Photo:

The quirky Derbyshire music festival, which encourages all attendees to wear false beards for an annual world record attempt, beat strong opposition to be announced as winner at the inaugural AIM independent music ceremony in Central London.

Bearded Theory’s head of PR, Michael Eccleshall collected the award on behalf of the hundreds of people involved in making the festival such a success. He also dedicated it to the memory of one of the festival’s founders Tony Atkinson, who recently passed away.

The Golden Welly for Best Independent Festival was one of only a handful of the evening’s awards to be voted for by members of the public. Other award recipients included Bjork and Lawrence Bell, head of Domino Records.

Bearded Theory Festival takes place annually in May, set the stunning surroundings of National Trust property Kedleston Hall, 5 miles Northwest of Derby city centre.

The fiercely independent festival has firmly established itself over 5 years as the first ‘proper’ festival of the season and previous headliners have included The Waterboys, Alabama 3, The King Blues, Hawkwind and Athlete.

The dates for Bearded Theory 2012 have been announced as Friday 18th - Sunday 20th May.

Official Website