Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen and broadcaster and producer Gemma Cairney will host The List Festival Awards 2025, following a highly successful inaugural ceremony in 2024. The art and culture publication’s second annual Festival Awards will return to the stunning Johnnie Walker Princes Street’s Label Studio to shine a light on the rich array of art, book, film, fringe and international festivals taking place in the city every summer. Designed to cover the breadth of cultural offerings during the most exciting festival month of the arts calendar, The List will pay tribute to the artists who make this very special programme an actuality. The awards ceremony is in partnership with Johnnie Walker Princes Street.  

No stranger to awards ceremonies, prize-winning poet Michael Pedersen is the Writer In Residence at The University Of Edinburgh and was named the new Edinburgh Makar in 2024. His 2022 debut prose Boy Friends was a Sunday Times Critics’ Choice and was shortlisted for Best Non-Fiction Book at Scotland’s National Book Awards. Pedersen is also a recipient of the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and is the co-founder of the literary production house Neu! Reekie!. Broadcaster and writer Gemma Cairney is best known for her work with BBC Radio 6 Music, interviewing cultural icons like Tracey Emin, Kelley Deal, and Cosey Fanni Tutti, and BBC Radio 1, where she was recently named the new voice of Radio 1’s early breakfast timeslot. Currently based in Scotland, Cairney is on the board of the Jupiter Artland Foundation and has been the chair of Edinburgh Art Festival since 2022. Following the publication of her first book in 2017, Cairney is currently working on her second novel The Immortal Sisterhood which is due to be published next year. 

The List Festival Awards aim to support both Scottish and international arts and talent across all festivals, with each of the 12 winners to receive a cash award of at least £500. Two of these winners will head to the SoHo Playhouse in New York to perform their show. The awards are hosted in partnership with Johnnie Walker Princes Street and additional award supporters include Set! Productions, Edinburgh Marriott Hotel, LNER, Ghost Light Theatre, Pure Life Plus, The Pitt, Data Thistle, Adelaide Fringe, SoHo Playhouse, and Sit Up Awards.

The publication’s 40th anniversary year will see the inclusion of four new awards to further spotlight the range of talent the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has to offer. 

The categories for The List Festival Awards 2025 are:

• ART - Best rising Scottish artist
• BOOKS - Best rising Scottish author
• FILM - Best Scottish film 
• FRINGE – Dance
• FRINGE – Comedy
• FRINGE - Kids 
• FRINGE - LGBTQIA+ 
• FRINGE - International Fringe Encore Series Edinburgh Prize 
• 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

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

Brian Donaldson, editor of The List, comments, ‘We struck gold last year with Zara Janjua and Mark Nelson as our inaugural awards-hosting double act, and the challenge was in trying to follow that. We feel very fortunate to have secured another dream team in Gemma Cairney and Michael Pedersen, both erudite, enthusiastic, informed and witty commentators and practitioners in their own fields and beyond. Getting the perfect hosts is half the battle in producing a successful awards ceremony and we can't wait to see Gemma and Michael helping us celebrate all our winners and nominees.’

The List Festival Awards, Johnnie Walker Princes Street, Friday 22 August.