Monday September 15th 2025
Civid Digits for Many Good Men receiving their Innovation Award at last years awards. Photo by Noel Fenech
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
The Creative Edinburgh Awards returns for their 13th annual celebration this year, highlighting creatives in Edinburgh through public nominations.
With nominations opened on the 25th of August, the public have until Sunday the 28th of September to nominate themselves, or someone else that they believe is worth being highlighted as one of the capital’s top creatives.
Marking another year of celebrating Edinburgh’s creative community, there are eight award categories covering a wide range of creative practices to be received at the award ceremony on Friday the 14th of November.
These include, a collaboration award, a community award, a development award, an inclusion award, an innovation award, a leadership award, a student award and a festival award.
Each award has certain criteria for entry with all nominations having not won an award in the past two years, based in Edinburgh or have an impact on Edinburgh’s creative industries and must have demonstrated a clear impact in the city, alongside only being submitted for a maximum of two awards.
Creative Edinburgh became part of Creative Scotland’s Regurlarly Funded Organisation’s Portfolio back in 2017 and have since received an annual grant funding to support their core services and awards night. Being a registered charity, they aim to ‘protect the welfare of Edinburgh’s creative community’, alongside unite thinkers across the capital through events, support and their annual awards ceremony.
With their 2025 awards ceremony being hosted on the 14th of November at Central Hall, the annual celebration aims to highlight and celebrate the capital’s most impactful creatives through public nominations that allows members of the public to celebrate people who they believe are worth recognition.
Creative Edinburgh’s Executive Duirector, Ola Wojtkiewicz, explained:
“Creative Edinburgh’s annual awards aim to create a meaningful and lasting impact on creative freelancers, start-ups, and the wider community.
“The awards contribute to Edinburgh’s identity as a dynamic and creatively rich city, bringing much-needed collective joy, recognition and a deep sende of pride to Edinburgh’s creative scene.”
The awards both highlight creative work being done in Edinburgh and give recognition to groups and individuals who may be underappreciated for the work they are doing for the city’s creative scene.
The Innovation Award Winner last year, Civic Digits for Many Good Men, explained:
“We still talk abou the moment we, and our young colleagues, were announced as winners. Seeing the pride on the faces of a group of young men and women as they strode on stage, was unbelievably heartwarming. That alone was worth putting in the application.
Civic Digits for Many Good Men is an Edinburgh based project that explored the ways online misogyny affects and influences young men through the blend of digital technology of gaming and live performance. Picking up the award due to the successful and influential work of their project.
Another creative that the awards celebrated was Tzipporah Johnston from Nuek Collective, who was celebrated for her textile and mixed media art that combines embroidery with installation and archival art.
She explained: “Winning the Creative Edinburgh Community Award was a huge boost for us [Nuek Collective], it felt like the wider creative community recognised the value of our work. It gave us confidence to keep pushing for more accessible, inclusive spaces in the arts.”
With nominations now open until the 28th of September, it gives the public a chance to nominate who they believe is deserving of being acknowledged and recognised for their art that impacts Edinburgh’s creative communities.
Being celebrated in an award night at Edinburgh’s Central Hall, the Creative Edinburgh Awards recognises influential local Edinburgh groups and individuals who are benefitting the creative scene who may be underrepresented.
For more information on the awards and how to nominates visit Creative Edinburgh’s website: https://creative-edinburgh.com
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