Seekers of wonder and amazement are invited to ‘lose themselves in magic’ this summer as the Edinburgh International Magic Festival celebrates its 7th magical year as the UK’s biggest festival of  magic running from the 1st – 8th July.

Edinburgh is set to sparkle with an enchanting programme of world-class magic events, unforgettable performances, and jaw-dropping stunts from some of the greatest illusionists, mindreaders and accomplished magicians from around the world.

And even better is that there are some great events for kids, including a fantastic sounding magic school and a matinee performance of the Magicfest Gala show…

• MagicFair: 1st – 3rd July | Summerhall
• This year’s MagicFest launches with a brand new three day MagicFair at Summerhall – a multi-room experience enticing visitors to lose themselves with a full spectrum of magic performances and watch up to 10 live shows all with one ticket across morning (10am-2pm), afternoon (2-6pm) and lates (7.30-11.30pm) sessions.Family oriented morning sessions offer free entry to under 7s, who can enjoy Magic School workshops, wand-crafting, treasure hunts and six different live shows.Between shows, festivalgoers can explore the Ribbon Maze, Magic & Circus Shop, Sam the Scam Banco Booth and enjoy spontaneous close-up magic, comedy, illusions and sleight of hand with food, drink and music in the open-air courtyard.
• Magic School & Workshops: 4th – 7th July | Quaker Meeting House | £80/18 Ages 7-10   The most mysterious summer school in the world!This 4-day course or 2.5 hour workshop will bring-out the inherent magic talents of budding young wizards, under the supervision of Head Master Gary James. Magic School students will learn, create and perform their own magic tricks, with each day focussing on a different area of magic and performance, from levitation to vanishing card tricks, with a graduation ceremony and magic show for family on the final day.
• Magic and Variety Gala Show: 8th July | Festival Theatre | From £14 | Age 5+
• Due to incredible popularity, a matinee performance has been added to this year’s MagicFest Gala, which brings the festival to a splendiferous finale.Believers and sceptics will be blown away by this two and a half hour variety of breath-taking performances from world champion illusionists, mindreaders, masters of the impossible and confounding magicians from Scotland and around the world. Highlights include South Korean Digital Time Traveller Hun Lee; Alchemist Young Min Kim, who deconstructs matter with the touch of his hand; Scotland’s mindreading equivalent to Sherlock Holmes and sell-out act Colin Cloud; Spanish magic world champion Hector Mancha; and mind-dizzying hula hoop artist Miss Polly Hoops.

   

  Plenty of things to keep the wee ones entertained and to spark their magical imaginations !