Hamilton Fringe Festival Names 2026 Award Winners

Hamilton Festival Theatre Company has announced the award recipients from the 22nd Annual Hamilton Fringe Festival, which took place July 15-26, 2026. In a ceremony on July 26 on Fringe Boulevard on King William Street in Hamilton, 11 awards were presented to festival participants. With 50 shows at 16 venues, and 50+ outdoor events throughout the city in 2026, Hamilton Fringe is the largest theatre festival in the Greater Hamilton Area.

Felt Cute, Might Overshare Later by Kristi Boulton Presents… and Townsperson #3 by Etemadi Entertainment received two awards each. Hamilton Fringe received almost 800 votes for the Audience Choice Award, with nearly every show in the festival receiving a nomination.

New this year is the Cairine Wilson Spirit of the Fringe Award, recognizing a festival participant — a volunteer, staff member, artist, community member or patron — who demonstrates exceptional service and support to others in the festival community. The inaugural Cairine Wilson Spirit of the Fringe Award was awarded to festival volunteer and artist Corey Long, with six different individuals separately nominating Corey. This new award was created to honour the incredible work and memory of Cairine Wilson and will continue to celebrate her impact on Hamilton Fringe for years to come. 

2026 Hamilton Fringe Festival Award Recipients:

Best In Venue - Mills Hardware
A Seance Spectacular with the Mystical Medium Wolf Sisters from the Great White North by Ghosts Are Everywhere

Best In Venue - The Players' Guild of Hamilton
Intro to Adult Acting by We Tried Theatre Inc.

Best In Venue - Theatre Aquarius
Rebel Spirits by Bateson & Shaw

Best In Venue - The Westdale
Raging Gracefully by Big Chick Energy

Best In Series - Fringe Mini Bar Series
Medically Strange by Phoebe Taylor

Best In Series - Indie Venues
Felt Cute, Might Overshare Later by Kristi Boulton Presents…

Best Touring Show
TILT by Solo Chicken Productions (Fredericton, New Brunswick)

Best In Fest 
Felt Cute, Might Overshare Later by Kristi Boulton Presents…

Critics' Pick Award
Townsperson #3 by Etemadi Entertainment

Audience Choice Award
Townsperson #3 by Etemadi Entertainment

Cairine Wilson Spirit of the Fringe Award
Corey Long - Volunteer, and Artist (Intro to Adult Acting)

Hamilton Festival Theatre Company (HFTco) is a not-for-profit charitable organization committed to training, platforming, and amplifying Hamilton's theatre artists and storytellers. Since 2003, we have been building a community for artists and arts lovers, and cultivating work that is accessible, innovative, and artistically adventurous.

Hamilton Fringe Festival is a member of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF). We adhere to CAFF's Guiding Principles, which include: artists being selected on a non-juried basis through a lottery system, artists receiving 100% of the base ticket price of their box office revenue, Fringe festival producers not interfering with the artistic content of the lottery-selected shows, and that the festival provides accessible opportunities for all audiences and artists to participate in the Fringe festival.

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