Gilded Balloon is delighted to announce Verona Verbakel as the winner of the 2026 Filipa Bragança Award for her outstanding solo performance in Only Fans for Therapy at Zoo Playground.
The Filipa Bragança Award recognises an exceptional lead solo performance by an emerging female, female-identifying or non-binary actor in a theatre production at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Established in 2017 in memory of the gifted actor Filipa Bragança, the award celebrates the extraordinary talent of performers working at the Fringe and honours Filipa’s own remarkable contribution to the festival.
Filipa delivered defining performances in critically acclaimed Gilded Balloon productions including Echoes and Angel before her untimely death in 2016, aged just 25.
Uniquely, the award considers eligible solo performances from across the entire Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with judges independently scouting work across venues throughout August.
Following weeks of intensive viewing by the judging panel, this year’s shortlist reflected an exceptionally strong field of solo theatre. Judges highlighted the outstanding standard of writing, characterisation and performance across this year’s Fringe, with Verona Verbakel ultimately standing out for the depth, originality and sheer commitment of her performance in Only Fans for Therapy.
Karen and Katy Koren, Artistic Directors of Gilded Balloon, said: “Filipa was an extraordinary young actor whose talent, generosity and presence made a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of seeing her work.
“It is incredibly important to us that this award continues to celebrate the kind of bold, brilliant and distinctive solo performance that Filipa herself represented.
“Verona’s performance this year was completely compelling ,she commands the stage with remarkable skill and vulnerability, and we are thrilled to recognise her with the 2026 Filipa Bragança Award.
“Every year, the standard of work considered for the Filipa Bragança Award makes the judging incredibly difficult, and this year was no exception. We saw an extraordinary range of solo performances from artists working across the Fringe, but Verona’s work stayed with us.
“Only Fans for Therapy is fearless, uncomfortable and deeply human, and Verona gives an extraordinary performance at its centre. We are delighted to celebrate her achievement and to continue Filipa’s legacy through an award that champions emerging performers and the power of solo storytelling.”
The winner of the 2026 Filipa Bragança Award was presented on Friday at The Scotsman Awards.
City of Edinburgh Council Has Passed The Most Extensive List of Firework Control Zones So Far
Animals and vulnerable residents in Edinburgh will benefit from protections from fireworks noise, as the city has confirmed an extension of the successful Firework Control Zones policy, championed by Greens.
Five FCZs for two years were confirmed for Corstorphine, Longstone, Gracemount, Moredun and Sighthill/Broomhouse with a further five at Lochend, Liberton, Stenhouse/Gaskell, Wester Hailes and West Pilton. These join existing Zones in Balerno, Calton Hill, Niddrie and Seafield.
14 Zones will operate in total.
Edinburgh Green spokesperson for Culture and Communities Dan Heap welcomed the move saying: “Fireworks noise an be extremely distressing for vulnerable residents and also pets, as almost any dog and cat owner will tell you, and we also have strong evidence that they pollute the air and water.
“That’s why it is so crucial we have today extend FCZs further, encompassing a large part of the city.
“I am proud of the role Greens have played in championing these essential protections for people, paws and planet.”
On 25th September, I would like to invite anyone who has been affected by knife crime to come along to the Knife Angel (writes LISA PETRIE).
This will be an opportunity for us to come together, remember those we have lost, and show our support for those who have been injured or affected by knife crime.
If you have lost someone to knife crime, been injured yourself, or know someone whose life has been impacted, please feel welcome to join us.
I would also encourage you to bring a photograph of your loved one, yourself, or someone affected, if you feel comfortable doing so. We will also be lighting candles in remembrance and to honour those whose lives have been changed forever.
Everyone affected by knife crime is welcome.
Let’s come together as a community, remember those we have lost, support those who are still with us, and stand united against knife crime.
The Knife Angel will take centre stage at the Kirkgate at the bottom of Leith Walk in Edinburgh from September 1st to September 30th 2026.
Edinburgh Council, Police Scotland, Places for People Scotland and other partners will be working with schools, businesses and communities to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying knives and the impact of violence.
New social impact partnership supported by £200,000
Proposals to help cut reoffending and keep young people safe from crime and anti-social behaviour are to be developed through an innovative new partnership funding approach.
The Justice Social Impact Partnership (SIP), supported by £200,000 of Scottish Government funding, is a new way of developing and funding interventions. It brings together nine organisations – across service providers, funders and public bodies – to design three project proposals by the end of March 2027.
The Justice SIP will focus on:
creating safe spaces for young people
diverting young people from crime and anti-social behaviour
preventing reoffending and supporting reintegration into communities
Social Investment Partnerships ask investors to provide upfront funding for a project, and they are repaid based on the outcomes it achieves, allowing new ideas to be tested without financial risk to the public purse if they don’t succeed.
