Imaginate & Edinburgh International Children’s Festival

A Home For Hamish | Dundee Rep A colourful, immersive and interactive adventure for young audiences aged 4-7 and their families.Playfully merging dance and British Sign language in a sen

A Home For Hamish is part of Theatre in Schools Scotland, touring to schools across the country in Oct – Nov 2025 and March 2026. There will also be public performances including at Dundee Rep, tickets on sale now.

We can’t wait for young audiences to experience ‘A Home For Hamish’. Playfully merging dance and BSL, audiences will travel across Scotland on a colourful, immersive and interactive adventure, escaping dragons, dancing with jellyfish & even climbing the tallest mountains.

We are on the look out for a new Digital Marketing Coordinator to extend the reach of Imaginate's work including #EdChildrensFest, our exciting artist development work and our schools and communities programmes. Find out more - www.imaginate.org.uk/about/vacancies/

🫧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 We are excited to have Buff and Sheen by Moon Slide as part of Theatre in Schools Scotland touring to Primary and Secondary ASN schools in Sep - Oct 2025. 🫧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

🫧 Join two two imaginative window cleaners in this comical roaming dance performance full of novelty, absurdity and slapstick humour.

We are on the look out for a new Digital Marketing Coordinator to extend the reach of Imaginate's work including #EdChildrensFest, our exciting artist development work and our schools and communities programmes.  Find out more - www.imaginate.org.uk/about/vacancies/

🎉⏰ One week to go until we start performances of The Unlikely Friendship of Feather Boy and Tentacle Girl at Assembly Roxy as part of #EdFringe. 🎉⏰ Check out these stunning new images taken in the last week of rehearsals. 

🎟 Tickets Available Now! 🎟 https://shorturl.at/LIdvh

📣 Are you an artist or freelancer based in Scotland? We have three funded places open to attend EXPORT/IMPORT Festival in Brussels with a group of artists and Imaginate staff. Find out more www.imaginate.org.uk/artists/opportunities/export-import-festival-call-out
Deadline - Monday 18 August

We share works in progress every year as part of #EdChildrenFest!

One of those WIP’s this year was The Runaway Pea by Bear Hug. 

In this new show for young people, it’s time for dinner!  But one pesky pea has decided to roll himself off the plate in search of a party!

Experience ‘FREEDOM: a living poem’ at North Edinburgh Arts this week between 10.30 - 4.30 and 10.30 - 2.30 on Wednesday and Thursday, FREE, Drop in. 

📸 Brian Hartley

We are delighted to announce that Adjjima Na Patalung has been appointed as the new Festival Director for the Edinburgh International Children's Festival.

www.imaginate.org.uk/news

Photo Credit: MAPPA
@creativescots.bsky.social @edinburghcouncil.bsky.social The Scottish Goverment

Did someone say Summer Social? Put the date in your diary cause you don't want to miss our annual get-together, in partnership with Birds of Paradise. 

📌 Studio 2 at DanceBase
⏰ 6:30PM - 9PM.

https://www.imaginate.org.uk/artists/events/summer-social

Don't miss Merchant City Festival this weekend. With an exciting programme of free performances for families including our commissions. See you there!

Find out more here - www.glasgowlife.org.uk/.../imaginat...

Join us for a family picnic in Portobello as part of Welcome to the Fringe: Palestine on Sat 16 August. 

📌 Start at Bellfield community hall or join us on the beach
⏰ 12-2pm

Please book a free ticket!  https://www.imaginate.org.uk/artists/events/welcome-to-the-fringe-palestine-picnic

We can’t wait for young audiences to experience ‘A Home For Hamish’. Playfully merging dance and BSL, audiences will travel across Scotland on a colourful, immersive and interactive adventure.

Part of Theatre in Schools Scotland, touring across the country in Oct – Nov 2025 and March 2026.

Imaginate alongside The Work Room are excited to be supporting Welcome To The Fringe: Palestine taking place through August at Portobello Town Hall.

Join Amir Sabra, a Palestinian choreographer based in Ireland, for a Dabke workshop.

