The winners of The List Festival Awards 2026 have been announced, celebrating creativity and talent across the Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
This year’s awards honour a diverse group of artists and productions, including Lee McCormack, Alycia Pirmohamed, These Violent Delights, A Trial – after An Enemy Of The People, Sarah Hester Ross: Serving Cnt*, Man Sings The Same Song Over And Over Again For An Hour, Collaborator, Boys Don’t Dance, Megasquirt: Fully Loaded, DUST, Common Tongue, Chris Forbes: Father Christmas and Big Stuff.
The awards were presented at W Edinburgh, bringing together artists, industry professionals and festival organisations to celebrate the creativity and ambition that defines Edinburgh’s summer festival season.
Brian Donaldson, editor of The List, comments, “Deciding the winners for these awards from the shortlists we announced earlier this week was no mean task. But that’s a good problem to have and another indication that this year’s Edinburgh Festival has showcased a wealth of talent that we are very lucky to have performing on our doorstep. We’re already looking forward to 2027 and wondering how this year can possibly be topped.”
The awards also highlighted emerging creative talent through a partnership with Edinburgh College, with students from the HND Visual Communication course designing this year’s award laurels.
The List Festival Awards 2026 Winners in full are:
Edinburgh Art Festival – Best Rising Scottish Artist (Supported by Set! Productions) Lee McCormack: A Magic Lantern – Lee McCormack
Edinburgh International Book Festival – Best Rising Scottish Author (Supported by Edinburgh Marriott Hotel Edinburgh) Alycia Pirmohamed
Edinburgh International Film Festival – Best Scottish Film (Supported by Arbikie Distillery) These Violent Delights – Christopher Hampson, Oscar Sansom
Edinburgh International Festival – Best International Show (Supported by Ghost Light Global) A Trial – after An Enemy Of The People – Christiane Jatahy
Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Best Cabaret Show (Supported by Big Think Agency) Sarah Hester Ross: Serving Cnt* – Sarah Hester Ross
Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Best Comedy Show (Supported by Whyte & Mackay) Man Sings The Same Song Over And Over Again For An Hour – Conk
Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Best Dance, Circus & Physical Theatre Show (Supported by YourScene) Collaborator – Ockham’s Razor
Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Best Kids Show (Supported by Data Thistle) Boys Don’t Dance – Marc Brew
Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Best LGBTQIA+ Show (Supported by Pure Life Plus) Megasquirt: Fully Loaded – Megasquirt
Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Best Show From Adelaide (Supported by Adelaide Fringe) DUST – Charlaina Thompson
Edinburgh Festival Fringe – International Fringe Encore Series Edinburgh Prize Big Stuff – Baram and Snieckus
Bragi Award Common Tongue – JGProducing, Fraser Scott
McTavish Award Chris Forbes: Father Christmas – Brass Tacks Comedy, Chris Forbes
More information can be found here.
