Epic Awards The Epic Awards shine a spotlight on the achievements of creative groups across the UK and Republic of Ireland each year. The 2020 Epic Awards closed for applications on 14 June 2020. This year, a diversity of inspiring groups and projects were awarded at our first virtual ceremony on Thursday 22 October. Discover the stories of each winner. Read more in our press release. Each year, shortlisted entries are put forward for the highly coveted People's Choice Award while winners and runners-up from each of the four main categories (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales) are selected by our panel of judges. The Epic Awards are an annual chance for your creative group or project to be recognised for the incredible work you've done over the past year. Follow Voluntary Arts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with news about this year's Epic Awards. 2017 People's Choice Award winners Roscommon Solstice Choir celebrating their win on BBC One's Breakfast show About Shortlist 2020 winners Back to Home Your Creativity Epic Awards Epic Awards The Epic Awards were set up in 2010 by Voluntary Arts, an organisation that works across the UK and Republic of Ireland to promote participation in creative cultural activities. Entries for Epic Awards 2020 closed in June 2020 and the shortlist for this year has now been published. Take a look at these inspiring projects in more detail. The winners of the Epic Awards 2019 were announced at an inspiring ceremony in Central Hall, Edinburgh on 3 October 2019. This year, gathering for real life ceremonies is not possible so instead we brought all the glitz and glamour to a huge online gathering on 22 October 2020 to announce all the award winners and celebrate the inspirational work of all those who made the shortlist! The Epic Awards celebrate the achievement of voluntary arts groups across the UK and Republic of Ireland, by recognising the skill, innovation and hard work that goes into their activities. Voluntary Arts works with local creative cultural groups, voluntary sector organisations, arts councils and local and national government, to help increase opportunities for creative participation – and support those who have already discovered the benefits of taking part. The voluntary cultural sector is huge, incorporating drama groups, choirs, knitting circles, orchestras, dance troupes, painters, photographers, community arts and much, much more. Over 60,000 voluntary arts groups operate across the UK and Republic of Ireland, and their contribution to lives in their local community cannot be underestimated. The Epic Awards are here to shine a spotlight on their work, and to inspire others to get involved. Who can enter the Epic Awards? The Epic Awards are for creative projects that involve, and are led by, people who participate for the love of it and on an amateur basis. You can be based anywhere in the UK or Republic of Ireland, practice any kind of art form or craft and work with any age group. Your nominated project can be long or short-term, as long as some or all of it took place in the twelve months prior to 31 December 2019. Prizes include: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales Epic Award Winners: Framed winners' certificate £250 A tailored package of training, mentoring and promotion to help bring your group to the next level from Voluntary Arts and Epic Award partners England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales Epic Award Runners Up: Framed runners-up certificate £75 Mentoring from Voluntary Arts and Epic Award partners Get a taste of what the Epic Awards are all about in this short video: