"The Standard Bank Ovation Awards have raised the bar for Fringe performers in a significant way,” said Festival CEO, Tony Lankester. “For the first time in a long while we have an awards programme at the Festival that acknowledges and rewards those for whom the annual pilgrimage to Grahamstown is an often unrewarded labour of love," he added.

Nominations for the awards came from any of the approximately 500 journalists who were accredited for this year’s Festival. When the production received sufficient nominations, members of the judging panel went to see it. Winners were announced every day in Cue, and the wining productions were given Ovation Award stickers to display on their posters and marketing material for the remainder of the Festival.

On Sunday, 4 July, the winners of each of the categories were announced, and the Gold winners received a prize of R5 000, while the Silver winners received a R1 000 each.

The 2010 Gold Award winners are:
Theatre: London Road (KBT Pro ductions)
Physical Theatre: Butcher Brothers (Dark Laugh Theatre)
Dance: Graduation Rites (Tshwane University of Technology)
Comedy: Dekaf (David Newton Productions)
Music: Guy Buttery

The 2010 Silver Award winners are:
Theatre
Karoo Moose (Baxter Theatre Centre in association with MOPO Productions)
...Miskien (The Pink Couch)
Breed (Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company)

Physical Theatre
Elev(i)ate2 (Athena Mazarakis)
Inua (Baba Yaga Theatre – Denmark)
Liquid Project (for Bloodshot and System Dop)

Music
Nibs van der Spuy
Meri Kenaz

The Encore Award, awarded to a young company performing at the Festival for the first time, which shows great promise for the future and which the Festival hopes will return in years to come, went to The Soil (Vumile Nomanyama).

The Standing Ovation Award, presented for a company that has over a sustained period of time, contributed to the overall standard of excellence on the Fringe, went to Theatre for Afrika (Nick and Luke Ellenbogen)