Filiah Wins XA Export Award 2025

Filiah (c) Hannah Toegel
Filiah at Waves 2025 (c) Hannah Toegel

The 15th edition of the Waves Vienna Festival and Conference is history, and what a Waves it was! One of Europe’s leading showcase festivals, Waves took place from October 2-4 in and around Vienna’s “Gürtel” and Yppenplatz, spanning the area’s most iconic clubs, cafes and venues, packing them with music, dialogue, awards, and most importantly, people. And one of those people, performing and winning the XA Export Award at Waves 2025 was, of course: Filiah.

XA – Export Award Goes to FIliah

Waves Award Ceremony (c) Alexander Galler
Waves Award Ceremony – XA Award goes to Filiah (received by Kerstin Kern of Ink Music) (c) Alexander Galler

Always a highlight, the XA – Export Award ceremony took place on the final evening of the festival, with the award this year going to Filiah, self described as “indie folk with a shimmering touch of pop”. Filiah will receive €3,500 cash from the royalty collection agency SKE/Austro Mechana, €5,000 in tour financing from the Austrian cultural ministry BMWKMS, and promotional and booking support from Austrian Music Export and Radio FM4 for the coming year. This year’s award was presented at the Award Ceremony on Saturday, October 4th at Vienna’s Brunnenpassage. Congratulations to Filiah, as well as the other nominees this year: Beaks , Jo The Man The Music, Kids don’t smoke, lovehead and Sanna Frankie!

Video: Filiah – Sad Girl With a Punchline

Further awards at the ceremony:

The Gap – Young Talent Award für Music Journalism

AUSTROVINYL – Best MERCH-Award

Central European Indie Festivals Award – CEIFA

See you next year!

After Waves is before Waves: the 16th edition of the festival dates have been announced! Oct 1 – 3, 2026: Mark your calendars and see you next year!