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Book Festival Opening this weekend !! 9th August

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I LOVE the Book Festival – I love the atmosphere within the gardens and how i’ts such a different calm space from the Fringe festival going on elsewhere…I love the bookshop and the children’s book shop is even more fantastic with lots of space to sit down and get lost exploring new books…I also totally love the fact that everyday they have a room dedicated to children filled with storytelling, arts and crafts, face painting, books to read and activities to get stuck into all for FREE! This means that even if you haven’t managed to get tickets to some of the events, you can still comfortably while away a morning or afternoon there and the kids will be fully entertained…

The Book Festival opens this weekend and as usual Julia Donaldson will be doing some events – she is always fantastic, performing some of her well known books and singing songs – it’s great fun for the whole family – you may still be lucky enough to get tickets on the day if there are returns :

Flumflums and flying baths – this event on Saturday 9th includes live drawing with illustrator David Roberts – there will be trolls, fish, dinosaurs and possibly even the Gruffalo.

From Superworms to Scarecrows – this event on Sunday 10th is with illustrator Axel Scheffler and will feature Room on the Broom in Scots with translator James Robertson.

 

Over the opening weekend the storybox which is the childrens area will feature ‘The Secret Stories of toys’ – with toys from the Museum of Childhood, each toy has a story to tell, drop in to discover toys from the collection and create some of your own. Both Saturday and Sunday 1.30pm till 4pm.

 

 

 

Supreme Summerhall…

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Summerhall is a fantastic venue….the cafe is great, its an interesting building to explore and the courtyard is a lovely place to sit in the sun and there is always an exhibition or two to discover on a visit. Not only all this but they have a great little room where they have ‘Animal Antics‘ – a place where you can play with your child, do arts and crafts and generally have lots of fun. Sadly this space is closed from July 3rd but they have an alternative and very exciting sounding room instead for the festival :

Jolly Jungle –JollyJungle_Logo Summerhall’s Fringe Play Space – this is for 0-6 year olds and looks ace…a perfect space to play with the children and find some peace and quiet inbetween all the shows ! Featuring toys, soft play, arts and crafts and a story corner for little-ies.

August 5th – 24th  Tuesday – Sunday (closed Mondays and also closed Friday 8th and Staurday 9th too).   Costs £2 per child for 1 hour of play / 6months £1  Open 11am – 4.30pm

On top of all this, they are hosting some great sounding children’s shows too ! Here are my top picks :

Duck, Death and the Tulip – A duck strikes up an unlikely friendship with death…using mime, magic and puppets to deal with a dfiifcult subject.

August 5th – 24th (not 11th/18th)   10.00

Kid Box – Kid explores the relationship between mother and kid through lighting and sound design and Box breaks the barrier of dream and reality – ‘ A powerful double bill of dance transforms poetry into body language.’

August 5th – 24th (not 11th/18th)    13.00

The Worm – An Underground Adventure – Join Wilma and William, two nature lovers, on a journey underground as they discover a family of friendly, musical worms and their colourful miniature world.  The Worm is a fun filled musical tale guaranteed to make everyone giggle, wiggle and love the squirmy wonders beneath our feet.

August 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 16th, 17th           10.30

 

 

 

Farm Fest 2014 !!!!!!!!!!!

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I just discovered this great event yesterday – I LOVE Gorgie Farm and we’re so lucky having a city farm here and especially one thats free to visit….

Along with hosting some free fringe events, I’m very happy to hear they are celebrating their lovely wee farm and having a Farm Fest on Saturday 9th August from 11am – 4pm.

It will be a day of fun at the farm – including fairground games, music, arts and crafts, trails, facepainting and much more…if you’re lucky you may even be able to squeeze in a quick ‘hello’ to all the animals too !

WooHoo !!!!!! Dr Brown and his singing tiger are coming back !!!

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I am delighted that Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and His Singing Tiger are returning to the festival this year. If you have not seen this show, please, please don’t miss it – it’s fantastic (and was the winner of Best Presentation for Children: Adelaide Fringe and winner of Director’s Choice Award for Best Show: Melbourne Comedy Festival – so its not just me that thinks so !). Even better, – for this year there is going to be new material and a new show so plenty to keep even the biggest fans happy.

The show is great, full of lots of audience participation and the singing tiger is brilliant, and totally captivating for younger children…I wrote a review of his show back in 2012 which you can read here….I am certain the new show will be just as enjoyable.

BUT, they are only doing five performances, so don’t miss out, its on at Assembly George Square Gardens from August 6th – 10th, at 11.30am.

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)