Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award

“Glasgow defies description. Many great men and women have tried to describe its spirit and failed miserably. What do you say about a town that dances, sings, plays and jokes differently from everybody else? The winner of this Award will have to be a nutter like me…”

Sir Billy Connolly

The Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award was launched at the 2023 festival, with Janey Godley presented the winner at the GICF Closing Gala, followed by Susie McCabe in 2024. This year we are honoured to be working with Sir Billy again to celebrate that which makes both comedy and Glasgow so special. 

The Award is the only official award given by Glasgow International Comedy Festival (GICF), with the winner announced at the Festival’s Comedy Gala event.

AWARD CRITERIA

Any person who takes part in the Glasgow International Comedy Festival is eligible to win the award including performers, promoters, venue staff and beyond, with The Spirit of Glasgow defined by the following criteria:

1. Resilient – being as warm as we are tough

2. Open – accessible for all

3. Unapologetic – proud and unpretentious; curious and challenging; mould-breaking

4. Gallus – bold and brave; self-starting

5. Funny – above all else, an ability to make people laugh

Please note that the award is not attached to a specific show, it is very much about the person. Judges will not attend any GICF shows but rather will consider an individual’s application or nomination and the traits they have demonstrated in this against the award criteria below.

You can either put yourself forward for the award using this application form, or you can nominate another person to win the award. But please note if you nominate someone and your nomination is taken to the second stage, your nominee will need to be interviewed so you will need to tell them that you’ve nominated them.

HOW TO WIN THE AWARD?

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR 2025

1. Remember that your application will be scored from 1 to 4 against EACH of the above Spirit of Glasgow Criteria. The scoring will be relatively subjective, but your application should touch on each criteria as best as possible. 

2. Tell us as much as possible. The judges want to get to you know and who you are, not just what you do in your performances or your work. 

3. You will have the opportunity to submit written content as well as media. We suggest you write 300 to 500 words and submit a total of 10-12 minutes of media content combined. If you submit more than this, you risk your application being edited down. 

4. Please submit at least 1 piece of media of yourself informally chatting through the criteria and how you meet this. This can be as simple as a ‘to camera’ recording from a phone or a voice note. Any content will not be judged on recording quality as long as the judges can hear you. 

5. As an optional addition you can include performance clips if this helps to demonstrate how you meet the criteria. This is optional as you do not have to be a performer to win the award. 

You can also watch this video, which goes through how to submit your application or nomination online. 

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR 2025

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Once applications close, a panel of independent judges will be scoring the application forms against the Spirit of Glasgow criteria.

You may be contacted to submit further information during this stage.

A short list will be announced during the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. A winner will then be carefully chosen by the judges and Sir Billy Connolly himself and announced at the GICF Comedy Gala at the Kings Theatre.

If you have any questions about the award, please contact katie@glasgowcomedyfestival.com to discuss.

HOW TO APPLY

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR 2025