As the theatre festival nears its end, it seems to answer some psychological need to give private awards: Was it a good festival? What was my favourite show? What was my least favourite one? The official award-giving begins tomorrow with the Reuters Festival Choice Awards for the main festival. There are three awards (they consist of sculptures by Ronan Halpin): Best Foreign Production, Best Irish Production, and Best Children's Season Production, and the judging panels include Ann Marie Hourihane, Patrick Sutton, Deirdre Purcell and Marina Carr.

To be honest, the Fringe Awards party will be a better lig than the Reuters' brunch. Six or seven hundred guests are expected at Saturday night's party at the Tivoli, where the winners of the two awards - the Dublin Dry Gin Best Production Award (£1,000) and the Sexiest Production Award (a piece of art by Joe Saunders described as "a little bit wacky") - will be announced. The judging panel is mostly made up of names from the independent theatre sector, including Ronan Leahy, Willie White and Gavin Quinn as well as Abbey cub directors, Brian Brady and Conall Morrison (alright, alright, they're 30-ish, but they're cubs in the Abbey context).