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.
-with-producer-Qasim.jpeg?trim=0,167,0,167&crop=&width=800)
13. The Bridge
Another success for Palestinian theatre-maker Alaa Shehada, The Bridge took home a Fringe First prize during week one. Our critic David Pollock writes: “Anyone who enjoyed last year’s breakout Fringe hit The Horse of Jenin will love The Bridge, also by Palestinian playwright, performer and stand-up comedian Alaa Shehada. Although this solo production is a little less in-your-face, less cruising on madcap energy, it again presents a Palestinian slice of life with warmth, character and humour, while still outlining the shocking realities of life in the West Bank. While The Bridge deftly details a very specific place and situation, it also outlines the symptoms of a wider border anxiety in our world.” The Bridge is at Assembly George Square Studios - Studio Two (Venue 17) until August 30. | Scott Louden/The Scotsman
14. The Distance
Former GB athlete Ben Norris is responsible for The Distance, the Fringe First winning show which sees him perform with a treadmill. In his review, David Pollock wrote: “Ben Norris uses a treadmill not just to run on, but to glide across, leap through and clamber up onto the surrounding scaffolding frame. All of which would be an enjoyable visual spectacle, at least, were it not for the fact Norris also tells a very compelling and human tale, with the added poignancy of being drawn from personal experience. The Distance takes us inside the experience of driving towards physical perfection and then of finding yourself denied by chance and your body. The beauty of it is that it really feels like we’re with Chris every step of the way.” | Alan Rennie
15. The Singer
With music from KT Tunstall, The Singer comes from writer and director Cora Bissett who will help present the final week of Fringe Firsts. In her review, Joyce McMillan writes: “The Singer is a Glasgow story about a young Deaf man, played by Jamie Rea, who has always had a profound response to music - which he experiences as rhythm and beats, using a special amplifying back-pack - and whose life begins to change when he meets struggling musician and songwriter... As the story evolves, it becomes clear that Jamie’s huge gift as a performer - signing and dancing his way through the lyrics and music of his and Andy’s songs - has the power to transform their lives, and to redeem them both; and if the show’s ending has an element of fairytale about it - well, why not, in a joyful production full of screens, sounds and technical complexities beautifully co-ordinated, and placed entirely at the service of a human story both remarkable and inspiring, and full of heart, body and soul.” The Singer will be at Traverse 1, Traverse Theatre until August 30. | Scott Louden/The Scotsman
16. Toast
Jude Green stars in Toast, a Fringe First winning comedy about starving for your art. In her review of the show, critic Sally Stott wrote: “No Fringe would be complete without a play about the difficulties of putting on a play at the Fringe. While this sparkly written comic-tragic show, by writer and performer Jude Green, starts off with the familiar frustrations of a call to a disembodied voice in the Job Centre, it quickly expands into a critique of a system designed to channel everyone into an outdated notion of traditional jobs with no room for individuality or creativity in defining what a job is or could be. It’s a play for anyone who’s trapped by the choices they’ve been forced to make and dared to dream of something better.” Toast is at Summerhall - Old Lab (Venue 26) until August 31. | Scott Louden/The Scotsman