Edinburgh Festival Fringe Awards 2025: Here are all the shows that won prizes this August - from comedy to theatre

Sam Nicoresti won this year's Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show. | Getty Images

After three packed weeks, the Edinbugh Festival Fringe is over for another year, as lecture theatres and pub basements revert to their original use after spending August as makeshift theatre spaces.

There were nearly 4,000 shows taking place this year - all hoping to become the latest to hit to emerge from the festival, following the likes of Fleabag, Six and Baby Reindeer.

The first step that kind of fame and fortune is to attract the interest of the awards judges who see dozens of shows every week in a bid to discover the best of the best.

Here are the ones that earned trophies this year, and stand the best chance of becoming the ‘next big thing’.

Scotsman Fringe First Awards

• Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x)
• Kanpur: 1857
• Monstering the Rocketman
• Red Like Fruit
• She’s Behind You
• Ordinary Decent Criminal
• Lost Lear
• Rift
• NIUSIA
• The Horse of Jenin
• Youth in Flames
• Ohio
• #CHARLOTTESVILLE - The Play That Trump Does Not Want You To See!
• Hot Mess
• Philosophy of the World

Edinburgh Comedy Awards

• Don and Eleanor Taffner Best Comedy Show award - Sam Nicoresti: Baby Doomer
• DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer award - Ayoade Bamgboye: Swings and Roundabouts
• The Victoria Wood Award (Panel Prize) - Comedy Club 4 Kidz

The Comedians' Choice Awards

• Best Show - Alison Spittle: Big
• Best Newcomer - Roger O'Sullivan
• Best Person - Kyle Legacy

The Comedy Poster Awards

• Audience Award Winner - Alison Spittle: Big
• Panel Award Winner - Jessica Aszkenasy: Titclown

ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards

Cassidy / Bowles / James Corden Award for Best Show

• Mark Forward Presents Safari Time
• Phil Ellis: Soppy Stern

Patrick Monahan Award for Best Newcomer

• Amelia Hamilton: Forget Me Not
• Ayo Adenekan: Black Mediocrity

Lyons Award for Tech

• Alice Rebecca-Greening
• Eddie Fenton-Jones
• Jake Wood
• Josie Shipp

Takeover Radio 106.9FM Joke of the Fringe - Jo Caulfield: 'Last time I got really drunk I woke up in this filthy bedroom, vomit all down me, some fat, naked bloke snoring next to me. I was like – oh right, at least I got home ok.'

The Rhod Gilbert Panel Prize

• Che Burnley
• Benny Shakes
• Flyerers: Louis Mangay, Josh Ferguson
• LULA.XYZ won the prize for her work on Fringe With Spice 2025
• One4Review review team
• Danny Ward: The Holiday / The Show for Gareth Richards (prize to be shared with Mark Simmons and Laura Richards)

Malcolm Hardee Awards

• Comic Originality - Paul Campbell: The Lost Tapes of Somerfield (Hoots)
• Cunning Stunt - Dru Cripps for fishing for punters walking through the underpass at Potterow to advertise his musical show Juicy Bits.
• Act That Should Make a Million Quid - Phil Ellis

(Some guy called) DAVE Joke of the Fringe

• Andy Gleeks: 'I had to visit the trauma unit last weekend. He prefers the term dad.'

So You Think You’re Funny?

• Madeleine Brettingham

NextUp Biggest Award in Comedy

• Ayoade Bamgboye: Swings and Roundabouts

The List Festival Awards

• Best Comedy Show - Bebe Cave: Christbride
• Best Dance, Circus & Physical Theatre Show - Small Town Boys
• Best show from Adelaide - Smile – The Story Of Charlie Chaplin
• Best LGBTQIA+ Show - Kinder
• Spirit of The Fringe Award - Pussy Riot: Riot Days
• Best Kids Show - Funz N Gamez Rebootz
• Sit-Up Award - Body Count
• International Fringe Encore Series prize - Hot Mess

The Bragi Awards

• Baby in the Mirror
• Clean Slate
• Float
• Ritu Arya
• The Butterfly Who Flew Into the Rave
• Anthem for Dissatisfaction
• Colours Run
• Delusional - I Killed a Man
• Fatal Flower
• No Apologies
• SLUGS
• Baby in the Mirror (staff pick award)

The Filipa Bragança Award

• Jade Franks, Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x)

Holden Street Theatres' Edinburgh Fringe Award

• Jade Franks, Eat The Rich (but maybe not me mates x)

