DUNEDIN FRINGE FESTIVAL AWARDS 2016  

The Dunedin Fringe Festival 2016 wrapped up last night with the official awards ceremony, held at the Festival Club. The venue was packed to capacity with artists, volunteers, festival crew and friends.

Seven awards were handed to the best acts in each category, in addition to eight general awards given to events across all art forms. Volunteers were also honoured, with ten awards recognising outstanding contributions to the festival. A panel of judges, selected by the Festival, chose the winners.

Festival Director Josh Thomas opened the evening by thanking all of those involved, and later in the evening he introduced two new awards. The Warwick Broadhead Award, dedicated to the memory of the artist and performer who died in 2015, was established to recognise extraordinary talent, originality and creativity that pushes boundaries and expectations. The inaugural award was presented to LA-based artist Saint Bollard. The Special Contribution to Festival Life award was also established last night and was awarded to local musician and educator, Tahu Mackenzie, in recognition of her exceptional dedication to the festival

The top prize of the night, Best in Fringe, was awarded to Dunedin-based artist, rotor plus, for his site-specific sound work unreliable witness. Judges commented that the work was created with “ice-pick precision” and the “development and execution of the concept was impeccable”.

The Awards Night featured three performances by Dudley Benson, Saint Bollard and fefe stick-witch and Rosemary Overell oversaw proceedings for the 2 hour event.

The Awards Night concluded the eleven-day Festival, which featured 70 events, the biggest in recent years.  The festival opened with the Polson Higgs Opening Night Showcase event at the Regent Theatre on Wednesday 3 March. The Showcase event attracted an audience of 1100 people – a record for a Dunedin Fringe event.

The full list of artist awards is as follows:  

CATEGORY AWARDS

Best Cabaret

Nominees
A Sanctimonious Celebration of Drag and S&M
Mr Glad’s Plastic Confessional Varietie Show
The Glitta Supernova Experience “Lets get METAphysical”

Winner: A Sanctimonious Celebration of Drag and S&M

Best Comedy

Nominees:
A Tension to Detail
Loose:  A Private History of Booze and Iggy Pop 1996-2015
Matt Stellingwerf in Bachelor of Arts
Slutty Ladies Gardens Party

Winner: A Tension to Detail

Best Dance

Nominees:
Mo(u)ld
Solo Community
Sringaram: Dance of Love

Winner: Solo Community

Best Multi-Media or Film

Nominees:
Dark Matter
Frankenfoot
Refining Light

Winner: Dark Matter

Best Music

Nominees:
Fist Kisser
unreliable witness

Winner: unreliable witness

Best Theatre

Nominees:
Lovely Lady Lump
Manifesto 2083
The Iris Project 

Winner: Lovely Lady Lump

Best Visual or Performance Art

Winner: Bollards: A Comedy of Hyper-Industrialisation

GENERAL AWARDS

Outstanding Design

Nominees: 
Dark Matter
The Glitta Supernova Experience: Let’s Get METAphysical
unreliable witness 

Winner: Dark Matter

Best Poster

Nominees:
Fist Kisser
Modular Road Motorcycle Helmets
Refining Light

Winner: Fist Kisser

Most Original Concept

Nominees:
Bollards: The Comedy of Hyper-Industrialisation
Dark Matter
Enter the New World
unreliable witness

Winner: unreliable witness

Best Emerging Talent

Nominees:
A Sanctimonious Celebration of Drag and S&M
Dark Side of the Moon
Fist Kisser

Winner: Dark Side of the Moon

Outstanding Performer(s)

Nominees:
Edwin Wright for Manifesto 2083
Fist Kisser
Glitta Supernova for The Glitta Supernova Experience “Lets get METAphysical” 

Winner: Edwin Wright for Manifesto 2083

Special Contribution to Festival Life:
Tahu Mackenzie

The Warwick Broadhead Award:
Saint Bollard

Best in Fringe

Nominees:
Dark Matter
Lovely Lady Lump
The Glitta Supernova Experience “Lets get METAphysical”
unreliable witness

Winner: unreliable witness