In 2020 the Fonó Music Hall launched a vote in the community media. On the occasion of their 25th anniversary they wanted to know what their patrons’ favorite moments were over the years. There were 25 categories for voting and several hundred people actually took part in the voting. Then with the help of a jury of professionals, they narrowed things down to 10 plus 1 categories, naming the top three in each category. The winners will be formally announced at the award ceremony on Sunday, February 28th, 2021.

We intend to hold this kind of voting every year from now on, and make the Fono Award tradition.

The finalists:

1. The best Fonó dance houses over 25 years:
Berka táncház
Fonó Wednesday dance house, the Teen Dance House Szerda
Kamasz táncház

2. The best concerts over 25 years:
Balogh Kálmán & David Murray (2004)
Dresch Mihály Quartet & Archie Shepp (2001)
Góbé Christmas Concert (2018)

3. The best folk music record over 25 years:
Eszterlánc: Jegesen (2014)
Poros: Poros Live (2011)
Szászcsávás: Live in Chicago (2016)

4. The best world music records over 25 years:
Buda Folk Band: Magyar Világi Népzene (2014)
Csík Zenekar: Ez a vonat ha elindult, hadd menjen... (2008)
Lajkó Félix: Mező (2013)

5. The best jazz recording over 25 years:
Borbély Mihály: Polygon (2016)
Dresch Quartet: Mozdulatlan utazás (2000)
Lukács Miklós trió: Cimbiózis (2014)

6. The best festivals over 25 years:
Budapest Folk Fest
Héttorony Fesztivál
Jazz Pre New Years party

7. The best singers over 25 years:
Bognár Szilvia
Herczku Ágnes
Navratil Andrea

8. The best lead fiddlers over 25 years:
Kalász Máté
Porteleki László
Vizeli Balázs

9. The best instrumentalists over 25 years:
Balogh Kálmán
Dresch Mihály
Lajkó Félix

10. The best folk musician over 25 years:
Agócs Gergely
Csasznyi Imre
Ifj. Csoóri Sándor ’Sündi’

11.  The "Discovered by Fonó" plus category:
Balogh Melinda
Meybahar
Ötödik Évszak

When counting the votes, we realized that there are musicians who kept showing up in the votes in many categories. These are musicians whose lives and music have provided examples for audiences and for their fellow musicians. So, we decided to establish a Lifetime Acheivement Award, which would be an additional seperate category at the awards event on Sunday.

Musicians from the Eszterlánc and Ötödik évszak bands will perform at the online awards event.

The event can be seen on the Fonó website.