This work is also expected to help inform how similar funding and delivery models might be used elsewhere in government.
Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Justice, said: “Preventing violence and diverting young people away from crime means working across the whole system, with police, charities, communities and investors all playing a part.
“This partnership brings together that breadth of expertise to design practical projects that give young people safe spaces and trusted adults, and support people to move away from crime and rebuild their lives.
“It builds on our existing commitment to prevention, including our continued investment in Cashback for Communities, and creates a new way of bringing funding into our communities so that early intervention work can be tested, proven and scaled.”
The following organisations form the membership of the Justice Social Impact Partnership:
The Scottish Government Social Investment Scotland The Growth Partnership The Robertson Trust YMCA Tayside Community Justice Scotland National Social Work Agency Scotland Bean Research (evaluation) University of Oxford’s Government Outcomes Lab (evaluation)
The fund will support the partnership’s work over the coming months, including technical, financial and legal expertise needed to develop robust, investable projects
Unlawful killing and historic child sex offences will be blocked from upcoming changes to prison sentences after the Prime Minister ordered more serious offenders to be kept behind bars for longer
Prime Minister blocks manslaughter, death by drunk or dangerous driving and historic child sex offences from sentencing changes
Builds on action to keep those in prison for rape, child sex or grooming offences behind bars
Victims of domestic violence will be better protected from perpetrators, with record numbers of offenders set to leave prison tagged and the new restriction zones put in place, some as little as a few miles wide, for some sexual and violent offenders
The government will deport thousands of foreign criminals and bring the injustice of IPP sentences to an end during this Parliament
Unlawful killing and historic child sex offences will be blocked from upcoming changes to prison sentences after the Prime Minister ordered more serious offenders to be kept behind bars for longer.
The Prime Minister’s intervention will mean offenders in prison for killing an emergency worker in the line of duty will not be released any earlier. Historic grooming offences, all forms of manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and causing or allowing the death of a child will also be barred from the changes to the prison sentences.
This builds on the action already taken by the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor to stop anyone in prison for rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from being released earlier. Murderers or anyone deemed the most dangerous by a court and handed a life or extended sentence were already blocked from seeing any reduction to their sentence and will stay locked up until they go before a Parole Board.
As a result of these changes today, hundreds more victims will no longer face the anxiety of seeing their offender coming out sooner than they were expecting.
Since coming into office, the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor have made significant changes to the plans they inherited. They want to go even further, but cannot do so without risking the entire justice system collapsing. This would mean the police would be unable to make arrests, the courts would stop sending criminals to jail and criminals would be left unchecked on our streets.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: ”I know how strongly people feel about this issue. I understand the concern and anger because I share it. That’s why I took action during my first weeks as Prime Minister to block some of the very worst in society being released before they should. We moved quickly to block vile criminals who commit rape, sexually abuse children and groom vulnerable young people.
“But I always said I wanted to do more. We will now not only be keeping offenders serving time for indecent assault locked up, but also those in prison for manslaughter and death by dangerous driving. This means that the awful criminals responsible for the killing of PC Andrew Harper will not have their sentence shortened.
“The truth is I wanted to go even further. But I’ve pushed the system to the very limits of what’s possible without risking the prison system collapsing within months, putting the public at enormous risk.
“To protect victims, we will be introducing the toughest ever supervision measures for offenders, which effectively mean that someone’s sentence will not end when they leave prison.
“This includes tagging offenders and, for the very first time ever, putting restriction zones in place to stop offenders getting anywhere near their victims.”
The Prime Minister has also announced that he will end the injustice of Imprisonment for Public Protection sentences this Parliament, meaning people will no longer be trapped indefinitely under a sentence abolished more than a decade ago.
This decision recognises how deeply unjust it is that some offenders who have been locked up for nearly twenty years remain in prison, despite serving their sentence many times over, whereas many serious criminals convicted in recent years could have their jail time cut. While work on this will begin immediately, and on a cross-party basis, it will take time to get this right and balance fairness with public safety.
This is just one part of the government’s plan for a fairer justice system, looking at how some people can be punished more effectively outside prison – freeing up cells for those who pose the greatest risk to the public.
This will include considering how to safely reduce the number of and young offenders and women in custody, in particular those who are pregnant or have young children.
Powers will also be implemented early next year to deport some foreign criminals immediately after sentencing, blocking them from ever returning to the country, while keeping those in prison for the most serious crimes locked up for a substantial period before they are removed.
Justice Secretary Alex Norris said: ”The Prime Minister and I have rightly looked again at these reforms and we are clear that people responsible for taking a life, or for appalling crimes against children, should be kept behind bars for longer.
“But protecting the public also means fixing the prison system for good. We will build the cells we need, put offenders under much tougher controls when they leave prison and end the historic injustice of IPP sentences.
