The grassroots awards helping tell Portsmouth’s cultural story

As Portsmouth looks towards the possibility of becoming the UK City of Culture 2029, one of the city’s newer grassroots events is preparing to shine a light on the people who often build culture long before official titles arrive.

The Portsmouth Music Awards return to Portsmouth Guildhall on Wednesday 27 May, bringing together musicians, producers, promoters, photographers, videographers, venue staff, presenters, DJs, community figures and local businesses for a second year at one of the city’s most recognisable venues. The event is billed as a black-tie evening celebrating grassroots music, culture and creativity, with live performances and awards under one roof.

The awards were created by Word of Mouth, a Portsmouth-based organisation with roots in the city’s music scene. What began as an idea with no major funding has grown into an annual gathering that gives local creatives a platform usually reserved for larger cities and more established industries. Last year, the event was organised while its founder was completing a university dissertation. This year, it is being pulled together whilst he completes his teacher training.

That detail matters because it reflects the reality of grassroots culture in Portsmouth. Much of it is built after work, between study deadlines, around family life and often without the safety net of large budgets. The people being celebrated are not only performers on stage. They are the organisers booking rooms, the engineers setting up sound, the designers making programmes, the photographers capturing the night, the sponsors taking a chance, and the local venues giving artists somewhere to start.

The Portsmouth Music Awards are open to people based in PO postcodes, with a process that begins with public nominations, followed by shortlisting, public voting, judges’ voting and the final awards night. The public also plays a formal role in the outcome, with votes acting alongside the judging panel and the nominee with the most public votes receiving the Portsmouth Voice Award.

That structure gives the event a community feel. It is not simply an industry ceremony looking inward. It asks the city who it values, who it listens to and who deserves recognition.

The timing gives the awards added significance. Portsmouth was named on the longlist for UK City of Culture 2029 in March, alongside Blackpool, Inverness-Highland, Ipswich, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Sheffield, Swindon and Wrexham. 

Portsmouth’s bid is being led by Portsmouth Creates and is described as a city-wide campaign shaped by the people, places and creativity that define the city. The bid places collaboration, community voice and creative ambition at its centre, with culture positioned not as an add-on but as something that can support regeneration, wellbeing, opportunity and civic pride.

That is where events like the Portsmouth Music Awards become more than a night of trophies. They become evidence.

The awards also show how local partnerships can turn ambition into something visible. This year’s supporter list includes Casemates, Southsea Sound, Portsmouth Distillery, City of Portsmouth College and Lumico Digital, among many others.

For Word of Mouth, the partnership with Portsmouth Guildhall has become central to the awards’ growth. It places independent and emerging talent in a venue associated with major community moments, giving local artists and behind-the-scenes professionals a sense that their work belongs in the city’s main rooms, not on the margins.

The Portsmouth Music Awards are still young, but their growth speaks to a city that takes its creative community seriously. Last year proved the idea could happen. This year suggests it is becoming part of the city’s cultural calendar.

As Portsmouth continues its City of Culture 2029 journey, the awards offer a timely reminder: culture is not only found in museums, theatres and major festivals. It is also found in the rapper writing after a shift, the band rehearsing in a small room, the photographer editing late into the night, the business that sponsors a category, the venue that opens its doors, and the organiser who keeps going even when there is no funding and no guarantee.

Portsmouth’s bid for national recognition will be judged in the months ahead. But on 27 May, one part of the city’s case will already be visible: a grassroots music community that has been working, creating and carrying the culture long before the spotlight arrived.

For more information, visit www.portsmouthmusicawards.com or on Facebook/Instagram search Portsmouth Music Awards.