The full list of award-winners from the 2026 Scotsman Fringe Firsts have now been named as the Edinburgh Festival draws to a close.
One of the most sought-after prizes at the Edinburgh Fringe, the awards are the longest running at the festival having been established in 1973.
Sponsored this year by Queen Margaret University, our expert panel of judges recognise the best of new writing premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe, with the final batch of winners named on Friday, August 28.
Past Fringe First winners include Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, and Billy Connolly, as well as the likes of Phoebe Waller-Bridge for the original stage version of Fleabag, and Richard Gadd for Baby Reindeer.
This year, an adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s acclaimed book Mayflies and a reworking of Shakespeare’s Hamlet have taken home prizes - as well as productions which are part audio drama and part installation, such as One Hundred Voices.
With the festival almost over, here is every Scotsman Fringe First award winner from 2026.
1. Adam Riches: The Captain
Critic Fergus Morgan praised Adam Riches for his one-man show The Captain, which earned a Fringe First prize during the final week of the awards. He wrote: “Veteran character comedian Adam Riches tells the story of Captain Matthew Webb, who, in August 1875, became the first person to swim across the English Channel, from the perspective of his coach Fred Beckwith. There are some powerful undercurrents here about masculinity, obsession and athleticism, and what happens when the afterglow of achievement fades. Let’s hope Riches continues to plough a furrow in the theatre section of the programme in future years.” | Contributed
2. Amnesia
A show about a dementia carer whose best friend is choosing to move to a new city, leaving her behind, Amnesia took home an award during week two. In her review of the show, critic Susan Mansfield wrote: “Kimberley Hart-Simpson, best known as Nicky Wheatley in Coronation Street, writes and performs this one-woman show about a dementia carer in Rhyl, the town where she grew up. Hart-Simpson has written a complex, fully rounded character, in a play about the people who don’t get out, who do vital work like caring for those with dementia, and are left with the lingering notion that their lives are somehow not enough.” | Alan Rennie
3. Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It
Written and starring Xhloe and Natasha, Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It was one of the earliest 2026 Fringe First award winners. The play follows two teens who perform fake Bigfoot sightings in their Appalachian town — up until a neighbour's dog turns up torn to pieces. Selected by our highly experienced panel of critics, chief theatre critic Joyce McMillan wrote in her review: “these two remarkable writer-performers take just an hour to create a community that seems like a near-perfect metaphor for the current state of America, and for much of western world. Bereft for months of drinkable running water after a traumatic flood, the town is already stressed and on edge when two teenagers start to spin their tale of a gigantic creature in the headlights, frightening them off the road. The central thrust of this brilliantly conceived story soon becomes all too clear, in what must be one of the sharpest, most significant, and most breathtakingly executed physical theatre shows of the year.” Bigfoot Ripped My Dog In Half I Saw It is on at Summerhall (Venue 26) until August 30. | Scott Louden/The Scotsman
4. HAM
In her review of HAM — inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet — Sally Stott wrote about this Fringe First winning play: “To be or not to be vegan – that is the question,” especially when, as well as reducing the number of animals killed, it could also help to save the planet. In this reworking of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Mary Higgins and Ell Potter debate the issue with an arresting combination of humour and horror. It’s a concept that might fill any meat eaters with fear, but in true Shakespearian style, both sides of the argument are debated with equal flair, at least until the end, with the two likeable performers on their way to being massacred.” | Alan Rennie