Bill Bailey brings his signature spark to the 2025 Sky Arts Awards on 16 September

Comedian, musician and lifelong arts advocate Bill Bailey has been confirmed as the host of the 2025 Sky Arts Awards, taking place on Tuesday 16 September at the Roundhouse, London.

Now in its second year, the Sky Arts Awards recognise outstanding achievements across the full creative spectrum spanning visual art, music, film, theatre, literature and more. It’s one of the few nights in the cultural calendar where a poet, a playwright and a painter share the same spotlight.

Known for moving seamlessly between stand-up and symphony halls, Bill Bailey brings humour, curiosity and his love of the arts to this year’s ceremony – the perfect guide for a night that puts creativity centre stage.

Bill Bailey, Host, said [i"I’m delighted to be hosting this years Sky Arts Awards, a brilliant way to celebrate creativity in all its forms"[/i]

Phil Edgar-Jones OBE, Executive Director, Unscripted Originals also commented: “The Sky Arts Awards has become a key moment in the year to celebrate all the brilliant creativity the UK is rightly famous for. As it’s the only awards to celebrate all the arts genres, who better to host this years ceremony than the ultimate arts polymath, Bill Bailey. We are thrilled to have him on board and look forward to inviting our audience to join him on a night of brilliant performances and special celebrations.” 

The Sky Arts Awards were commissioned by Phil Edgar-Jones, Executive Director, Unscripted Originals at Sky for Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios & Chief Content Officer for Sky. The Commissioning Editor for Sky is Leanne Cosby, and the Project Manager is Vanessa Woodard. 

The Sky Arts Awards will be produced by DRUM Studios, part of Omnicom Media Group. The Executive Producers are Andy Holland and Danny Carvalho. The Head of Production is Sarah Fink. The Showrunner is Mark Thorne, and the Director is Julia Knowles.

The Sky Arts Awards takes place at The Roundhouse in London on Tuesday 16 September and will air that evening on Sky Arts and Freeview.

The Sky Arts Awards are one-of-a-kind, world class event, rewarding and celebrating the best of British arts and culture.  Awards categories include: Classical Music, Comedy, Dance, Film, Literature, Poetry, Opera, Popular Music, Television, Theatre, Visual Art and Lifetime Achievement. Some notable winners from 2024 include Melvyn Bragg (Lifetime Achievement), Fern Brady (Comedy), How to Have Sex (Film), Momtaza Mehri’s Bad Diaspora Poems (Poetry), Mr Bates vs The Post Office (Television) and Ryan Calais Cameron (Theatre). You can read the full list of Sky Arts Awards 2024 winners here.

Sky Arts exists to bring more art to more people across the UK. In 2020, with the creative industries under serious threat, we threw open our doors to make the channel free for everyone to watch. We’ve redoubled our mission to increase access to the arts and we’re committed to getting everyone involved. The fact is, we need the arts like never before, and Sky Arts brings them straight to your living room.