The New Zealand Fringe Festival closed this weekend with an awards ceremony and closing night party in Wellington.

The grand prize winner was the March of the Meeklings, produced by Three Spoon Theatre.

"This production captured the beauty of Fringe: a bold and original plot, inventive production and their marketing saw Wellington awash with red plastic spoons, while their pavement chalking had the town wondering what on earth was going on," said Fringe director Mark Westerby.

More than 100 shows were part of Fringe 08, and Westerby said that participants and venues are reporting stronger audience figures than ever before.The New Zealand Fringe Festival closed this weekend with an awards ceremony and closing night party in Wellington.

The grand prize winner was the March of the Meeklings, produced by Three Spoon Theatre.

"This production captured the beauty of Fringe: a bold and original plot, inventive production and their marketing saw Wellington awash with red plastic spoons, while their pavement chalking had the town wondering what on earth was going on," said Fringe director Mark Westerby.

More than 100 shows were part of Fringe 08, and Westerby said that participants and venues are reporting stronger audience figures than ever before."The strong support for Fringe 08 reveals both the high calibre of the New Zealand creative arts community and also just how much interest there is in our local theatre, comedy and arts scene from the public."

"We already knew we had the biggest Fringe ever, now we reckon we have had the best," he said. "In the face of major competition for the entertainment dollar, Fringe productions have enjoyed night after night of full or near-full capacity.

Ninety-five eligible productions were considered for 13 categories, with 17 judges from the Wellington arts community deciding the awards and the grand prize of Best of Fringe.

And the winners are -

The following list contains the winners of the 13 Fringe 08 award categories, and (when applicable) each categories Very Highly Commended (VHC) and Highly Commended (HC) honours. The grand prize is the Best of Fringe.

BEST COMEDY (supported by Becks)
Office Boy - Wrigglemania Productions
HC: Real Hot Bitches: Back to Basics

BEST DANCE (supported by DANZ)
Dark Tourists - Rifleman Productions
VHC: 2 Kiwis and a Spic
HC: The Chronicles

BEST MUSIC (supported by Radioactive)
Die Henkel Spur - Winning Productions
HC: Spartacus R's Delusions
HC: Eden Mulholland (Dark Tourists)

BEST OUTDOOR (supported by Texture)
Excess: The Cargo Show - A Conduction Production
HC: Sub Surface
HC: Footnote Fused

BEST THEATRE
March of the Meeklings - Three Spoon Theatre
VHC: Blinkers
HC: Step Up Darlings
HC: Babycakes
Special Mention: The Magic Journey

BEST VISUAL ART (supported by Artzone)
What We Walk By - By Dra McKay
HC: The Scrimshaw Thief
HC: Fan-O-Tron

WHERE DID YOU COME FROM? for Best Newcomers (supported by EAT Wellington)
Legacy Dance Crew
HC: Bryon Coll (The Man, The Pie & The Taxi Guy / Babycakes / Get Cuffed)
HC: Blinkers

MARKETING AWARD (supported by Creature Design)
Office Boy - Wrigglemania Productions
HC: March of the Meeklings

BEST 'ONE MAN BAND'/ SOLO SHOW
Around the World on 80 Quid - Aindrias De Stack

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (supported by Resene)
Sleep/Wake - The Playground (NZ Ltd)
VHC: Vula

MOST ORIGINAL CONCEPT (supported by Springload)
Sub Surface - Gondwana Productions
HC: Sleep/Wake

STAND OUT PERFORMER (supported by Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance)
Maria Dabrowska (Sleep/Wake / 2 Kiwis & A Spic / Step Up Darlings)
HC: Anya Tate-Manning (Babycakes / Belonging)
HC: Paul Young (Dark Tourists)

BEST OF FRINGE
March of the Meeklings - Three Spoon Theatre
The awards ceremony was held 7pm Sunday March 2, 2008 at the Paramount Theatre, Courtenay Place, Wellington.

03/03/08