With 2022 now officially in the rearview mirror, it’s time to discuss what the best parts of it were for Western New Yorkers.

Once again, All WNY will celebrate the best of WNY with the All WNY Awards, a time-honored tradition by the fine folks here at All WNY.

Last year, we had 26 categories. They were:

Best Acoustic Act / Singer/Songwriter
Best Americana / Folk Band
Best Bassist
Best Blues Band / Act
Best Country Artist / Band
Best DJ / Electronic Band
Best Drummer
Best Guitarist
Best Hardcore / Metal Band
Best Hip-Hop / Rap / R&B Artist
Best Indie / Alternative / Jam Band
Best Jazz Band / Act
Best Live Band
Best Local Release (EP or Album)
Best Local Song
Best New Band
Best “Other” Band / Act
Best “Other” Instrumentalist
Best Punk / Pop-Punk Band
Best Rock Band
Best Sound Person
Best Tribute/Cover Band
Best Venue
Best Vocalist
Greg Rinker Memorial Service Award
Most Original Band/Artist

This year, we’ll include those categories … and others dealing with music, food, events, businesses and more. Like:

Best Arcade
Best Beef on Weck
Best Book Store
Best Bowling Alley
Best Brewery
Best Burger
Best Car Show
Best Chicken Wings
Best Chili
Best Coffee Shop
Best Comedy Club
Best Comic Book Shop
Best Community Carnival / Lawn Fete
Best Diner
Best Dive Bar
Best Donuts
Best Dyngus Day Event
Best Easter Brunch
Best Fireworks Display
Best First Date Location
Best Fish Fry
Best Golf Course
Best Greek Restaurant
Best Ice Cream Shop
Best Italian Restaurant
Best Kayak Launch
Best Local Theatre
Best Marina
Best Mexican Restaurant
Best Mini Golf Course
Best Parade
Best Pizza
Best Place to Watch a Sunset
Best Polish Restaurant
Best Pumpkin Farm
Best Record Store
Best Reuben
Best Skate Park
Best Soup
Best Sports Bar
Best Sub / Sandwich Shop
Best Thrift Shop
Best Winery

But here’s the thing. We’re totally open to new category ideas. So let us know what you think we should add. It could be music related. Maybe food related. Or a type of store or experience, even. Maybe we’ll add your category for the 2022 awards. We’ll take suggestions through January 15th and start the nomination process on February 1.

The nomination process will run from Feb. 1 through Feb. 15, followed by voting from March 1 – March 15. Winners will be announced April 1 to coincide with All WNY’s 17th Anniversary.

In recent years, All WNY has employed a committee to whittle down each category of nominees to just 10 prior to voting. This year, we’ve decided to go old-school and allow all* nominees to make it through to the final voting.

* If the nominees are legitimate and follow the rules. For example, music nominees must be active, have created or performed music in 2022, have music playing in rotation on All WNY Radio — and of course be from Western New York.

If you want to suggest a new category or offer any thoughts, feel free to shoot us an email or reach out to us on any of our social media accounts.

We’re excited to begin another year of the All WNY Awards …