The English Folk Dance and Song Society’s Gold Badge is the highest award the organisation can confer, and recognises important contributions to cultural life in England.
It is awarded to those who have made unique or outstanding contributions to the broad range of folk arts, and/or those who have given exceptional support in furthering the aims of the English Folk Dance and Song Society (to support and develop ‘English folk dances and songs, other folk music, folk talks and folk drama’, in the words of our original Articles).
More than 150 awards have been made since the Gold Badge was first created in 1922. Many award holders are household names in the folk arts. Others are less well known, but work tirelessly behind the scenes or in their local communities.
The first awards were presented in 1922 to Lady Mary Trefusis and Mrs Dudley Hervey. In the following year two seminal figures of early twentieth-folk movement were celebrated: the collector and educator Cecil Sharp, and Anglo-concertina player and Morris dancer William Kimber. Other Gold Badge holders include composer/collector Ralph Vaughan Williams (1943), performer/writer AL Lloyd (1975), Ewan MacCoIl (1987), Peggy Seeger (1987), Shirley Collins (2003), Eliza Carthy (2007) and Kate Rusby (2019).
Who should receive a centenary Gold Badge? Please let us know!
Anyone who lives and/or practises in England can be nominated, provided they meet the criteria outlined in one or more of the above categories.
Anyone can make a nomination, which should be seconded (supported) by one other person. Nominations can be made at any time but are normally considered in the spring, with new awards announced in the late summer.
Nominations received on or before Friday 1 April will be considered for the 2022 awards.
Find out how to nominate