Popcorn Writing Award

• Hot Mess by Ellie Coote and Jack Godfrey

Musical Theatre Review's Pick of the Fringe

• Hot Mess

The Scottish Theatre Awards on the Fringe

• Leading Light Award Winner: Faye's Red Lines starring Gail Watson by Ian Pattison, presented by Gilded Balloon and Red Line Productions
• Runner Up: Wee Man by Natasha Gilmore, performed by Barrowland Ballet (Assembly @ Dance Base)
• Bright Spark Award: The cast of Cornermen

The Sit-Up Award

• Body Count (Pleasance)

The Besties

• The Super Power Award – Seltzer Boy at Paradise in Augustines
• The Outwith Award (for best international talent) - Alaa Shehada: The Horse of Jenin
• Radgie of the Festivals (for radgeness) - In Bed with my Brother: PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD
• Next Debut Award - Toussaint Douglass: Accessible Pigeon Material
• New One to Watch Award - Saaniyaa Abbas: Hellarious
• The Dame Good Show Award - Johnny McKnight: She’s Behind You
• The Breakthrough Award - Kate Dolan: The Critic
• The Genre Chaos Award - Sam Kruger and S E Grummett: Creepy Boys SLUGS
• The Emerging Talent Award - Ayo Adenekan: Black Mediocrity
• The Heart Award - Sami Abu Wardeh: Palestine Peace de Resistance
• The Collaboration Award - Opera Queensland and Circa: Orpheus and Eurydice
• The Nature Award - Karine Polwart: Windblown
• The Kids Award - The Listies: Make Some Noise
• The Spooky Award - Ghouls Aloud for Elysium
• The New Writing Award - Emma Frankland for No Apologies
• Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to Scottish publishing - 404 Ink
• The Dissident Award - Abdolreza Kahani for Mortician, Edinburgh International Film Festival
• The Radgie Award - Rosa Garland for Primal Bog
• The Alt Reekie Award - Liam Withnail: Big Strong Boy
• The Fringe Legend Award - Mark Silcox for The Gold Trader

The Broadway Baby Bobby Award

• In the Black by Quaz Degraft

Intercultural Connections Awards

Future Generation Award

• QFunTheatre Children's Experimental Troupe (China)Youth and Poetry - The Book of Songs
• Dylan and Will Theatre (UK)Cody and Beau: A Wild West Story
• Nicholsons Upstage (UK)An Evening of Bull

Personal Achievement Award

• Chiedza Rwodzi - Unshaded Arts (Zimbabwe) Strangers And Revelations
• Alejandro Postigo - HisPanic (Spain) Copla: A Spanish Cabaret

IC Pioneer Award

• The Central Academy of Drama (China) Zhuangzi’s Dream
• Elisabeth Gunawan - KISS WITNESS (Indonesia) Stampin' in the Graveyard

Best Production Award

• Pleasance and Cena Brasil Internacional (Brazil) TOM AT THE FARM
• Corporeal Imago (Canada) Imago
• One Table Two Chairs Charitable Foundation (Hong Kong) Cantonese Opera x Children’s Interactive Theatre: Dic Dic Chang Chang Playground

The Seoul Arts Awards

• The Genesis
• Sophie's Surprise 29th
• Tape Face: 20
• FLIP Fabrique: Six°

The Spookies by the Edinburgh Horror Festival

Best Cabaret

• Winner: The Great Divinator: Touched by Spirits
• Runner-up: Cabaret for the End of the World

Best Comedy

• Winner: The Mothman Cometh
• Runner-up: Come.See.Saw

Best Musical

• Winner: Ghosted! A New Musical
• Runner-up: I was a Teenage She-Devil

Best Theatre

• Winner: The Cadaver Palaver
• Runner-up: Count Dykula

Best New Writing

• Winner: Charlotte Ball for Tom Hiccup's Well
• Runner-up: Milly Blue and Jessie Maryon Davis for Elysium

Best Solo Show

• Winner: 2025 Salem Witch Trial
• Runner-up: Flora Macdonald and Zombies

Best Performer

• Winner: Ellie Ball for Tom Hiccup's Well
• Runner-up: Peter Mitchelson for The Moon Pact Trial

Critic's Choice

• Tiana's Choice: Italian Horror Stories
• Theresa's Choice: Sponsored by the Void

The Uprise Award

• Sam Jay: We the People

----

---

--

-