Save the date for the Oscars!

The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, 2 March next year, later than usual to avoid clashing with the Winter Olympics, organisers and insiders said Monday.

The Oscars are usually held on the last or next to last Sunday in February, but that would compete for TV audiences with the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia from 6 to 23 February.

The later date for the Oscars – the climax to Hollywood’s annual awards season – will also allow for a more relaxed nomination and voting period, after some complaints this year, according to industry journal Variety.

Voting for nominees will run from 27 December to 8 January, with nominations announced on 16 January. Final voting will start on 14 February and end on 25 February, said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Organisers were criticised this year over the limited time Academy voters had to consider late-season releases. There were also some teething troubles with online voting, introduced for the first time.

The March date for the Oscars means that the Golden Globes, Tinseltown’s next most high-profile awards show, will be held on 12 January, while the Grammys are tipped to be held on 26 January, according to Variety.

In 2015 the Oscars will be held on 22 February, back in its more traditional slot, the Academy announced.

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