21st Century Folk wins ARIAS Gold again!

Pomona Audio’s commission for BBC Radio 2, 21st Century Folk, has been awarded the Gold ‘Best Music Award’ at the 2026 ARIAS.

In a ceremony at London’s Roundhouse, the winner was picked from a shortlist including Radio 1, Radio 3, Apple Music Radio, Jazz FM and KISSTORY.

Pomona Audio’s Kellie While said: “We’re feeling very humbled. The competition is so fierce. Pomona is a small team and beyond that, there are many people involved, not least AV engineer Ian Stephenson, everybody at Radio 2, our fantastic songwriters and the wonderful people who shared their life stories.”

In 21st Century Folk, five people inspire five new songs. The winning series had a ‘railway’ theme to mark the 200th year of passenger train travel.

“We’re feeling very humbled. The competition is so fierce.”

Bespoke songs were written by Findlay Napier, Chris While & Julie Matthews, Bill Ryder-Jones, Kate Rusby and Richard Thompson.

They were inspired by Joanne, Tom, Ken, Charlotte & David and Siggy.

Joanne overcame cancer to work as a steam locomotive fireman on the Llangollen Heritage Railway. Tom was abandoned as a baby at Reading Station in 1965. Ken had a train named after him after a 50-year railway career. Siggy started working on trains when he arrived from Barbados in 1962. He still works at a station and still plays cricket! Charlotte met Dave when she sat beside a train track, intending to take her own life - he was the driver who got out of his cab and spoke to her until she felt able to board the train safely. Today, they are married with children.

21st Century Folk 2025 generated a week of content across Radio 2, BBC Sounds, BBC iPlayer and YouTube, creatively introducing folk music to mainstream audiences.

You can still watch the emotional moments when each song was performed for the first time.

21st Century Folk previously won another ARIAS Gold for ‘Best Music Special’, New York Festivals Radio Awards for ‘Best Music Special’ and ‘Best Original Music’, plus ‘Audio Production of the Year’ at the Prolific North Champions Awards. The project returns to Radio 2 in June 2026.