In this brilliant sunny weather we’ve been having, nothing seems better than a festival located at the seaside, to get the best of everything !! And Fringe by the Sea captures just that….
Returning to its stunning North Berwick location, Fringe by the Sea offers a fantastic programme of author talks, music, magic shows, seaside science, craft workshops and lots more…its DEFINITELY worth checking out, and makes for a great day trip, combined with some beach action and fish and chips !
Check out the full programme of events here, and here are a few of our top picks for events for children and littler folk….
Make Mess Matter – This is on six days over the festival and promises to be lots of fun ! Messy play for under 5s, and slime making for ages 5+ in this mega mess session. Engage the senses and develop skills and coordination through play.
Grafitti Workshop – If you’ve ever thought about trying your hand at street art, here’s a chance to develop your skills and get creative. Spectrum Arts are offering up a special workshop which includes using spray responsibly, basic technique, characters, backgrounds and stencils. Ages 12+
Silent Disco Adventure Tours – These are SO much fun ! Join the Silent Adventures Team as they lead you in a song and dance around the beautiful streets of North Berwick for the famous one-hour guided adventure. Expect all your inhibitions to melt away as you don our hi-tech headsets and bust some funky new moves whilst singing your heart out. Age 5 +
Beano – Calling all Mischief-Makers… Beano is back and inviting you to join in the fun in this 45-minute show from the brains behind the much-loved comic. An interactive session led by Beano writers. Created especially for kids 6+…
Bugsy Malone – I LOVE this play, this promised to be lots of fun. Come with us on a journey to 1920s New York for a show full of gangsters, molls, glamour, speakeasies and cream pies. Join our talented cast of 27 local children aged between 8 and 12 and our fabulous live band, as they belt out classic numbers including My Name is Tallulah, You Give A Little Love and Fat Sam’s Grand Slam.
Colouring Nature – Eilidh Muldoon – These colouring events are super lovely and super relaxing..Join Eilidh for a relaxed doodling and colouring-in session inspired by her latest book: The Scottish Nature Colouring Book. Chock-full of intricate drawings of plants and animals from around Scotland, you’ll get chance to hone you colouring-in skills as well as drawing your own scenes and creatures and bringing them to life with colour!
So the lovely folk at Assembly are offering £5 tickets to a variety of shows from the 3rd – 7th August for people with an EH, KY, G and FK postcode…read more about the offer here .
Tickets can be purchased online on their website and will be available on a first-come-first-served basis for more than 200 shows in the 2022 programme.
At the point of purchase, enter the promo code WELCOMEBACK (this is case sensitive)
Then enter your bank details for a card linked to an eligible postcode
If the discount does not apply this means that all £5 tickets for that performance have been claimed
Get tickets for just a fiver
Remember – this offer is subject to availability so book quickly to snap up the offer...
Some top recommendations for your £5 tickets would be :
Chores -Chores is the story of a brother and sister who have to clean up their messy room so they can ride their bicycles. This show is jam-packed full of cool stunts, acrobatic flips, roller skates, juggling and the infamous toilet paper guns!
Brotipo – Crazy Canadian circus for the young, premiering in Edinburgh after visiting 16 countries! The art of giving each other a chance and collaborating when the right time comes is what the Brotipos will have to learn!
360 Allstars – The international smash hit returns! A phenomenal physical performance exploring all forms of rotation, 360 ALLSTARS connects street with elite in a supercharged urban circus.
Beats on Pointe – This is a tightly choreographed show anchoring a dynamic modern story of two opposing dance worlds peppered with breaking, contemporary, acrobatics and captivating dance theatre .
Muse – What does it mean to be a woman? Muse attempts to answer this question circus style! There’s hardly just one answer and exploring the question calls for some… acrobatics.
Prehysterical – This show rocks! A hilarious circus show for children and parents of all ages following three foolish Neanderthals as they struggle to survive the harsh natural world.
Dinosaurs and all that rubbish – One small step for man, one giant pile of rubbish! Man’s dream to reach the stars leaves the world in ruins and disturbs the dinosaurs. Will they wake up and save planet Earth?
