Edinburgh International Children’s Festival 2018 26 May – 3 June

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Edinburghfestivalsforkids

Image result for edinburgh childrens festival

Previously known as the Imaginate festival, the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival is jam packed once again this year with a fantastic programme of Children’s theatre.

The programme includes a fab sounding opening weekend event at the National Museum with two days of free pop-up performances and arts activities throughout the building. Drop in activities will include: live music, walk-about performances, arts activities and storytelling…26th and 27th May

Performances vary in suitability for all ages, from 0 – 15 years old so there really should be something for everyone, check out what’s on here …I’m particularly delighted that the brilliant The Road That Wasn’t There from last year’s fringe is coming back – we absolutely loved it – captivating and imaginative storytelling and puppetry by some super talented folk !!! Image result for the road that wasnt there

Final week !!!!

Posted on August 21, 2017 by Edinburghfestivalsforkids

Gosh, August is flying by and soon we’ll be saying goodbye to the hundreds of shows and the cool circus tents until next year…sniff. But, luckily there is still time to squeeze in a few shows and events this week. Here are some top recommendations ! :

The BBC tent is still open until Friday 25th. Events this week for families include :

Sparkle Arts – Under the Sea (Ages 2-6) Tues 22nd August 10.45am – 11.30am / 11.45-12.30pm

Make sure you have your swimming kit and goggles with you, because today we’re going on an ‘Under the Sea’ adventure. During this class, the magical rainbow fish introduces children to all her mystical sea friends including Sally the Seahorse and Christopher the Crab. Find out more

Bookbug (Ages 0-4) 23rd August: 10.30am – 11.15am / 12 noon -12.45pm and 25th August: 10.30am – 11.15am / 12 noon -12.45pm

Sing along with traditional nursery songs and action rhymes in an event hosted by Edinburgh City Libraries. Find out more

Volcano Day: Geology Rocks (All ages) Thurs 24th August: 10.30am – 4.30pm

Come explore the Earth and learn about the world we live in. Erupt a volcano or become a paleontologist and discover your own fossil. Fun for all the family courtesy of the University of Edinburgh School of GeoSciences. Find out more

Great shows to check out :

Dr. Zeiffal, Dr. Zeigal and The Hippo That Can Never Be Caught – We loved this show, it’s engaging and quirky and again with plenty of interaction, with the audience wearing their Hippo google goggles and assisting in the search of the elusive Hippo !! On until the 28th..

Arr We There Yet ? – A total treat of an hour – pirates, sea shanties, swashbuckling sword fighting fun and lots of impressive acrobatics !! Add to the mix some silly puns and its entertaining for the whole family ! Climb aboard and enjoy the fun….On until the 26th

Circus Abyssinia – This was soooooooooo fun !! A great family friendly circus show, with plenty of colour and energy, spectacular pole acrobatics, crazy contortion-ism and lots lots more ! ….On until 26th …

The Road That Wasn’t There – Wonderful, immersive storytelling with dark edges….a beautiful tale of adventures and maps, with a haunting soundtrack, intricate puppets and lots of mystery ! … On until the 27th…

Morgan and West’s : More Magic For Kids which we loved , you can read the review here – they are such a fantastic duo, charming the audience with their wit and had the children non stop giggling with their rather silly magic ! I’d definitely recommend it , but like last year, it was busy so get tickets early ! …On until the 27th…

China Goes Pop ! Again I would suggest getting tickets early as the queue was massive !! It was very quirky and very fun, with some amazing acrobatics, an infectious pop soundtrack and lots of very smiley, happy performers bringing us an hour of hoops, scooters, circus and hats !! …On until the 27th…

AnimAlphabet the Musical – We really enjoyed this – one for the littler ones, with plenty of music, song and dance and great animal costumes and puppets….On until the 28th…

And not forgetting our old favourites from last year !!! :

Trash Test Dummies – These guys are a firm favourite with my family – dustbins, acrobatics and much silliness ! What more do you need ? (read review here)…On until the 26th..

Children Are Stinky – Children are also scaredy cats, lazy, unimaginative and uncoordinated in this madcap hour of acrobatic fun with loveable Australian clown duo ‘Kylie and Jason’. We loved this show last year (see here ), so if you missed it, do do check it out. Expect daredevil stunts, incredible acrobatics, lighting-fast hula hoops, loads of laughs and mischievous fun …On until the 28th…

And if all that wasn’t enough, there is still time to check out our favourite hot donut stall in Assembly George Square Gardens too !!!

First Week Highlights….2017

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Edinburghfestivalsforkids

So, it’s probably not technically the first full week of the festival- but with previews shows that we were seeing last week, it has been for us; and what an amazing first week it’s been ! We’ve seen such a variety of shows and been out exploring all the family friendly places to hang out at the festival and sampling some of the rather tasty treats on offer too!! How great to get some sunshine aswell….

For now my highlights have been :

The Road That Wasn’t There – Wonderful, immersive storytelling with dark edges….a beautiful tale of adventures and maps, with a haunting soundtrack, intricate puppets and lots of mystery !

Mavis Sparkle– It’s hard not to love Mavis Sparkle, with her glitter, her impressive cleaning trolley with all the little doors and surprises, her cheeky cuckoo clock and her friend Spike!

Circus Abyssinia – This was soooooooooo fun !! A great family friendly circus show, with plenty of colour and energy, spectacular pole acrobatics, crazy contortion-ism and lots lots more !

