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First Week Highlights…

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I’m not even sure if this was technically the first week- I think it’s been more a preview week; but for me, having seen 13 shows so far, it definitely feels a lot longer than a few days ! The good news is the Book Festival has not even started yet and there is still another 3 weeks of the Fringe left – yipee !!  I’ve seen some fantastic shows so far and am looking forward to even more in the next few weeks, I’ve only popped in to the BBC tent briefly and look forward to exploring all their great children’s activities and I’m hoping for a few beautifully sunny days to enjoy an ice cream or two while I soak up the festival atmosphere…

For now, my highlights so far have been :

  • Nick Cope’s Family Songbook – A lovely melodic start to any festival day – featuring songs about dragons, pirates and poo ! A real gem of musical delights.
  • I Got Superpowers For My Birthday – An absolutely brilliant show, featuring spellbinding storytelling and located in the rather lovely Roundabout theatre venue…three young people gain superpowers on the eve of their thirteenth birthdays and have to fight ‘the darkness’. For ages 7+ -not to be missed !
  • Children Are Stinky – Very fun and silly acrobatic and clown show from a lovable Australian Duo – featuring hula hoops, chairs and a fantastic soundtrack, lots of fun for the whole family !
  • 360 Allstars – Featuring some spectacular BMX tricks, brilliant basketball, impressive breakdancing and live beat-boxing – this show has something for everyone ! A jam packed hour of talented performers showing off their skills !

Spectacular Summerhall…

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Summerhall just continues to get better and better, offering a wider range of shows and events over the festival, along with providing a delicious cafe and a lovely courtyard for hanging out in and sampling their very own Pickering’s Gin and Barney’s Beer…you could happily spend a day or two here exploring everything it has to offer…

Once again they have a great line up of family shows this festival, my top picks being :

I got Superpowers for my birthday – I saw this today and will write a review shortly, but it is FANTASTIC, absolutely spellbinding storytelling and I highly recommend it ! A mesmerising tale of three 13 years olds who wake on their birthday to discover they have superpowers and must save the world from the darkness….

 

Mikey and Addie – Mikey is a sunny boy. He lives alone with his mum. Mikey’s mum has a secret. It’s not well kept.  Everyone knows it. Everyone except Mikey. Addie is a good girl. She doesn’t tell lies. Her father makes sure of that. Addie tells the truth. It’s what you have to do. Isn’t it? It’s hard to tell when your life will change. The day you wake up normal but end up falling far from everything you’ve ever known. Spinning into nothingness. Today is that day.  For ages 9+

Squirrel Stole My Underpants – In this poignantly silly adventure tale for families, Sylvie is sent to the backyard to hang up the laundry. The moment her back is turned, a mischievous squirrel steals her favourite piece of clothing and runs off. When Sylvie gives chase, an entire world emerges from her laundry basket.

 

The Adventure of Puppets – Two engaging and skilfully silly actors bring to life an array of ordinary objects, conjuring a DIY universe full of raucous fun and inventive play. Here a mop becomes a puppy, a hammer can turn into a horse and a home-made ship flies high in the sky. It’s all about taking what’s near to hand and then letting your imagination go.

 

Us/Them – This looks like quite an intense story to base a performance on and so is recommended for older children ages 9+. In September 2004, during a school hostage drama in Beslan, the greatest of evils (terrorists) chose the greatest good (a group of children) as their victim. Us/Them is not a straightforward account of this terrible drama, but is about the entirely individual way children cope with extreme situations.

 

 

 

BBC tent 2016 is now open…

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So, today the lovely BBC tent opened in its brand new location and it is looking as beautiful as ever, the luscious green grass is back, as are the deckchairs; the new space feels roomier and has an incredible backdrop of Edinburgh Castle !

They have a host of free children’s events going on over the next few weeks- which can be seen here, but to kick things off, this weekend:

Saturday 6th they have Digital Toybox from 10.30 , so go along and build electronic gadgets and have a go at 3D printing. Digital Toybox offer ‘mobile makerspaces’ based in City of Edinburgh Libraries and encourage young people to learn new skills through projects presented in a hands on and high impact way.

On Sunday 8th they have Edinburgh Art Festival Dazzle Ship Art Table  again from 10.30 which  is inspired by the Edinburgh Art Festival Dazzle Ship Scotland docked down in Leith. Create your own dazzle ship designs, boats and objects made up of geometric shapes, patterns and colours as seen in the dazzle ships of WW1.

 

I’ve said it before….

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…but do try and catch it while you can !! The Lords of Strut:The Family Show, is only on for another ten performances and please don’t miss out ! We enjoyed yet another hour of mayhem with these two loveable Irish brothers  – Famous Seamus and Sean-tastic. Featuring some rather funky dancing, some lovely lycra and impressive acrobatics, it’s a chaotic, fun, quirky and very very funny show – my cheeks still hurt from all the laughing !!  On until the 14th August….(see review here )

Fantastic first day…

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So, after reading all the programmes, watching the venues being built and seeing hundreds of posters appear all over the city, yesterday I managed to head to the festival and see some shows !!

We had a great day, I’ll be posting some reviews soon, so please keep checking back to that page.

Firstly we saw Captain Flinn and The Pirate Dinosaurs 2: The Magic Cutlass, which was fun and energetic and a great show for wee ones, it has a little bit of everything: catchy songs, dinosaurs, puppets and a few surprises !

kidzone Then we headed along to check out the kidzone at the Pleasance, which was as great as always. We did some of the arts and crafts – you can see what’s on offer in the photo, and prices start at £1 which I think is fantastic value in the festival – it was busy and lots of little ones were enjoying being creative there !

 

morgan and west

To finish off our first day we headed along to see Morgan & West’s Utterly Spiffing Spectacular Magic Show for Kids (and Childish Grown-Ups!) – which was brilliant – they are such a fantastic and quick witted duo and know exactly how to pitch things for kids. There was plenty of audience participation and lots of magic to keep everyone guessing – it’s well worth checking out and was very busy today, so get your tickets early !