The Adventures of Sleepyhead – She’s the dreamer of dreams. The walking-talking nap. A snoozer and a muser. Delight in this adventure to the heart of dreamland as Sleepyhead fends off the zzz…
Shark In The Park – Timothy Pope is looking through his telescope – but wait, is that a Shark, in the Park!? From the creative team behind the Hairy Maclary show – see all three of Nick Sharratt’s Shark in the Park books live on stage!
Kin– The UK’s hottest circus company, Barely Methodical Troupe brings you their five-star hit about group dynamics and camaraderie.
I find this so hard, trying to pick out top recommendations from all the pages of amazing shows to see – we really are lucky indeed !! In 2022 the children’s shows section is jam packed and add into this the circus and physical theatre and we’ve got literally hundreds of shows to choose from…I’ll post some top picks for ‘littler little ones’ shortly, which gives me some wiggle room for some firm favourites here…
As always, I’m super keen to hear your top recommendations too and hope we find some new favourite companies out there this year….
Muse– Flip Fabrique are back and we couldn’t be happier – we have LOVED their previous shows Blizzard and Attrape Moi and cannot wait for this new performance – they always have us on the edge of seats with their gravity defying acrobatics and imaginative use of stage space and equipment. ”What does it mean to be a woman? Muse attempts to answer this question circus style! There’s hardly just one answer and exploring the question calls for some… acrobatics. Playing with gender roles, Muse offers up a refreshing view of contemporary circus” – 4th – 28th August (not 8th, 15th, 22nd)
Hamlet – Prince of Skidmark– Readers of this blog will know that we are HUGE Listies fans in this household !!!! We are delighted they are coming back to Edinburgh this August and bringing this show for it’s Edinburgh debut ! ”This is the bard, Listies style: ninjas, ghosts, pirate aliens, swords, dinosaurs and zombies. Hamlet: Prince of Skidmark is a side-splitting adventure that shatters the fourth wall and glues it back together with supersonic storytelling and silliness.” – August 5th – 28th (not 11th, 18th, 22nd, 25th )
The Ultimate Pickle – Paines Plough have brought some of my all time favourite children’s shows to the fringe in their unique Roundabout venue at Summerhall and I’m really looking forward to this one…hoping for some more of their magical, imaginative storytelling. ”Everything is awesome in Dill’s life. A loving mum, a loyal best mate, a granddad who plays the drums, and Jack Tornado: the oldest and best goldfish in the world. But when a ball of fluff falls from grandad’s book, everything changes forever. Could that be a… wolf!? ” – Saturday/Sundays only – 6/7th, 13/14th, 20/21st, 27th/28th August
Tom Brace – Embrace the Impossible ! – Again we are big fans of Tom Brace in this household after he amazed us with his tricks one lunchtime…Tom keeps his audiences highly entertained and is hugely charismatic, with just the right hint of charm ! I am in no doubt this new show will be as big a success as his last … ”Cluedo, Roald Dahl and one film in particular from 1985… Magician Tom Brace takes a trip down memory lane with a brand-new magic show for all ages. ” – 3rd – 29th August ( not 16th)
Manual Cinema Presents: Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster – Manual cinema create incredible multi-media shows – combining live music and songs, paper cut outs, puppets and diy cinema…its truly unique and promises to be very special indeed. ”Leonardo! tells the story of a monster who longs to be scary and the big decisions he must make along the way.” – 3rd – 29th August (not 15th )
Carnival of the Animals by Circa – Circa have previously brought us the amazing shows Humans and Circa: Wolfgang, so we are beyond excited for this year’s family offering and the awe inspiring acrobatics they effortlessly amaze us with. ”These zebras juggle and flip. These kangaroos skip and somersault. The elephants have rhythm and the dinosaur bones shake, clatter and roll to the music. Carnival of the Animals by Circa whisks you away on a thrilling circus escapade inspired by Camille Saint-Saëns’ delightful salute to feathers, fur and fins.” – 5th – 28th August (not 10th, 15th, 22nd, 23rd )
The Smeds and The Smoos – Tall Stories have been delighting us with their stage adaptations of Julia Donaldson’s well loved books for years and we’re hoping this show will continue the trend ! For the little little ones out there, puppets, songs and live action will bring this story to life – ”On a far-off planet, Smeds and Smoos can’t be friends. So when a young Smed and Smoo fall in love and zoom off into space together, how will their families get them back?” – 3rd – 21st August (not 6th or 17th)
