Peterborough’s 2026 New Music Awards: The Afterglow Edition

Yes, we’re late to congratulate….

But sometimes being late is the proper rock and roll entrance. The lights have already come up, the last drink has been cleared, the photo tags are still bouncing around social media, and Peterborough’s 2026 New Music Awards have moved from “upcoming event” to local music lore.

Held Saturday, May 23 at the Historic Market Hall, the 2026 New Music Awards brought Peterborough’s independent music scene into the room where it belongs: onstage, under lights, with actual applause instead of the usual algorithmic shrug.

Presented by Sparq and Pet Rock Radio, and produced by Brent Rombough and Pet Rock Radio, the night celebrated independent artists from Peterborough and the surrounding area across 17 categories. Hosted by Dawson McManus and Pet Rock Radio Katie, it was part awards show, part scene check-in, part reminder that this town keeps producing music whether the mainstream industry is paying attention or not.

And let’s be honest: most of the time, it isn’t.

That’s why nights like this matter.

Among the winners, Hanna Marie took home Alternative Artist of the Year, Scarlett Grace won Pop Artist of the Year, Georgia Rose claimed Pop Song of the Year for “Where Did We Go?”, LuqmaN and DBDroh won Hip Hop/Rap Song of the Year for “Kinda Flow,” and No Small Affair were recognized as Artist of the Year. Metal Song of the Year went to “Orange,” adding some necessary volume and menace to an evening that clearly had room for more than one kind of Peterborough sound.

Congratulations to all the winners, all the nominees, and all the artists who keep making music in a city where the rewards are rarely guaranteed and the load-ins are usually uphill.

The New Music Awards are important because they don’t just hand out trophies. They document a scene. They say: this happened, these people made things, these songs mattered, these names deserve to be remembered somewhere other than a disappearing post.

Peterborough has always had music hiding in plain sight — in bars, basements, rehearsal rooms, church halls, festival stages, rented rooms, and the back corners of places where somebody is still trying to make a PA work. The 2026 NMAs gave that whole messy, stubborn, beautiful ecosystem a proper night out.

So congratulations to Sparq, Pet Rock Radio, Brent Rombough, the hosts, the presenters, the performers, the nominees, the winners, and everyone who bought a ticket instead of just saying they “support local music” from the safety of their couch.

The show may be over, but the point remains: Peterborough music is alive, loud, strange, ambitious, and still very much worth paying attention to.

We’re late saying it.

But we mean it.