“This is a government running towards problems and not shying away from the tough decisions needed to build a justice system that is firm, fair and protects the public.”
The Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor have also insisted that victims must remain at the centre of the justice system, with survivors of domestic abuse seeing offenders put under some of the toughest restrictions to date.
This includes a presumption that all prison leavers will be tagged and imposing possible bans on pubs and public events.
Perpetrators could also be confined to a specific area – some just a few miles wide – giving victims greater freedom to live their lives. In a world first, new ‘restriction zones’, which have been directly shaped by the experiences and campaigning of victims, will limit the movement of some sexual and violent offenders, with victims having a say in how zones are drawn up.
Victims advocates Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, chair of Refuge, Frank Mullane MBE, CEO of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse, and Jo Early, chief executive of Support after Murder and Manslaughter, said: “We welcome the Prime Minister’s decision to exclude all manslaughter cases from the early release scheme.
“The original sentence lengths for these offences were, in part, intended to protect the public. The problem of prison capacity does not alter that underlying need for public protection.
“Therefore, making manslaughter offenders eligible for early release would risk undermining a key purpose of their sentences and could represent a significant compromise to public protection. This also re-assures families bereaved by homicide that they are not being asked to trade justice so prison overcrowding can be resolved.
The government says it inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse with fewer than 100 spaces left in the summer of 2024.
A lack of investment in the prison estate with just 500 net places added for over a decade has led to a situation where adult male prisons are now at 98% capacity. That is why this government is taking decisive action to fix the broken prison system for good.
Under this government, more than 3,200 prison places have already been built, with 14,000 expected by 2031 under the largest prison build expansion since the Victorian era.
The Westminster government says the Sentencing Act will restore order to the prison system and make sure we have cells available for dangerous criminals.
They say that, alongside record prison building, the reforms will put prisons on a sustainable footing and end the cycle of emergency release measures used before July 2024 when prisons repeatedly came close to running out of space.
We are delighted to announce our participation in Doors Open Day 2026 on Saturday 26 September, between 11am and 3.30pm.
Our main exhibition will focus on the industrial heritage throughout the 18th, 19th and 20th century, keeping Granton’s heritage alive and highlighting what was once a hive of activity. We are pleased to confirm that local historian Kenneth Williamson will be providing more insights and stories of his own experiences.
The Granton Archive Project (GAP) will offer informal drop-in sessions between 11:00am-2:00pm. We have photographs, films, newspapers and much more that will bring the past alive, and we’d like to invite you to come and explore, guided by our local volunteers.
Also on display will be a selection of the Quiet Heroes photo exhibition. These striking portraits celebrate these individuals and invite us all to reflect on the hidden contributions that keep a community strong.
Our collaboration with Edinburgh College of Art entitled ‘Cultural Heritage in the Metropolitan Peripheries’ records and celebrates Granton’s shifting heritage and the creative work by students from Craigroyston Academy and Edinburgh University.
The project will be launching HOPE, a new digital resource for people seeking to learn about how these urban peripheries mark and celebrate their cultural heritage and contemporary identity.
A family friendly walk (1:45-3pm) will start and end at the Granton Hub and free spaces are limited. PLEASE BOOK. Check the link for further details.
Business Minister Tom Arthur has published proposals for a visa system that supports Scotland’s distinct needs.
This includes existing proposals for a Scottish Visa, Rural Visa and Scottish Graduate Visa and making the current immigration system more accessible to the needs of different sectors.
The Scottish Government has highlighted the UK Government’s closure of the Adult Social Care visa route as an example of creating an increased risk of workforce shortages and service pressures, particularly in rural and island communities.
This newly-published Scottish Government policy paper highlights the economic and social challenges the country may face if the UK Government does not take action.
While migration remains a reserved policy area, the Scottish Government has taken forward several initiatives, including the development of Scotland’s Migration Service and delivery of the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan, funding for which was increased by almost 50% this year.
Mr Arthur said: “Mirroring a trend in many countries throughout the world, Scotland has an ageing population and areas where the population is falling. This makes immigration ever-more critical in ensuring we have working-age people to fill skills gaps, sustain public services, support communities and grow the economy.
“A migration system designed around UK-wide averages – which is what we have now – cannot adequately respond to Scotland’s demographic and geographic circumstances.
“In the spirit of the Prime Minister’s public commitment to reset relationships with devolved governments, I have invited the UK Migration Minister to engage with me in constructive discussions to ensure that the immigration system is tailored to Scotland’s needs.”
EH, KY, FK and G postcode residents can enjoy more than 200 Edinburgh Fringe performances for just £6
Gilded Balloon is inviting its neighbours to experience this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe for less with an extension of Postcode Pals – a special ticket initiative offering £6 tickets to local audiences.
