The teams behind The Skinny and Fest magazines, Capital Theatres and Premier Scotland have come together to create a new series of awards spanning all of Edinburgh’s August festivals with the quirky name of The Besties.
Reflecting the broad and diverse coverage both magazines produce every summer and responding to the need for a pan-festivals award, The Besties will span all the festival activity taking place in the city over the month of August. That covers the Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, among others, making them the only awards to celebrate the full spectrum of culture in the city.
Winners of The Besties will be chosen each week by the editorial teams of The Skinny and Fest, drawing on their cross-festival expertise to celebrate the best work happening anywhere in the festivals. An Outwith (guid Scots word) award will highlight the best international talent and the Great Scot will honour work from closer to home among others, reflecting the diversity of the magazines’ coverage,
In line with the trend to increasingly humanise dugs, there will be an award chosen by their very own Fringe Dog, promoted as a spirit of the Fringe accolade dubbed The Terrier Fringe Dog Award for Waggiest Tail.
The weekly awards ceremonies are to be produced by Premier Scotland and hosted by Capital Theatres at the Festival Theatre on Saturday mornings during the festival season, featuring entertainment and a guest host to help hand out the awards.
The Besties award is being designed by artist Camillo Feuchter who is currently finishing his degree in Interior & Environmental Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee. Featuring sustainable design and recycled materials, Camillo will produce The Besties using recyclable plastics gathered at the Festival Theatre Café along with leftover wood harvested from cultural venues in the city. The Besties’ eco-chic award will be unveiled in due course.
Executive Director of Premier Scotland Susie Gray said “We are really thrilled to be part of the team bringing pan-festival awards back to Edinburgh’s amazing August celebration of culture. The breadth of talent in the city over the month is what makes it truly special and it feels important to mark that with the new Skinny-Fest Festival Awards – aka The Besties! Festival Theatre is a fantastic place to bring everyone together from comedians to world class musicians on a Saturday morning and we look forward to working with The Skinny, Fest and Capital Theatres to make this a fitting celebration.”
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 