Wowee, it is sooooooooooooooooooo good to be back seeing live theatre and performances, what a TOTAL treat. We have been immensely lucky this week and have seen some fantastic shows (check out our reviews so far here), indulged in some delicious food and the sun has even been shining in Edinburgh during the festival so far…..the weather also seems delighted the festival is all back again!!!

The only slight disappointment is the hot donut stall – not sure what’s happened there, but they just aren’t what they used to be – so we’ve moved on to pastures new with ‘panquake’ for all your waffle and crepe desires and the dumplings stall which remains a firm family favourite !!

We have seen some spectacular circus, some seriously impressive dance, astounding magic, some spellbinding storytelling, magical puppet shows and very silly comedy…here are our top picks so far :

The Listies: Hamlet – Prince of Skidmark – Absolutely hilarious, if you only go and see one children’s show – this has to be it !!! An hour is too short !

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A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings – Intricate and very creative set and with just enough of a dark edge to keep us totally engrossed, its highly recommended you take a seat and get settled in to this  intimate hour of captivating storytelling.

Tom Brace : Embrace the Impossible !– Full of properly astounding magic, a sprinkling of time travel and some game show madness with ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ – its a fantastic show and I would highly recommend

Manual Cinema presents: Leonardo! A Wonderful show about a terrible monster – Wowsers !! What a total treat of a show…jam packed full of creativity and talent, be it paper cut outs, furry puppets, illustrations or an endearingly quirky live soundtrack and songs.

Circus Abyssinia: Tulu – This is energetic, passionate and you’ll be totally awestruck by all the performers, expect contortionism, acrobatics, aerial, rollerskating and an incredible finale involving a giant swing !!

For the littler little ones, our mini reviewers have loved:

A Ladder To The Stars– So much care has been taken throughout this performance to really tune into a child’s mind – what they find funny and what fuels their imagination to keep them invested in the story.

The Smeds and The Smoos – Tall Stories once again delight us with their adaptation of a beloved Julia Donaldson book. Including catchy songs, gorgeous puppetry and audience interaction…not to be missed.

For the whole family, we’ve loved these two high octane shows – both have been breath-taking:

Muse – Flip Fabrique once again astound us with their fantastic acrobatics and with beautiful intimate moments and silly snippets inbetween – try and sit near the front if you can !!

Beats on Pointe – This show is filled with energy, passion and some seriously fantastic dance skills, not to mention the infectious soundtrack,,,you’ll enjoy it as much as the performers obviously love dancing !