Other hot tips on the family friendly grapevine are :

The Listies Make You LOL – With plenty of poo jokes, alien attacks and dirty underpants, these guys are well worth checking out !!

Nick Cope – Our family loves Nick Cope – and you’re never too young to discover the wonder of his brilliant, humorous and melodic songs about such things as dragons named Keith, pirates, dinosaurs and of course…poo ! Read our review from last year here

First day ….

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Edinburghfestivalsforkids

I’ve had a brilliant kick off to the festival, it’s actually more of a day and a half but we’ve dived straight in and four shows down we’re loving it and looking forward to much much more !

On Wednesday we went and saw Morgan and West’s : More Magic For Kids which we loved , you can read the review here – they are such a fantastic duo, charming the audience with their wit and had the children non stop giggling with their rather silly magic ! I’d definitely recommend it , but like last year, it was busy so get tickets early !

We did some hanging out in George Square gardens with the fake grass and picnic benches, and the rather delicious hot donut stall (!)….

Yesterday was our first full day, packing in three shows. We started off with the magical and rather lovable Mavis Sparkle….a really gentle and enticing show about Mavis who’s a cleaner and her cuckoo clock and mystery pet Spike – sprinkled with magic tricks and some beautiful shadow puppetry, it really is very very engaging!

Then we got stuck into some of the fabby arts and crafts at the Kidzone – my two made some fun shrinkies and badges and are already planning to go back next week for pom pom wasps and fairy jars !!

Next up we saw the utterly enchanting and captivating The Road That Wasn’t There – Trick of the Light Theatre have once again brought some incredible storytelling and intricate paperwork and puppetry to the festival. It is best suited for older children (says 8+) with a slightly dark edge to the story at times, but we were lost for an hour, totally lost in the story and loving the set, the songs, the puppets and of course the maps…..one not to be missed I’d say.

We finished up with the mad, musical, colourful extravaganza that is China Goes Pop ! Again I would suggest getting tickets early as the queue was massive !! It was very quirky and very fun, with some amazing acrobatics, an infectious pop soundtrack and lots of very smiley, happy performers bringing us an hour of hoops, scooters, circus and hats !!

Phew…..I feel like I need a rest after all that lot, but today I’m looking forward to the BBC tent opening !

My Top Six Children’s Show at Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2017

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Edinburghfestivalsforkids

As always, flicking through the festival programme I’m getting very excited and also have the familiar sense of being overwhelmed and spoilt for choice yet again as the number and variety of children’s shows available this year is fantastic !

Trying to whittle down what to recommend is extremely tricky ! There are some favourites of ours returning from last year along with some brilliant looking new shows from much loved theatre companies …I’ve put together the following top 6, but as before, please let me know your own recommendations, top picks or old favourites!! ( Some of my other favourites (such as the superb Nick Cope ) will feature in a later post on shows for littler little ones so I can squeeze in these six !!! )

How To Be A Kid – Paines Plough have absolutely wowed us the past two years with their shows in the unique Roundabout venue at Summerhall and this year’s show looks set to do the same. Molly cooks. Molly does the dishes. Molly gets her little brother Joe ready for school. Molly is only 12, but she doesn’t feel much like a kid anymore. Now Molly’s mum is feeling better, maybe things will get back to normal. Can you help Molly learn how to be a kid again? 4th – 20th August ( not 8th/15th)

The Road That Wasn’t There – Brought to us by the team behind The Bookbinder, Trick of the Light theatre are bound to bring something equally magical and spectacular with this new show about a girl who followed a map off the edge of the world… In New Zealand there are some 56,000 kilometres of paper roads – streets and towns that exist only on surveyors’ maps. Or do they? Puppetry, shadow play and music at it’s very best. 3rd-27th August (not 14th/21st)

Children Are Stinky – Children are also scaredy cats, lazy, unimaginative and uncoordinated in this madcap hour of acrobatic fun with loveable Australian clown duo ‘Kylie and Jason’. We loved this show last year (see here ), so if you missed it, do do check it out. Expect daredevil stunts, incredible acrobatics, lighting-fast hula hoops, loads of laughs and mischievous fun … 3rd – 28th August (not 9th/16th/23rd)

The Gruffalo’s Child – Brought to the Fringe by the brilliant Tall Stories- Julia Donaldson’s much loved tale is brought to life in this magical, musical adaptation. Because the Big Bad Mouse doesn’t really exist… does he? Join the Gruffalo’s child on his mischievous meander through the deep, dark woods… 2nd-20th August (not 5th/9th/16th)

Arr We There Yet ? – I was fortunate enough to catch the Head First Acrobats circus show Elixir last year and it was spectacular, so I’m very very excited about their children’s show this year ! A rip-roaring and swashbuckling adventure in which three sailors hit the high seas in search of treasure! A scallywag pirate, a muscular sailor and a chef with a seafood allergy make for a hopeless crew, as they fight for the title of captain aboard the ship. 5th – 26th August (not 14th/21st)

David Walliams The First Hippo On The Moon – Two big hippos. One enormous dream. Who can make it to the moon first? Three… Two… One… blast off! Adapted for the stage by Les Petits Theatre Company following their tour of Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs, this looks like it’s going to be a fun and creative show for fans of the book and little ones alike. 2nd- 20th August (not 15th)

edinburghfestivalsforkids

making festival fun a little easier…

Tag Archives: the road that wasn’t there