A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings – This show sounds intriguing to me and I will definitely be checking it out. Its also a great reason to go and spend a morning in Summerhall, delighting in all it has to offer this festival season. ”Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s darkly comic tale brought to the stage for children and adults to share. In a kitchen of a theatre, two storytellers and their audience find something remarkable – a very old man with enormous wings. ” – 3rd – 28th August (not 15th or 22nd )
Circus Abyssinia: Tulu – We absolutely LOVED Circus Abyssinia’s last show here in 2017 – Ethiopian Dreams and we are so excited they are back this August with their new show. They totally amazed us with their joyfulness, colour and vibrancy…. ”Inspired by the true tale of an Ethiopian icon, Derartu Tulu, this unmissable showcase of superhuman strength blends breathtaking contortion, awe-inspiring acrobatics and mesmerising fire juggling with a rocking, exuberant soundtrack.” – 6th – 27th August (not 15th or 22nd )
Olaf Falafel’s Super Stupid Show – I sadly missed Olaf Falafel when he was last here, but all I heard was great things – so I won’t be doing that again ! This looks like something a bit different and sure to provide a few giggles along the way – ”Join comedian and children’s author Olaf Falafel for an hour of really stupid kids’ comedy plus a drawing lesson and possibly something that involves fishing, ducks, bumbags and sausages. Family-friendly frivolity that will leave you feeling a lot less intelligent than when you walked in.” – 4th – 21st August ( not 16th )
And seeing as I couldn’t squish everyone into this list – I’d just like to mention that some of our previous much loved shows that we’ve reviewed are returning in 2022, including :
It feels soooooooooooooooooooooooo good to be writing this again !! I have got that tingly feeling in my stomach and anticipation is building rapidly….the posters are going up around town and the venues are appearing ! The festival is going to be back in full swing and I couldn’t be happier !!
I have taken a few hours to peruse the programme – which fully launches tomorrow – and I am SO happy to see lots of old favourites returning to Edinburgh this year alongside some great looking new talent. I will be posting my top ten children’s shows soon – though as always I find it impossible to whittle down to so few ! The circus alone this year is abundantly fantastic….safe to say we’re all in for a total treat of an August !
For now – check out the children’s shows here and start to get excited ….I’m also going to start manifesting the return of my favourite hot donut stall and a sprinkling of sunshine for us all !
So, it looks like even more great things are happening and one of our favourites – the book festival – is about to open its doors in its brand new venue at the Edinburgh College of Art and as usual there are lots of free events going on – along with the bookshop which is always great for a browse….
New for 2021, the book festival is screening a selection of children’s events on the big screen in the Festival Village Courtyard each day during 14th-30th August for FREE. You can see the daily timetable for the big screen and outdoor stage here…
Young festival-goers can enjoy livestreamed events, DrawAlongs and costumed character appearances in the lovely leafy Courtyard at Edinburgh College of Art. Entry to the fesitval village is free and unticketed so just turn up and join the outdoor fun!
There is plenty to keep the kids entertained all day with an ‘Animal Spotting’ trail designed by Debi Gliori featuring 8 animal illustrations to find on site, a children’s play area and a café.
Kids of all ages can draw along with their favourite illustrators every morning at 9.30am during the Festival over on our Facebook page. If this time doesn’t suit, budding artists can still join in later as the videos will be available to watch following the livestream. We’re delighted to welcome a fab line-up of illustrators to take part in some arty fun including Dapo Adeola, James Mayhew, Harriet Muncaster, Beatrice Blue and lots more. Check out the daily schedule for more details.
This year’s Baillie Gifford Children’s Programme of online events is available to watch live and on-demand on a Pay What You Can basis. Pay What You Can is designed to help audiences who are struggling financially, whilst also providing sufficient income for the Book Festival to continue to produce a wonderful, international programme of events for everyone to enjoy.
Hopefully you all get a chance to enjoy some of these great offerings over the next few weeks….
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