The shortlist has been announced for this year’s Creative Edinburgh Awards, a celebration of the city’s art and culture scene that focuses on community, collaboration, inclusion and the positive impact that creative ventures have on the local community. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on Friday 14 November at Central Hall. 

As with many lists at this time of the year, the awards illustrate a city excelling in forming communities for marginalised groups or else bringing niche interests to a broader audience. Both within the Festivals award category and elsewhere are Welcome To The Fringe, Palestine, Take One Action Film Festivals, Porty Festival and the Accessible Book & Story Festival. 

Also included in the list are a number of well-known faces around Edinburgh’s local community, including community cinema coordinator Morvern Cunningham and Capital Theatre’s Claire Swanson, as well as shows like the Fringe hit The Unlikely Friendship Of Feather Boy And Tentacle Girl, and the queer punk night Queer As Punk.

Here’s the list in full: 

The Collaboration Award

Spiders For Ukraine And John Morran
Porty Festival
The Unlikely Friendship Of Feather Boy And Tentacle Girl
Helter Skelter - Pauly Pocket (Artist) & Simon Preston (Friends of Montgomery Street Park)

The Community Award

Local Cinema Network, WHALE Arts
Edinburgh Open Workshop
Starcatchers' Expecting Something
RMB Dance Edinburgh
North Edinburgh Arts
Bare Productions CIC

The Development Award

Olivia Calderón
Pepita Mwanga
Ying Gao
Pirita Tuisku
Shamama Fatima

The Festivals Award

Take One Action Film Festivals
Accessible Book & Story Festival
TAGS Festival
Welcome To The Fringe, Palestine

The Inclusion Award

Queer As Punk
Burst
Ailie Finlay, Director, My Kind Of Book
ESEA Creatives

The Innovation Award

Half Trick Theatre
ASCUS Art & Science
Bonnie and Braw Cartuns
Studio Mol

The Leadership Award

Rohan Seilman (Project Leader for A.R.Ts Afternoon)
Eve Greenwood
Morvern Cunningham
Claire Swanson

The Student Award

Evans Eghan
Suky Goodfellow (Queer As Punk)
Hannah Chow
Peter Laing

Creative Edinburgh Awards, Central Hall, Edinburgh, Friday 14 November; main picture: Noel Fenech.