Drum rollllll please!
We know that everyone who gets on stage at a fringe festival is an absolute winner, and these folks are just a wee bit more winner-y.
It’s a massive effort to put on a fringe show, whether it’s a well-honed show-on-the-road, or a brand-new, bunny-in-the-limelight bucket-list experience. Every performer (and their phenomenal support crew) deserve almighty praise for their tenacity and triumphs.
Scroll on down and see if your favourite show/s made the list, and join us in congratulating every one of them.
But first, a mighty thanks to our mighty judges.
Our superstar judging crew truly went all in this year — between them, they managed to catch every single show in the festival (yep, every show). That’s no small feat, and we’re sending a huge wave of love and thanks their way.
They compared notes, crunched the highlights, and sprinkled a little Fringe magic… and just like that… here are your 2026 Nelson Fringe Awards!
BEST OF THE FEST
Winner: Alice May Connolly’s BOX
Nominees:
– Crisps Lane
– Gigolo
– Motion Sickness
– Pub Tales
BEST SOLO PERFORMER
Winner: Maryam Zadeh – Crisps Lane
Nominees:
– Alice May Connolly – Alice May Connolly’s BOX
– Julian Noel – Bones
– Christopher Sainton-Clark – The Night Ali Died
BEST ENSEMBLE
Winner: Motion Sickness
Nominees:
– Alice in Retirementland
– Forbidden Love – the tale of Oshichi
– Opera’s Bad Girl: Anna Bishop, the World’s First Daringly Defiant Diva
– The Bell
– The Shape of Belonging
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Christopher Sainton-Clark – The Night Ali Died
Nominees:
– Julian Noel – Bones
– Maryam Zadeh – Crisps Lane
– Devang Tewari – Gigolo
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner – Jeff Kingsford-Brown – Forbidden Love – the tale of Oshichi
Nominees:
– Martine Baanvinger – Bones
– Penny Taylor – Pro-CRUST-ination
– Rosanna Mallinson – The Night Ali Died
BEST SCRIPT
Winner – Escapegoat
Nominees:
– Bones
– Crisps Lane
– The Night Ali Died
BEST STANDUP
Winner – Jerome Chandrahasen – On Words
Nominees:
– Joanna Prendergast – Dr Jo Prendergast is #coping
– Callum Wagstaff: I Want Your Kidney
– Snap – old.
– Christopher Sainton-Clark – Pub Tales
BEST DESIGN
Winner: Motion Sickness
Nominees:
– Dr Jo Prendergast is #coping
– Forbidden Love – the tale of Oshichi
– Gigolo
BEST LOCAL SHOW
Winner: The Shape of Belonging
Nominees:
– Crisps Lane
– Escapegoat
– Forbidden Love – the tale of Oshichi
– Up Late Cabaret
DEVELOPMENT AWARD
Winner: Crisps Lane
Nominees:
– Dreaming of Lulu
– Escapegoat
– The Circus* of Lord Azure the Miraculous (CLAM)
SPIRIT OF THE FRINGE
This award is for someone who best embodies the fringeyness of fringe.
Alice May Connolly – Alice May Connolly’s BOX
