Celebrating the rich, cultural scene of Scotland, the Sunday Herald’s third annual Culture Awards took place at Glasgow’s SWG3 on Thursday 12 July 2018 where the Scottish Storytelling Centre were awarded Best Performing Arts Venue.
Amidst tough competition from three fellow shortlisted venues – The CoachHouse, Stirling, The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen and Glasgow’s Theatre Royal – the Centre edged out the others to scoop the winning slot to the delight of staff and supporters.
Events and Programme Manager, Daniel Abercrombie, collected the award and stated:
‘This is great! We are a very small team who produce a huge amount of work – a year-round programme and two major Festivals, with the Scottish International Storytelling Festival coming in October and TradFest, which we had in the spring.
‘We are supporting national networks of storytelling, traditional music and traditional dance from the building.
‘We do it all with a welcoming spirit, inclusive nature and an encouraging attitude for all the people who come through our doors. This approach to culture, and to people in general, is what makes the Storytelling Centre a really special place to work, so thank you very much.’
Broadcaster Bryan Burnett hosted the evening with various award presenters invited onstage, plus stellar entertainment from folk singer Iona Fyfe – Trustee of the Traditional Music Forum and highly commended in the Up and Coming Artist category – accompanied by Charlie Grey and Luc McNally, followed by Sam Irvine on Saxophone playing classic melodies while guest tucked into a three-course dinner.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to David Hayman, One to Watch winners were 404 Ink and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and Wigtown Festival Company came out top for Cultural Event of the Year, International and National respectively.
Comedy was included for the first time this year after demand from the cultural sector seeing The Stand Comedy Club win Biggest Contribution to Scottish Comedy with a commendation for Ray Bradshaw’s Deaf Comedy Fam as Ray performs each show simultaneously in English and BSL.
James McAvoy and Peter Capaldi got the gongs for Best Actor in Screen and Film categories, Neve McIntosh was the Best Actor in Theatre, Scottish Opera’s Catherine Backhouse was awarded Best Musical Artist and National Theatre’s Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour won for Best Live Performance.
Best Dance Performer went to Hayley Earlam of Indepen-dance and the Judges Choice Award went to Social Bite and Unique Events for Sleep in the Park, which raised over £3.6 million and is tackling homelessness on the international stage.
It was an emotional end to the event as a special accolade for contribution to Scottish culture was awarded posthumously to Scott Hutchison. Scott’s brother Grant and Frightened Rabbit guitarist Andy Monaghan received the award on Scott’s behalf.