Following the successful inaugural awards in 2024, The List Festival Awards are set return to Edinburgh in August 2025, to highlight the rich array of culture on display across the city’s festivals. This year’s ceremony will include four new categories, which celebrate the diversity of talent on offer at the Edinburgh Festivals. From literature to film and theatre, these fantastic awards are a celebration of the best of the festival season. 

This year marks a milestone of 40 years of The List, Scotland's biggest and longest standing guide to arts and entertainment. The incredible publication is integral to the fabric of promoting Edinburgh’s cultural scene. Designed to reflect the breadth of events and artists showcasing their work during the most exciting festival month of the arts calendar, The List aims to pay tribute to the artists who make this very special collective celebration happen. This fantastic ceremony looks to support both Scottish and international art and talent. 

Building on the triumph of the first-ever instalment of awards show in 2024, 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. These comprise of category-specific awards for the best dance, comedy, and kids shows, as well as a new accolade for LGBTQIA+ Fringe artists. 

With the objective to champion talent across all the festivals, The List Festival Awards has several categories specific to Scottish artists. Last year’s winners included Flannery O’kafka: For Willy Love and Booker T: Blue Babies do whatever they want for Best Rising Scottish Artist, K Patrick for Best Rising Scottish Author, and Since Yesterday: The Untold Story Of Scotland’s Girl Bands (directed by Carla J. Easton and Blair Young) for Best Scottish Film. 

The List Awards’ Edinburgh Fringe categories include the SoHo Playhouse’s International Fringe Encore Series: Edinburgh Prize, the Sit-Up Award for Best Production with a Social Impact, the Best Show from Adelaide and the Best Show award from the Edinburgh International Festival. The incredible line-up of winners is reflective of the striking diversity, quality and artistry across Edinburgh during August, as an international hub for world-class talent. Previous winners include FAMEHUNGRY, Weather Girl, Lewis Major: Triptych and Natalie Palamides: WEER, Songs Of The Bulbul. Last year, Summerhall’s Chief Executive Sam Gough was the deserved recipient of the Spirit of the Fringe Award, to mark the arts charity's fantastic work in championing a diverse array of talent. 

Brian Donaldson, editor of The List, said, 'Another Edinburgh Festival is on the horizon with world-class artistic endeavours set to enrich the city and all those who converge upon it. There are various ways in which critics and audiences can show appreciation for those endeavours, and lavishing prizes on people is one important way to do it. Having covered the Festival across five decades, The List has built a reputation for knowing what we're talking and writing about. Our second year of Festival Awards will honour even more brilliant shows and artists, and we can't wait to get stuck into another season of amazing culture.'