Winners of the 2018 Fringe Schools Poster Competition announced
21 May 2018
Three young artists from across Scotland were announced as the winners of the 2018 Fringe Schools Poster Competition today, at a prizegiving event at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh. The winning designs will feature as the official posters for the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and will be displayed as part of a free exhibition at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh from 22 May to the 27 August 2018, alongside entries from 14 other regional winners and more than 140 shortlisted designs.
The Primary 1 to Primary 3 category winner is Matilda Little, aged six, from St Mary’s School in Melrose. The Primary 4 to Primary 7 category winner is Iona Mackinnon-Rae, aged eight, from George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh, and the Secondary 1 to Secondary 6 category winner is Riona Harrison, aged 14, from Blairgowrie High School in Blairgowrie.
Left to right: Riona Harrison, Matilda Little, Iona Mackinnon-Rae with Lyndsey Jackson Director Of Operations at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society (Photo credit - Aly Wight)
The winners were selected by a judging panel that included representatives from City of Edinburgh Council, Dynamic Earth, the Fringe Society, competition sponsors Virgin Money and the competition’s champion artist, Ursula Kam-Ling Cheng. To celebrate Scotland’s Year of Young People, Morvern Graham, an Illustration student at Edinburgh College, also sat on the panel as a young judge.
View the winning posters in our online gallery
Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said:
“The Fringe Schools Poster Competition has played a crucial role in introducing schoolchildren to all that the Fringe has to offer for nearly 40 years. We have had a fantastic response from schools in 2018, with submissions from 4,680 pupils across the country. The quality and creativity of the entries received was astounding, and the judging panel had a fun – but very tough – job selecting this year’s winners.
“Inspiring the next generation of Fringe performers and audience members continues to be a key priority for the Fringe Society. We are dedicated to broadening and developing our creative learning programme over the coming years, with an emphasis on creativity in the curriculum and positive destinations for school leavers.
“In 2019 we will explore new ways that the Fringe Society can interact with Scotland’s schools. I am really excited to hear from teachers, colleges, arts organisations, children and young people in Edinburgh and across Scotland on how they would like to engage with the Fringe in the future.”
198 classes from 137 schools across Scotland entered the competition, with over 4,680 pupils submitting Edinburgh Festival Fringe inspired poster designs.
Andrew Nicholson, Brand Director for Virgin Money, said:
“Congratulations to all the schools and pupils that participated in this year’s Fringe Schools Poster Competition. Virgin Money is proud to support this initiative, which has provided an opportunity for so many of Scotland’s schoolchildren to develop their creative skills and share their ideas about the Fringe. We look forward to seeing how the Fringe Society develops its relationship with Scotland’s schools, children and young people in 2019.”
The Fringe Schools Poster Competition launched in 1980 and is one of Scotland’s longest-running arts outreach projects. Over the past 38 years, more than 100,000 young people across the country have taken part.