Friday 26th June, Athena, Leicester

Doors open 6pm - Awards start 7:30pm

Welcome to The Alternative Awards 2026.

After the amazing success of the first Alternative Awards 2025, we are back with more.

Some new categories, which just enforce our ever-encompassing ethos. And more of what the Alternative Awards are all about, We learned from the first awards and listened to what YOU said to us, all helping us expand forward from 2025's event.

The Alternative Awards.

Where individuality is honoured.

Where creativity is king.

Where the alternative becomes iconic.

“They're not just trophies, they're recognition. For the courage it takes to walk your own path. For the work we do in the shadows that deserves the spotlight. For the people showing up as their real, raw unfiltered selves. Celebrating alternative industries makes change feel accessible. It shows people that you dont have to conform to be successful, worthy, or loved. You just have to be you. And lets be real, when people stop hiding who they are, their mental health improves and confidence rises. This is more than an event, its a movement. A moment of “finally”. Finally seen, Finally heard. Finally celebrated”. Baby KLC

How it works

APPLICATIONS

All application categories are on the applications page, you simply pick the category/s on the form at the bottom of the page that best fits you. Fill in the application, and send.

The way we will ensure that everything is done fairly and without prejudice is to ensure that all voting is clear and can be checked.

We chose to use instagram as our voting platform as its the most used platform of all social media, it is also the easiest to monitor, isn't behind a website wall and is transparent. We looked into other platforms and voting processes BUT all are open to manipulation, so we stick with instagram because of its visibility.

Once the application is submitted and received, along with the chosen image, it will then be added as a branded post to the relevant categories(s) on the @thealternativeawardsofficial Instagram.

VOTING

From there the nominee can share their post (NOT the story, thats something we add the post to, so we can then add it to the highlight folder) and ask others to like and comment. This can be done as often as desired. A like on the post = 1 vote.

Before the awards event these posts will be closed at a certain date/time and then just the management team will have access to the results. We then check each applicants like count and either remove any bought/fake likes to attain the total votes OR if the bought likes are high, we may remove from the applications entirely.

We turn the vote count OFF on the instagram posts, so the full count cannot be seen, only a percentage of the likes can be seen overall.