These awards are open to the majority of genres and programme categories - please see the details of each award for entry specifics. More awards which are open  to most genres and categories can be found under the Diversity, accessibility and inclusivity awards.

Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award

Theatre has an unrivalled power to engage, challenge, educate, and inspire. The stories told in theatres engage profoundly and intensely with people.

Each year since 2001, Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression award has celebrated a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that focusses on human rights and touches audiences in a meaningful and memorable way.

Longlisting for the 2018 Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award is open until 23 July, and you can nominate your production! 

2018 winner

  • Trojan Horse - LUNG in association with Leeds Playhouse (Summerhall)

Brighton Fringe

Brighton Fringe is the largest arts festival in England and takes place in May. No artistic judgement or selection criteria are imposed on participants, enabling the development of both new and established work to attract fresh audiences, press and promoters. Brighton Fringe 2019 will take place from 3 May – 2 June.

2018 winner

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The Broadway Baby Bobby Award

Recognising that sometimes not all five-star shows are equal, Broadway Baby's iconic Bobby statuette is awarded to the best of the best shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Broadway Baby covers more shows than any other publication in Edinburgh, and whilst - on average - only 4% of the performances it sees are considered worthy of five stars, that's still approaching 200 productions in any one year.

2018 winner

  • Kids Play - Boys of the Empire Productions (theSpace)
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JustBe Loved award

JustBe Loved award is given out by Edinburgh based JustBe Botanicals for their favourite performance. In addition to loving the Fringe, JustBe make our mouth watering range of Fringe chocolate bars. Previous winners of JustBe Loved include Hendricks emporium of sensorial submersion & Secret Life of Humans. For more information visit www.justbebotanicals.co.uk

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Mervyn Stutter Spirit of the Fringe Award

'The Mervyn Stutter 'Spirit of the Fringe' Awards (aka ‘The MERVs’), along with Mervyn's regular 'Pick of the Fringe' show, are this year celebrating their 27th anniversary which makes them one of the oldest Awards on the Fringe.

Seven Awards are given in this special ‘Spirit of the Fringe Awards’ show which is always the final show each year (this year, Sunday 26th Aug 2018). These Awards acknowledge and celebrate the talent, hard work, pluck and sheer doggedness demanded of performers from all genres on the Fringe to make a show a success.

Winners of a MERV are chosen from the 140 amazing shows that have been highlighted during the regular 2018 'Pick of the Fringe' showcases, so it is fair to say that the winners are the crème de la crème. Given this, it could justifiably be argued that this is the best show of the whole ‘Pick of the Fringe’ run. The 'Spirit of the Fringe' Awards were created to recognise those who show commitment in the face of little support or funding or those who have consistently provided audiences with quality entertainment over the years. There is no application process as the awards are issued at the judges' discretion.

For more information go to www.mervspotfringe.com

2018 winners

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The ThreeWeeks Editors' Awards

Presented by Edinburgh Festival magazine ThreeWeeks, the Editors’ Awards go to the ten things that the ThreeWeeks editors believe made that year's Festival extra special. These have one of the widest criteria of all the Fringe awards, as winners can be people, shows, companies, venues or even whole festivals. There are no criteria other than the winners bringing something extra special to the Festival. There is no application process. Winners are announced at a small gathering on the last weekend of the Festival. 

Find out more at threeweeksedinburgh.com

2018 winners

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The Herald Angel Awards

Presented in association with the Festival Theatre.

Since their inception in 1996, The Herald Angel Awards have been an integral part of the Edinburgh Festival scene, celebrating and rewarding the diverse range of talent from the various festivals including the Edinburgh International Festival, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Jazz & Blues Festival and The Edinburgh International Book Festival.

The awards have been bestowed upon some of the world's most recognised names such as Hollywood star Alan Cumming and Irish playwright Enda Walsh. Herald Angels are awarded to the best of the festivals’ performers, venues and backstage crew who have managed to impress The Herald's distinguished panel of arts critics. In outstanding cases, the panel may award an ‘Archangel’ - the highest honour presented at the ceremony, while ‘little Devils’ are awarded to those who have overcome adversity, or in the true tradition of the festival, have demonstrated a 'show must go on' attitude.

2018 winners - week 1

2018 winners - week 2

2018 winners - week 3

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The SIT-UP Awards

The SIT-UP Awards aim to harness the power of plays to achieve greater social impact by supporting theatre companies before, during and after their productions. This award is new to this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe and aims to encourage audiences ‘to do something’ if they are affected by work they have seen on stage.

Launched by David Graham, a Fringe patron and philanthropist, the winner will be awarded £5,000 - £1,000 with no obligation and £4000 to help pay to extend the reach of their production after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

A shortlist of six productions will be announced during week two of the Festival with the winner announced in week three. Although the panel expects the shortlist to consist mainly of theatre productions, they are open to including comedy, dance or physical theatre.

For more information about the award and full criteria visit situpawards.com

2018 winner

2018 shortlist

2018 outstanding audience engagement

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Total Theatre Award

Developed for the benefit of artists, the sector and audiences, the Total Theatre Awards have over the last two decades, blazed a trail of recognition for independent artists and companies creating innovative, artist-led theatre and performance.

Resisting too narrow a definition of the term ‘total theatre’ the awards focus on artists and companies leading innovative work beyond the classical cannon and new writing – working within the fields of devised theatre, live art, visual performance, mime, puppetry, physical theatre, experimental theatre, dance, clown, circus, street, immersive, outdoor, site specific performance and more.

2018 Total Theatre Award winner (Shows by an emerging artist/company)

2018 Total Theatre Award winner (Total Theatre & Jacksons Lane Award for Circus)

  • Casting Off - Sharon Burgess Productions and A Good Catch (Assembly)

2018 Total Theatre Award winner (Total Theatre and The Place Award for Dance)

  • Void - V / DA and MHz, in association with Feral (Summerhall)

2018 Total Theatre Award winners (Innovation, Experimentation and Playing with Form)

2018 Total Theatre winners (Physical / Visual Theatre)

  • Another One - Vooruit, Arenbergschouwburg, Big in Belgium, Richard Jordan Productions, TRP, Summerhall (Summerhall)
  • Backup - Chaliwaté Company and Focus Company (Summerhall)
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