to wait patiently - but the good news is, it’s less than one week until the shortlist will go live! 

Before we sign off, let’s give you something to browse through until then, namely last year’s Shortlists - you will find it at the end of this mail - do you still remember who you voted for?

Before you get lost in that list though, let’s shortly review:

Day tickets for the last three can be purchased with a discount via www.fantasy-awards.com/tickets, weekend tickets are available on Fantasy Fest’s website.

Musical Greetings,

The CeltCast Team 🎻

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👉🏻 https://celtcast.t.me

Last Year’s Shortlist

🎤 Best Song 2023

Deloraine - Sabat (Winner)

Faun - Ylfa Spere

Go_A - Dumala

Irdorath - Zorami

Omnia - Only love can tame the demon

SKÁLD - Elverhøy

Ye Banished Privateers - Mates Together

📀 Best Album 2023

SKÁLD - Huldufólk (Winner)

Brisinga - Mond Cult

Pyrates! - Five Years At Sea

Sunfire - The Devil's Drink

The Dolmen - Devil's Crest

The Longest Johns - C-Sides

Tulua - No Coming No Going

🎭 Best Live Act 2023

Rapalje (Winner)

FAUN

Go_A

Heilung

Sunfire

Wardruna

Ye Banished Privateers

✒️ Best Cover Art 2023

Sunfire - The Devil’s Drink (Album) (Winner)

Faun - Ylfe Spere (Single)

Go_A - Rusalochki (Single)

Irdorath - Zorami (Single)

SKÁLD - Huldufólk (Album)

The Dolmen - Devil's Crest (Album)

Ye Banished Privateers - Mates Together (Single)

🎥 Best Music Video 2023

Deloraine - Sabat (Winner)

FAUN - Ylfa Spere

Go_A - Rusalochki

Heilung - Anoana LIVE | LIFA Llyn Dain

OMNIA - Only Love… Can Tame the Demon

Sunfire - Jolene

The Longest Johns - Hammer and the Anvil

🎭 Best Off-stage Act 2023

Medusa’s World (NL) (Winner)

Abe de Verteller (NL)

Beatrice (DE)

Greenthingz (NL)

House of Wax Entertainment (NL)

Sassenachs (NL)

Zwaard & Steen (NL)

🔮 Best Stand 2023

Celtic World (Winner)

Hollow Moon Art

Hannie's Hakhoning

Kürtőskalács (Schoorsteenbrood)

Viking Voer

Wortel & Cruydt

Witch & Warrior Crafts

🏰 Best Festival 2023

Castlefest - Lisse (NL) (Winner)

Eallum (NL)

Elfia - Arcen (NL)

Fantasy Fest (NL)

Fantasy Forest (UK)

Midwinter Fair Archeon (NL)

Middeleeuws Winschoten (NL)

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