The List Magazine Announces New Awards For Edinburgh Festivals

Leading Edinburgh Festival magazine, The List has launched a new set of awards which will announce winners at a star-studded, invite-only ceremony on Friday 23rd August, partnered with Johnnie Walker Princes Street.  The List Festival Awards will celebrate this legendary Scottish publication as they near 40 years and shine a light on the rich array of Art, Book, Film, Fringe and International festivals this summer. 

The award categories are:

• ART - Best rising Scottish artist
• BOOKS - Best rising Scottish author
• FILM - Best Scottish film
• FRINGE - Best show 
• FRINGE - Encore Fringe Award for best rising performer
• FRINGE - Sit-Up Award for best production with a social impact 
• FRINGE - Best show from Adelaide
• FRINGE - Spirit of The Fringe Award
• INTERNATIONAL - Best show

August is a jam packed month for everyone involved during the Edinburgh Festival. In the third week, The List Festival Awards will provide both a well-deserved buzz and extra incentive for performers, producers and audiences to take on the final few weeks with renewed and excited energy.  These new awards will fully take in the breadth of what is happening during such an exciting and inspiring time and will pay tribute to many of those who make August a very special landmark in the arts and culture calendar.

For the Fringe, International, Art and Film awards, The List's reviews across July and August will be the key driver behind the shortlists.  Once shortlists have been agreed upon and announced, more opinions will be sought from industry experts to determine the winner.  While the Book award doesn't rely on performances, the winner will be a rising Scottish author appearing at the Book Festival this August.  A range of opinions from writers and commentators will be gathered to create a strong shortlist and an eventual winner. The Spirit of The Fringe Award will be in honour of a show, venue or individual who best encapsulates that spirit. This could be with work that is especially innovative or thought-provoking or simply off-the-wall.

Two of the awards are presented in partnership with other organisations.  The Sit-Up Awards winner will receive £5,000 and a slot on the 24/25 Fringe Encore series. The award aims to help harness the power of theatre to achieve greater social impact.  The Fringe Encore Award will receive a run at the SoHo Playhouse in New York including accommodation and travel + financial support  All other award winners will each receive £500.  

Rob Maxwell, Head of Johnnie Walker Princes Street comments, Every August, Edinburgh cements its position as one of the world's cultural capitals, and we are proud to continue our long standing association with The List by supporting this celebration of our city's iconic festivals. The List Festival Awards will showcase the truly remarkable breadth of talent and creativity present across our cultural sector. We're privileged to be able to host them at Johnnie Walker Princes Street for what promises to be a seriously inspirational event.

Brian Donaldson, Editor of The List comments, Ever since The List relaunched in March 2022, creating a new awards event at the Edinburgh Festival has been one of our long-term goals. We might be here sooner than we thought but myself and our reviewing team will dive headlong into the challenge of producing shortlists and eventual winners that we can be excited about.

With a year-round monthly magazine (weekly during the Festival) and an extensive digital platform, The List publishes and distributes information on events and entertainment and is a must-read for finding out what's on.  The List reviews approximately 400 shows across the summer festivals offering some of the most engaging and extensive content for audiences.

The List Festival Awards

Date Friday 23rd August 2024

Time 3pm – 6pm 

Venue Johnnie Walker Princes Street

Website https://list.co.uk/

The List

The List is a multi-award winning free arts, culture and events magazine that has been helping Edinburgh and Glasgow residents ‘get a life' since 1985 and offers the UK's largest events website. After nearly closing its doors in 2020 due to the pandemic, the magazine fully relaunched in March 2022 under the newly formed List Publishing Ltd., thanks to new investment and a successful crowdfunding campaign. The List has added international publishing to its list of accolades with the introduction of The List Adelaide Summer Festivals Guide and The List Adelaide Winter Festivals Guide and it continues to grow its events arm with ListLive and these awards.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street

Johnnie Walker Princes Street, the eight-floor visitor experience for the world's best-selling Scotch whisky, opened in September 2021. Four and a half years in the making, it is the centrepiece of Diageo's £185 million pound investment in Scotch whisky tourism in Scotland – the largest single investment programme of its kind ever seen in the industry. Johnnie Walker Princes Street welcomed 359,000 visitors in 2023, from 131 countries, from Andorra, to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between.

Part of Johnnie Walker Princes Street's mission is to introduce Scotch whisky to potential new fans, and challenge traditional perceptions. Nearly 50% of Johnnie Walker Princes Street tour visitors were women. 

In addition to the Journey of Flavour tour where visitors have their personal flavour preferences mapped with drinks tailored to their palate whilst exploring the 200-year history of Johnnie Walker, exclusive tours and experiences are also available all year round, including STIR, an exclusive collaboration launched with two Michelin-starred team James & Maria Close, from Raby Hunt restaurant, which combines world-class cocktails with innovative cuisine.

The venue is one of the only venues in central Edinburgh that works with disabled access charity Euan's Guide, offering lift access and low-height tables on all experiences as well as having a Changing Places facility.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street was recently named Europe's Leading Spirit Tourism Experience 2024 and was awarded in the Outstanding Achievement for Brand Experience category in the 30th Annual Themed Entertainment Association Awards. In addition, the visitor attraction has won a selection of awards including the 5-star VisitScotland accreditation, and the Icons of Whisky award for World Visitor Attraction of the Year 2023. It also opened with a Green Tourism Gold Award – the highest sustainability accolade for a visitor attraction – and later in the year, the LEED certification, the globally recognised symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership.

The Sit-Up Awards

The annual Sit-Up Awards, at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, champion theatre productions that drive social change. With over 300 plays tackling diverse social issues annually, the awards aim to inspire productions to engage deeply with audiences and sustain impact beyond the festival. The 2024 winner will earn a coveted slot at SoHo Playhouse's International Fringe Encore Series in January 2025, along with receiving £5,000. Additional support includes venue, accommodation and production assistance in New York, plus funding for further audience engagement. This year, Sit-Up are also making five grants of £1,000 each before the Fringe to support productions to engage with audiences during their run.

International Fringe Encore Series

The annual International Fringe Encore Series provides opportunities to emerging artists that show exceptional talent at this season's Fringe Festivals both artistically and commercially. In recognition of their excellence, SoHo Playhouse offers these special shows an extended run Off–Broadway in New York City, with winners in both Theatre and Comedy categories. This extended run gives these incredible up and coming shows a platform for future productions and success. Previous winners of the 2022 International Fringe Encore Series include: Afghanistan Is Not Funny by Henry Naylor (Theatre Award) and Troy Hawke: Sigmund Troy'd by Milo McCabe (Comedy Award), with runners-up including The Stakeout, by Martin Dockery (Theatre), and five star Fringe hit, Six Chick Flicks… Or a Legally Blonde Pretty Woman Dirty Danced on the Beaches while writing a Notebook on the Titanic (Comedy).

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