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FREE festival featuring some fantastic children’s shows !!

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The free festival is now in its 11th year and appears to be going from strength to strength…with over 360 shows in 22 venues around the city we are again spoilt for choice! What’s even better though is that there are loads of children’s shows featuring at the free festival which is perfect for those of us trying not to spend a small fortune during festival season.

I’ve picked out a few shows I think look particularly fun….

The Worlds Worst Birthday Party – Marvellous Maddy is having the worst birthday party ever and she needs your help ! Be prepared for lots of dancing, giggles and pranks…..      31st July – 10th August, 12-17th, 20-25th August       12.45               The Free Sisters (Cowgate) – The Yurt Locker

The Very Scariesome Tooth Fairy – A tale told in rhyme – a story of missing teeth, dishonest dentists and dodgy dealings in the fairy underworld.              31st July – 12th August    The Free Sisters (Cowgate) – Maggies Front Room

The Little Leaf – A story about a curious little girl who stumbles upon a lonely little leaf hiding in her attic. Together they set off on a great journey.        August 14th – 24th  The Free Sisters (Cowgate) – The Staff Room

Ceilidhkids at the Fringe – If you and the kids like a bit of dancing, or its raining and you want them to get a bit of a run around – this looks good. Very simple child friendly dances to traditional Scottish music. And this year they are doing a few events at Gorgie farm which would make a great and very busy day out !

Gorgie Farm on 2nd, 8th, 11th, 23rd August at 2pm

Counting House August 1-12th, 14-19th, 21-24th at 11am and August 1-12th, 16/17th, 23/24th at 10.00am too.

Huggers – The popular cabaret show returns this year and it too is visiting GorgieShow Image Farm during the weekends of the festival….this show brings a variety of fringe performers together for some child friendly entertainment – it does recommend booking (free) tickets early for this one.

August 1-23rd – Free Sisters (Cowgate) – Maggies Chamber

August 9th, 16th, 23rd – Gorgie Farm

There are other free festivals too, such as PBH’s Free Fringe featuring children’s shows (I don’t know how anyone finds the time to fit all these shows in !)….two that stand out in this one are :

Princess Taz and The Fearsome Forest – In this puppet show join clowns Elf and Harry retelling the life and adventures of the legendary Princess Taz aqnd her pet Rapdragon.  August 2-16th (not 15th)  Cafe Camino

Albee Vector the sound collector – This show has a great name ! – its a show bursting with all sorts of sounds. Help Albee to make noises and collect them into jars….  August 2nd – 23rd (not 11th)   Hispaniola (Drummond Street)

Fringe By The Sea – North Berwick 4th-10th August

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We have been blessed with a great summer lately…long sunny days and warm summer evenings and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays this way well into August to make festival season even better !

Fringe By The Sea in North Berwick is a great combination – you can have a lovely day out on the beach and see a show with the sand still between your toes !

There are a few bits and pieces for children during the festival that are worth checking out :

Mr Boom – Festival veteran Mr Boom will be back again to entertain children with his one-man band from the moon ! This promises to be an exciting mix of song, dance and audience participation !    August 5th at 3pm and August 6th at 11am.  Tickets from £6

The other childrens events are more your usual kids classes/workshops running special festival events :

Sparkle Arts : Sparkle arts offer children performing arts classes and will be bringing a fun mix of music, drama, dance and storytelling to the festival. Workshops are suitable for 2-5 year olds.    5th August 11am/1pm,  and 9th August 11am/1pm             Tickets from £6

Jo Jingles – ‘Summer at the seaside’ is the theme this year and they will be hoping for sunshine with this singing, music and movement class for babies and children. Suitable for 1-6yrs old.      7th August 11am/1pm.                Tickets from £6

Bookbugs – This is a great FREE event run by East Lothian’s library service – its a mixture of rhyme, story and song accompanied by a good selection of puppets and instruments to make it as interactive as possible!                   8th August 11am  FREE

Beautiful Botanics….

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The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is a great place to get away from it all – especially during the busy festival season in Edinburgh. There’s plenty to do – feeding ducks, spotting squirrels and walking through the gorgeous gardens. Luckily there’s also a few childrens shows/events going on there too during festival season, so its a great excuse to make a day of it !

Calvinball – Lively, musical and slightly wild, this is an outdoor performance that draws on wee ones’ natural curiosities and the bigger ones’ wish to join in. There will be three performances daily at 11:00am, 12:00pm and 2:00pm. Please note this event takes place outdoors.                                                  From 4th – 17th August

Invisible People –   This sounds like a fun event for the family – ‘Pick up your pack of counters to exchange for one-to-one performances around the Garden of poems, scenes from plays, short stories, jokes, conjuring tricks and good advice’.                                 August 13th and 14th   11am – 4pm

A Sunday In The Park – Albert and Friends Instant Circus bring some fun, frolics and fabulous family circus from London’s premier Youth Circus. Bring a rug ! And its free     August 17th – 24th  1.00pm – 1.45pm daily.

My top five picks for childrens shows at the Fringe Festival 2014…..

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Every year I pick up the Fringe brochure and I am so excited, but also totally overwhelmed by the number of shows available to see and the huge amount of choice and variety….and maybe it is because I’m a libra, or it’s actually down to the fact there are sooooooooo many good things to go see and so little time to see them all, but I find it very hard to make any decisions….

So, this year I’ve had a little look and have narrowed it down to this list (give or take a few extras !)…

  • Emily Brown and the THING –   Tall Stories are the company that brought us all The Gruffalo  which I thought was fantastic, so I’m hoping this new production will also be just as fun. Based on the Cressida Cowell’s much loved book, its about Emily’s night time adventures and promises to be a magical, musical show……….From 30th July – 24th August (not 7th).

 

  •   Pirate Gran – ‘She knits, she bakes, she drinks sherry’ – all sounds good so far ! This production is brought to you by Scamp Theatre who are the team behind Stick Man and the fantastic Tiddler. Based on the Pirate Gran series of books, this looks to be a swashbuckling show !                     31st July – 25th August (not13th)

 

  •   Dinosaur Zoo – Direct from the West End, this looks like an awesome live show with fantastic puppets – perfect for any dinosaur loving little ones….                               30th July – 25th August  (not 2nd )

 

  •  Red Riding Hood – For the past two years I have been to see puppet shows during the festival at the Storytelling centre and they have been amazing and a total highlight. The venue is small and cosy and you feel fully engaged as the audience and can really appreciate the gorgeous puppets – this show looks to be just as enchanting with a retelling of this classic tale.                               31st July – 17th August (not 11th)

 

  •          Big Red Bath (and The Snow Dog) – So I am kind of cheating by having these two productions, but the are by the same theatre company – Full House- and are performing on alternate days and both look great ! Big Red Bath  are on a bubbly, barmy bath time adventure in a vibrant adaptation of the book, and The Snow Dog  looks to be a playful exploration of love and loss with a real husky on stage which sounds exciting!                        30th/31st July – 23rd/24th August

BBC at the Edinburgh Festivals…

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As I write this, the grass is being laid out and the huge blue and pink tents are being erected for the BBC area at Potterow which returns this year. If you read this blog last year, you’ll know I’m a huge fan…..the BBC area is FANTASTIC !! They have lots of free events for children and its a great space to go and hang out during the day as there is a ping pong table, a huge screen showing films/performances etc, deck chairs, food stalls, ice cream and kids activities….

As before, there are a number of events which are ticketed and you can apply for free tickets here but a limited number of tickets are also available on the day for events should you not be successful in the ballot.

A few of the family events have been announced and look great, and you have until this Sunday the 27th July to apply for tickets :

Fingers crossed !