The Isle of Wight Music, Dance and Drama Festival (IWMDDF) was honoured in 2020 with The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. The Award, created in 2002 to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, aims to recognise outstanding work by volunteer groups to benefit their local communities. Recipients are announced each year on 2nd June, the anniversary of The Queen’s Coronation. Much delayed by Covid restrictions, the festival’s President, Gioia Minghella, formally received the Award from Mrs Susie Sheldon JP, Lord Lieutenant, the Queen’s representative on the Island during the Pop and Rock day at Shanklin Theatre during the 2022 festival