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It's an evening to celebrate the Fraser Valley artists who have contributed to B.C.'s music scene, with 40 musicians hoping to hear their names called on July 17 at the annual Fraser Valley Music Awards.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, this award show is part of the Jam in Jubilee series taking place in Abbotsford throughout July. 

According to organizer CIVL-FM, the awards have been responsible for giving 240 local artists more than $75,000 to help further their musical careers.

This year, there is $10,170 up for grabs as part of the Dakota Leslie Memorial Fan Vote, which honours the former CIVL-FM radio host who was fatally struck by a vehicle in 2015.

The large cash prize pot isn't the only reward for the nominees, as the award show is once again teaming up with the Mission Folk Music Fest to arrange for one of the nominees to perform at the 2026 festival.

FVMA explained that these awards are often some of the first accolades for local musicians, many of whom continue on to have very fulfilling careers.

"Past winners have gone on to tour, record, sign major label deals, play major festivals, access grant funding, appear on BBC Asia, and even meet with BC Premier David Eby," explained FVMA.

There are 40 nominees this year across a total of 11 categories, with 14 of these artists being nominated at these awards for the first time ever. Meanwhile, 11 of these artists now have the prestigious status of receiving five or more FVMA nominations.

Some of them even received multiple nominations for this year alone, including Abbotsford's Northern Darkhorse, who are nominated in both the adult alternative and country categories. 

Surrey's MoonTock also has this distinction as a finalist for both the experimental artist and hip hop artist awards. The third multi-nominated artist this year is Coquitlam's Jadhe, who is up for the hip hop and R&B categories.

Abbotsford leads the pack with 14 nominees, followed by Surrey with seven and Chilliwack with six. 

The total list of the 2025 FVMA nominees includes:

Jazz/Root/Blues Artist of the Year – Dale Sawatzky (ºÚÂí´ÅÁ¦), ReeVay (Coquitlam), Rockson Road (Gabriola Island/Abbotsford), Shamir Virgo (Surrey)

Punk/Metal Artist of the Year – Ryan H Wugalter (Chilliwack), Erik "The Lightning" Taylor (ºÚÂí´ÅÁ¦), The Synthetic Overlords (Abbotsford), Malevolent (Chilliwack)

Adult Alternative Artist of the Year – Western Jaguar (Chilliwack), Northern Darkhorse (Abbotsford), Ted Kim (Chilliwack), Michael Ryan (Chilliwack)

Singer-Songwriter Artist of the Year – KD Surreal (Abbotsford), CocoLarosa (Surrey), Brander Raven McDonald (Abbotsford), Alexandrah Pahl (Chilliwack)

Rock Artist of the Year – Caravan Music (Abbotsford), Nathan Sobko (Gabriola Island/Abbotsford), The Sylvia Platters (New Westminster)

Experimental Artist of the Year – Kaitie Sly (Chilliwack), Christians (Surrey), MoonTock (Surrey), Darcy Watkins (Abbotsford), Villain Villain (Mission)

Country Artist of the Year – Madisyn Gifford (Surrey), Etienne Siew (Coquitlam), Northern Darkhorse (Abbotsford), Nelly P (Abbotsford), Annika Catharina (Deroche)

Electronic Artist of the Year – Elixir (Mission), Stephen Carl O'Shea (New Westminster), Arthur (Abbotsford)

Hip Hop Artist of the Year – Jordan Barr (Mission), Jadhe (Coquitlam), MoonTock (Surrey), YK Patel (Abbotsford)

Pop Artist of the Year – Connor Nelson (Delta), Camellia Grove (Vancouver), Shane Terry (Delta), Jacob Brand (Surrey)

RNB Artist of the Year – Yung Dae (Abbotsford), Argel MDR (Surrey), Jadhe (Coquitlam)

Members of the public can help determine whether or not their favourite local artist walks away with some cash and a new title by participating in the Dakota Leslie Memorial Fan Vote, which remains open until noon on July 16.

According to the FVMA, there have already been more than 1,000 votes cast, with plenty more still expected to come in.

The award show takes place on Thursday, July 17, at Jam in Jubilee in Abbotsford. The award ceremony begins at 6 p.m., with live performances to follow at 7 p.m. 

For more information or to cast a vote in this year's competition, visit .