28th Sep 2011

The LUKAS are the first ever awards celebrating the contribution of Britain’s burgeoning Latin American, Spanish and Portuguese communities to British society.

By amaranta

We've been preparing for this launch for a LONG time, so its a very exciting moment for us. At the beginning of the year we decided that it was about time that the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Communities began to recognise and be recognised for their years of hard work, creativity and achievement in the UK, in the same way that the Brit-Asian Awards do for the Asian community here. There have been a few efforts to do so in the past, but as we have learnt, it takes A LOT of work and time to research and find all the nominees for all the categories, and then put them in one place where people can vote. With all the work we've put in we intend the LUKAS to be a permanent yearly highlight in the British diary.

The world of Latin American arts and culture is hugely diverse and you will see this reflected in the countless Awards. We also recognise that the different Latin American worlds (say the Tango one or Salsa or Forró) are made up of people full of passion for those art forms and some of you might find it strange that for example non-Tango experts are doing awards for Tango acts. So just to explain, the whole idea of these awards is to integrate the different elements of Latin American dance, music and culture and celebrate them in their Latin American context. The Latin American community is quite fragmented and this is OK because the continent's cultures are very diverse but we also wanted to provide a space to celebrate them together and their common cultural ground.

Importantly it is not a panel of judges who decide who wins but the fans and followers of each particular Latin genre. Being the first time, there are bound to be lots of teething problems and mistakes, so please bear with us and, more importantly, give us as much feedback as possible, so that we can improve the system year on year. Already Boris Johnson has got wind of this momentous event:

So, we are already looking forward to seeing our tussle-haired toff steaming up the dance floor with his latin moves on the big gala evening, to take place in February 2012. Between now and then, there is a lot of voting to do. All the winners will be chosen by YOU, so get voting! Here's how it works:

THREE categories

There are three categories for the LUKAS Awards:

Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Entertainment

Awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Community

Awards for Outstanding Contribution to the Services Industry

As you'll see, there are many awards under each category... from Brazilian Restaurant and Cultural Centre of the Year to Tango Teacher and Community Worker of the Year.

We have chosen an initial list of nominees for each award. But we are bound to have missed some important people. So if you know someone who deserves to be nominated, you are free to nominate a candidate for that award, by using the form at contact us. We will include this candidate and inform our community though facebook and our newsletter. But be sure to tell them yourselves so that they can start campaigning,

TWO rounds of voting

Until 31st December we will have a first round of voting. From January 2012 the top five most voted nominees in each award will enter a second round of voting. The winners of this round will be announced at a gala event in a prestigous London venue.

REMEMBER: You can vote as many times as you like for a candidate, with a 24 hour break in between.

REMEMBER: voting is through the 'vote now' button, which appears after clicking on the 'go' button under the nominee, not the go button itself. The vote now button asks you to register. If you haven't registered it means you haven't voted!

ONE nomination, ONE vote that can make a difference!

There are so many people who deserve to be recognised for their work, so please give them your support. If you decide to nominate a candidate, remember to tell the person they've been nominated, so that they can rally all the support they can get. Remember these awards are decided by popular vote. We decided to do this by popular participation, firstly, because it is the best way of making sure that we do not miss out on deserving candidates (simply because we don't know who they are), and secondly because who better to decide the influence of these individuals than the people who have been influenced! Utimately, however, we realise that there are outstanding individuals whose valuable work few people know about, so we will have a special lifetime achievement award for each category to recognise these silent heroes.

BLAST OFF! Getting voting! Remember, every vote counts so cast your vote now to make sure the best candidate wins! Click here to start voting

Click here for answers for to your queries about all things LUKAS, from the voting system, to eligibility of nomnees to multiple voting and voting transparency.