Photo by Andy Ross
Right, loves, The List have just handed out their Festival Awards 2025 – and it’s a proper goodie bag of winners. After a cracking debut last year, they’ve only gone and raised the bar with a line-up that shows off the best of Edinburgh’s Art, Book, Film, Fringe and International festivals. Basically, the whole city’s been one big talent buffet, and here are the dishes everyone’s still talking about:
ART – Best Rising Scottish Artist
Hamish Halley: Please Keep, The People’s Story Museum
Hamish gave us a moving video piece that juggles cleaning out his grandparents’ house with the Perth Museum packing up for a big move. Emotional dusting, with added heritage.
BOOKS – Best Rising Scottish Author
Michael Mullen – Goonie
Poetry with bite, sass, and plenty of Scottish soul. Fierce, lyrical and written in the tongue of home – what’s not to love?
FILM – Best Scottish Film
Reality Is Not Enough, Paul Sng
Paul tips his cap to Irvine Welsh with a film that’s equal parts playful, gritty and smart as a whip.
INTERNATIONAL – Best Show
Mary, Queen of Scots, Scottish Ballet
Think haute couture meets punk ballet – a rich swirl of history, myth and memory. Mary and Liz I have never looked this dramatic.
FRINGE – LGBTQIA+ Award
KINDER, Ryan Stewart, Underbelly Cowgate
Drag artist Goody Prostate takes a library booking and turns it into chaos, childhood confessions and big questions about growing up.
FRINGE – Best Dance, Circus & Physical Theatre Show
Small Town Boys, Shaper/Caper, Zoo Southside
Eight dancers and a community cast bring nightclub paradise back to life – sweaty, joyful, glorious chaos.
FRINGE – Best Comedy Show
Christbride, Bebe Cave, Pleasance Dome
One medieval mystic, a room full of dull men, and a comedy of misplaced devotion. Dark, daft, and delicious.
FRINGE – Best Kids Show
Funz & Gamez Rebootz, Phil Ellis, Monkey Barrel
Phil Ellis is back, dragging kids and parents into his anarchic world. Warning: the kids love it, but the adults laugh harder.
FRINGE – Best Show from Adelaide
Smile – The Story of Charlie Chaplin, Marcel Cole, Pleasance Courtyard
The Little Tramp’s story told with sparkle and heart – Marcel Cole shines in this one-man tribute to a comedy legend.
FRINGE – Sit-Up Award
Body Count, Issy Knowles, Pleasance Courtyard
A one-woman takedown of sex work stereotypes. Dark comedy with grit, truth and a whole lot of bite.
FRINGE – International Fringe Encore Series Edinburgh Prize
Hot Mess, James Ashfield, Pleasance Courtyard
Climate crisis staged as the break-up of the century: Earth vs Humanity in a messy, musical showdown.
FRINGE – Spirit of the Fringe Award
Pussy Riot, Summerhall
Protest, punk, politics. Pussy Riot barely need an intro – fierce art collective, global icons, still shaking walls from Moscow to Edinburgh.
And in case you’re wondering, yes – there was prize money (a tidy £500 each, with bigger pots for Sit-Up and International Encore). The big Fringe winners are off to New York and the Sit-Up winner gets a chunk of cash to make waves with social impact. Nice, eh?
Massive shout-out to the sponsors (Johnnie Walker, Dishoom, LNER and a small army of others – Grace sees you) and to The List themselves, who’ve been scribbling away with 400+ reviews this Fringe. Not bad for a magazine that keeps us all in the loop year-round.
So there you go – from drag chaos to ballet queens, from nightclub rebirths to climate breakups – the Festival Awards 2025 served up the full Edinburgh smorgasbord. Satchel zipped.
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