Folk Alliance International (FAI), a 501(c)3 and the foremost global nonprofit for folk music, has laid out a new process whereby its members can submit recordings for the 2025 International Folk Music Awards (IFMAs) in the Best-of-the-year categories (Song, Album, and Artist). The IFMAs will be held February 19, 2025 in Montreal, QC, on the first night of the 37th Annual Conference (the FAI Conference). Learn more about the conference: https://www.folk.org/conference
 
IFMA submissions will open to members on September 3 and run through September 30. New recordings released between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024 are eligible. Any FAI member can submit a recording. It is free for members to submit and there is no limit to the number of submissions. Only one submission will be considered for a given album or song. Nominations will be announced December 3.
 
This new procedure allows for a more democratic, community-led approach to the IFMAs. FAI released a video explaining what’s to come: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Nn_bRJc3U
 
FAI also announced the theme for its 37th Annual Conference #FAI2025: Illuminate:
 
The Northern Lights serve as a powerful symbol of the interconnectedness between humans, the natural world, and the spiritual realm within Indigenous cultures across Northern Canada.
 
Drawing inspiration from this tradition, we invite our folk community to approach their work with a renewed sense of wonder and awe. By reigniting these fundamental emotions, we can find the passion and purpose to fuel artistic expression and positive social change.
 
Learn more about the conference theme: https://www.folk.org/news/fai-2025-conference-theme-reveal
 
The FAI Conference will take place February 19-23, 2025, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the Queens Elizabeth Hotel, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded “Give Peace a Chance.”
 
About Folk Alliance International
 
Founded in 1989, and governed by a 21-member board of directors, Folk Alliance International (FAI) is the world’s largest membership organization for the folk music industry and community. Its mission is to serve, strengthen, and engage the global folk music community through preservation, presentation, and promotion.
 
FAI values diversity, equity, inclusion, and access, is committed to gender parity in all its programming, celebrates multiple languages and cultures, and actively welcomes participation from marginalized, disenfranchised, and underrepresented communities.
 
FAI defines folk broadly as “the music of the people” (reflective of any community they are from), and programs a diverse array of sub-genres including, but not limited to Appalachian, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, Global Roots, Hip-Hop, Old-Time, Singer-Songwriter, Spoken Word, Traditional, Zydeco, and various fusions.
 
FAI produces the International Folk Music Awards (IFMAs), an Artist in Residence (AIR) program, the Folk ExChange global market development program, the Ethno USA gathering in partnership with Belgium based organization JM International, and the world’s largest annual folk music conference and showcase performances drawing over 3,000 delegates from 40+ countries.
 
Past Artist in Residence partnerships include UNESCO, the International Rescue Committee, the WWI Museum, Kansas City Ballet, the Kansas City Police Department, the Topeka Women’s Correctional Facility, UMKC’s Mathematics Dept., the Kansas City Art Institute, and Friends of the Kaw River.
 
Additionally, FAI provides information, advocacy, education, and professional development for over 19,000 in its community and oversees an IRS Group Exemption program in support of over 50 US non-profits.