The List Festival Awards at Johnnie Walker Princes Street

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2. The List Festival Awards

Leading Edinburgh Festival magazine, The List has launched an exciting 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.