Vote now to honor best in Modesto area music. MAMAs return to honor pandemic helpers
The Modesto Area Music Association, known as MAMA, is back with its awards program after a pandemic year off.
Voting continues to crown the best music acts, entertainment venues and events in the region. Now in its 21st year, the awards are a celebration of the area arts scene and voted on entirely by fans. Ballots can still be cast online until midnight Sunday, Oct. 17, at www.modestoareamusic.com.
This year’s award show, which was canceled last year due to COVID-19, also returns to the State Theatre. Chris Murphy, one of the founders and organizers of the awards, said this year’s event will celebrate the rebirth of the area music scene after a year of shutdowns where local live entertainment largely went dark.
“(We’re celebrating) a rebirth of live music in a new world. We are welcoming back the restaurants that were hit so hard, and celebrating the open stages that support bands, stage hands, sound engineers, theatre managers and so much more of our economy,” Murphy said in a statement about the awards.
This year, the public can vote in 13 categories. In 2019, for its 20th anniversary year, the MAMAs featured voting in 21 categories with some 250 nominees.
Also instead of giving out its Lifetime Achievement Award, this year the MAMA will hand out Lifeline Awards to local people and places that Murphy said “helped us get through the pandemic.”
The invitation-only MAMA Awards ceremony will start at 6:30 p.m. at the State Theatre in downtown Modesto. The show will feature live awards presentations and performances by local groups. Attendees must wear masks, and are encouraged to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test.
While the award show is private, it will be livestreamed on the ModestoView site, www.modestoview.com, and Facebook page.
This story was originally published October 16, 2021 at 9:52 AM.