Running from 00.01 am on Sunday 30th August until 23.59pm on Monday 31 August, the limited-time offer is available exclusively to residents with EH, KY, FK and G postcodes, giving them access to more than 200 performances taking place between 30-31 August, while availability lasts.
ensuring local communities can continue to enjoy the last performances of the Fringe on their doorstep.
Karen and Katy Koren, Artistic Directors of Gilded Balloon, said:“We have decided to extend Postcode Pals for our final two days of our fantastic Fringe programme.
“We want to say thank you to our local audiences and the communities that support us year-round and give them a chance to enjoy our last shows of the 2026 Fringe”
The offer covers an exciting cross-section of Gilded Balloon’s 2026 programme, including Gilded Balloon co-productions and visiting companies with more than 200 comedy, theatre, music, family and spoken word performances taking part in the promotion.
How to claim the offer:
Residents with EH, KY, FK or G postcodes can:
Log in to their Gilded Balloon account.
Ensure the billing address on their account includes a valid eligible postcode.
Màiri McAllan Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic has announced that a new initiative for the global media and creative industries will be developed for Edinburgh’s August festivals.
The new initiative will build upon Edinburgh’s unique position as a global shop window for talent, content, and creative ideas, bringing together the city’s creative ecosystem with international media industries and audiences.
Thursday’s launch event was also attended by Baby Reindeer and Half Man creator and star Richard Gadd who spoke on the importance of Edinburgh during August, as a place for new talent discovery, for ambitious work, and to progress careers.
Initial development work towards the new event was funded by Screen Scotland and completed in early summer 2026.
This work was undertaken to consider, with fresh eyes, how Edinburgh’s August festivals partner to present a new offer to the global content industries, in response to the increasingly blurred boundaries between the different creative artforms and the way creative talent, IP and ideas move fluidly between them.
Independent consultant Rowan Woods has now been appointed to lead the next stage of development, which will again be funded by Screen Scotland and delivered through The Fringe Society.
Working with the Fringe Society, Screen Scotland and a broader advisory group, Woods will consult widely across the August festivals and with producing venues, broadcasters, platforms, content creators, publishers and other potential participants and audiences to establish the shape of the new initiative and how it can best support the connection of new talent and IP to content commissioners worldwide.
The consultation will inform the shape and intent of the new initiative, including audience, dates, venues, programme and participants. This consultation phase is expected to conclude in early Spring 2027, with an initial pilot planned for August 2027.
The new initiative will build on the strong relationships that already exist between the screen industry and Edinburgh’s August Festivals, including the work of Screen Fringe, an ongoing collaboration between Screen Scotland and the Fringe Society, which supports hundreds of television and film executives to make the most of their time in the city each year.
Screen Fringe is expected to remain part of the August festivals offer to the global screen industry.
Separately, Screen Scotland has confirmed that it will establish the Lynda Myles Debate as a keynote element of the August festivals from 2027.
The debate will honour the contribution of Lynda Myles, formerly Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and co-creator of the Edinburgh TV Festival, and her long-standing belief in Edinburgh as a place for ambitious and rigorous debate about the future of the screen industries and wider media landscape.
The Scottish Government is providing funding support for the new event’s development via Screen Scotland, and more details will be announced in 2027.
Culture Secretary Màiri McAllan said: “We are so proud of Scotland’s screen sector and this exciting addition to the August festivals line-up will provide a new way to embrace the creativity and cultural innovation which makes our capital unique.
“As a global hotbed of emerging talent, where new voices are heard and fresh stories are told, Edinburgh will continue its world-leading offer for the television industry with the support of the Scottish Government – and will do so alongside our other Edinburgh festivals, showcasing brilliance across artforms.”
David Smith, Director of Screen Scotland said: “Edinburgh has a unique role to play in bringing together the people, ideas and creative work that will shape the future of the screen and wider creative industries.
“Every August, the city becomes a remarkable meeting place for talent from around the world, alongside audiences, producers, commissioners, artists and creative thinkers. We have an opportunity to build on that extraordinary concentration of talent and energy and create something new, ambitious and genuinely distinctive for the global industry.”
Tony Lankester, Chief Executive at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society said: “Edinburgh’s August festivals create an unparalleled environment for discovering new talent, ideas and creative work.
“We know there is a strong appetite from people working across the global screen and creative industries to connect with that ecosystem, and we are excited by the opportunity to explore what a new offer could look like, particularly in a rapidly evolving media landscape. The development of this initiative gives us a chance to think afresh about how Edinburgh can serve the sector in August and to create something compelling for the future.”
On the announcement of the Lynda Myles debate, Lynda Myles said: “I’m deeply touched and honoured to have the debate named after me.
“It’s exciting to see the importance of ideas and discussion being recognised in the plans for the new event, especially as this was the initial intention of the creation of the Edinburgh Television Festival in 1976.”
