Winners announced for The List Festival Awards 2025
The winners have been announced for The List Festival Awards 2025. Following a highly successful inaugural awards in 2024, this incredible line-up of artists and work highlights the rich array of Art, Book, Film, Fringe and International festivals that have taken place this summer.
The distinct group of winners is a tribute to the incredible breadth of talent on display across Edinburgh’s festivals and feature artist Hamish Halley; author Michael Mullen; documentary-maker Paul Sng for Reality is Not Enough; Mary, Queen of Scots; KINDER; Small Town Boys; Christbride; Funz & Gamez Rebootz; Smile – The Story of Charlie Chaplin; Body Count; Hot Mess; and Pussy Riot.
The full winners are as follows:
ART - Best Rising Scottish artist
Hamish Halley: Please Keep, The People’s Story Museum
Hamish Halley presents a poignant video piece that intertwines two narratives: the intimate act of cleaning his grandparents’ home after their passing and the monumental transition of the Perth Museum’s collection to a new space.
BOOKS - Best Rising Scottish Author
Michael Mullen
Goonie is the raw and joyful debut collection from award-winning Scottish poet and spoken word artist Michael Mullen exploring queerness through fierce lyrical poetry and celebrating Mullen's beloved Scotland through vernacular vignettes.
FILM - Best Scottish Film
Reality Is Not Enough, Paul Sng
This striking new film directed by Paul Sng pays a fittingly eclectic homage to acclaimed Scottish author Irvine Welsh with an approach that is richly detailed, playful and complex.
INTERNATIONAL – Best Show
Mary, Queen Of Scots, Scottish Ballet
The fates of Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I are explored in this new Scottish Ballet epic which imagines a rich, resonant journey through memory, history and myth. This is punk meets haute couture.
FRINGE – LGBTQIA+ Award
KINDER, Ryan Stewart, Underbelly Cowgate
An unexpected call from a library derails a performance planned by newly arrived drag artist Goody Prostate, booked to headline a local reading hour, leading Goody to spiral into a chaotic exploration of childhood, memory, stories and what it means to truly grow up.
FRINGE – Best Dance, Circus & Physical Theatre Show
Small Town Boys, Shaper/Caper, Zoo Southside
Eight electrifying dancers bring the legendary Paradise Nightclub to life with a community cast, blurring the lines between performer and audience, encapsulating the joy and chaos of the club scene.
FRINGE – Best Comedy Show
Christbride, Bebe Cave, Pleasance Dome
In the dark, deathly world of the Middle Ages, one (annoying) woman strives to find the light, as Christbride, a female mystic in a world of male dullards, escapes from a life of monotony to one of misplaced devotion.
FRINGE – Best Kids Show
Funz & Gamez Rebootz, Phil Ellis, Monkey Barrel
The smash-hit, Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning Funz & Gamez is back with a brand-new show and fresh gang of ‘helpers’, led by host Phil Ellis, providing audiences with a hilarious kids hour that’s even more funz for adultz.
FRINGE - Best show from Adelaide
Smile – The Story Of Charlie Chaplin, Marcel Cole, Pleasance Courtyard
Charlie Chaplin, one of the greatest comedians of all time, is brought to the stage by dazzling performer Marcel Cole, for a one-hour treatment of The Little Tramp’s extraordinary life and career.
FRINGE – Sit-up Award
Body Count, Issy Knowles, Pleasance Courtyard
A one-woman dark comedy exploring the new era of sex work as a competitive sport, Body Count dives into the head and heart of one of society’s most vilified women, uncovering the person behind the tabloids and stripping away male fantasy to reveal the humanity beneath.
FRINGE – International Fringe Encore Series Edinburgh Prize
Hot Mess, James Ashfield,Pleasance Courtyard
Hot Mess stages the climate disaster as a messy, millennia-long breakup musical between Earth and Humanity. Unpredictable, political and deeply human, this year's shortlist is a thrilling snapshot of writers redefining what theatre can do.
FRINGE – Spirit of The Fringe Award
Pussy Riot, Summerhall
Pussy Riot need little introduction – the Russian protest art collective have one of the most important voices of the last 10 years, whose lyrical themes include feminism, LGBT rights and opposition to Vladimir Putin. They gained global notoriety in 2012 when three members, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Yekaterina Samutsevich were imprisoned for 'hooliganism motivated by religious hatred' for their performance inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The accompanying piece to Alyokhina's memoir of the same name, the touring play Riot Days (Revolution), merges punk, electronica, theatre, documentary footage and protest.
The List Festival Awards are in partnership with Johnnie Walker Princes Street, with awards presented by 2025 hosts Michael Pedersen and Gemma Cairney. Each List winner receives a cash award of £500 with two further awards presented in partnership with other organisations. The Sit-Up Award winner will receive £5000 and a slot on the 2025/26 Fringe Encore series. The award aims to help harness the power of theatre to achieve greater social impact. The International Fringe Encore Series Edinburgh Prize winner receives a run at the SoHo Playhouse in New York including accommodation and travel plus financial support.
Supporters of The List Festival Awards include LNER, Ghost Light Global, Data Thistle, The Pitt, Dishoom, Edinburgh Marriott Hotel Holyrood, Set! Productions, Adelaide Fringe and Pure Life Plus.
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 Edinburgh Festival offering some of the most engaging, authoritative and extensive content for audiences.