THE Montgomery Brothers and The Hillbilly Goats have taken out the top awards at The Cairns Post Hit Awards for 2013.

In their fourth year, the region's premiere entertainment and arts awards didn't disappoint, with a vocal crowd of several hundred cheering on this year's nominees, alongside top live performances by The Montgomery Brothers, Louarde, Zilch and The Hillbilly Goats to keep the party rocking until the end.

The Montgomery Brothers were judged the Best Local Solo or Duo while The Hillbilly Goats were the Best Local Group. Both categories received the largest amount of votes of any of the awards.

DJ DMH won Best Local DJ or Producer, another highly coveted category.

In the venues section, Gilligan's and the Tanks Arts Centre made it four years in a row in the Best Nightclub and Best Entertainment Venue (non-pub or nightclub) categories respectively, while Salt House regained its crown in the Best Bar section after winning in 2009 and 2010.

The Union Jack was the only venue to have never won an award before, taking out Best Pub ahead of stiff competition from Cairns Courthouse Hotel, Rattle'n'Hum and The Red Beret.

Gus Fernandez from The Union Jack said he and his team were humbled by the win and looked forward to another big and diverse year in entertainment.

"It hasn't been an easy road for us, so we're extremely grateful for all the support from the local community," he said.

"It's been one of the hardest slogs of our life to bring this business up from the ground, so to win is a great honour. It's been a massive team effort, thanks to the whole team at The Jack."

UK folk heroes Mumford & Sons obviously impressed local audiences with their sellout show at Kuranda Amphitheatre in October last year, taking out both Best Touring Group and the Best Festival or Major Event for Kuranda Amphitheatre, while Pete Murray was the favourite in the Best Touring Solo Artist or Duo.

Gold Coast duo The Stafford Brothers were named Best Touring DJs or Producers.

In the arts section, the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair made it two years in a row in the Best Art Show or Exhibition category after another successful event in 2012, while the Cairns Choral Society again took out the Best Theatre or Dramatic Performance for their rendition of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates Of Penzance.

Carl Barron's One Ended Stick was named Best Comedy Show.

In one of the biggest surprises of the awards, Australian film The Sapphires won Best Film, ahead of some big-ticket blockbusters.

The Cairns Post Hit Awards were decided via a reader survey on cairns.com.au/entertain mentduring January and February.

With 24,166 votes received, this year was the biggest vote in four years of the awards.

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