Find out more here -https://lnkd.in/et4SpKhq

During hashtag#EdChildrensFest2025 Lyn Gardner from The Stage shadowed Festival Director Noel Jordan to see what he gets up to on a typical day during the Festival!

Read the full article here
shorturl.at/DXdib

We are delighted to partnering with Emma Lewis-Jones to offer free-to-the artist blocks of intensive Dance Dramaturgy support for Emergent Practices in Scotland, making work for young people aged 10 +.

Deadline: Monday 30 June.

www.emmalewisjones.com/open-call

A performer wearing yellow socks, yellow shorts and yellow t-shirt stands on a yellow stage with three large yellow circles. They are carrying a bunch of colourful frilled fabric in front of their face.

Amazing run of shows of Tongue Twister @edchildrensfest.bsky.social

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - The Guardian
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - The Scotsman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - The QR

“verbal dexterity and visual panache” - Lyn Gardner

Photo - Matthias Kremer

Five cheerful women sitting on chairs in front of a large projection screen, in a traditional panelled room

A banner advertising the Edinburgh International Children's Festival at the base of a curved staircase

Several people sitting at a long table engaged in conversation inside a large room with tall windows

Such a positive and informative session in Edinburgh on authenticity in making work for children this afternoon @edchildrensfest.bsky.social with these wonderful people, sharing practice and joy. Grateful for the support of @sgsah.bsky.social

Found Pale Baron @edchildrensfest.bsky.social very moving & poignant - a dystopian tale based around an underground gig by Felix & Felka. All kinds of q’s, for me, about how hard it is to know when to flee, how you convince yourself you’re not at risk, & how tough it is to uproot and be an outsider

Programme. Beneath The Snow blurb. And photo of dancers in tissue paper snow.

Programme blurb. The Pale Baron. Plus photo of two actors with musical instruments.

A mural on the side of a building in Edinburgh - a red faced Trump on the left & children dancing with the word hope on the right.

The fountain in the park in Edinburgh just off Princes Street with ominous grey clouds rolling in.

Up at @edchildrensfest.bsky.social in Edinburgh today. 2 contrasting shows. One for 6mths-3yrs; poetry in motion. One for 8-14yrs; about poets being banished from a land. Both had children in awe & leaning in. Both inspired me. 1st one I had goose bumps; 2nd I nearly sobbed at the end. Thank you 💕

‘Double You’ by Be Flat @edchildrensfest.bsky.social was AMAZING! Perfect mixture of dance, acro, music - incredible performers and really, really funny. I didn’t think I suffered from FOMO until this. It’s on tomorrow again at Portobello Town Hall - definitely check out if you can!

Had the most brilliant 24 hours in Edinburgh @edchildrensfest.bsky.social 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿✴️

Completely beaming from this whirlwind trip cramming in as much as I could alongside meeting inspiring artists & catching up with familiar faces.

I felt so welcomed as a freelancer in this wonderful space 🥰

We've had a great week @edchildrensfest.bsky.social - including a fab meeting of #PYA England & Assitej UK focussing on priorities for the theatre for young audiences sector. Plus hearing @lyngardnertheatre.bsky.social talking about taking risks in theatre-making.

We loved Not Falling @edchildrensfest.bsky.social very fun show full of energy - and a nice touch to let children get involved at the end to play

Some of the team visited @edchildrensfest.bsky.social yesterday and spent an inspiring day watching new work for young people, and networking with industry colleagues!!
It runs until Sun 1 Jun and we'd definitely recommend catching some shows if you have the chance.
www.imaginate.org.uk/festival/

REVIEW: GROWN UPS (Grote Mensen) from Compagnie Barbarie at the @edchildrensfest.bsky.social.

www.alledinburghtheatre.com/grown-ups-ed...

"★★★★★ Silly" says Sophie Good. "Grown Ups is absurd. And silly. And the most fun imaginable."

Pics: Franky Verdickt

Black stage covered in ladders, sticky tape, buckets, cables … and a glass

The aftermath of the gloriously weird Grown Ups by #compagniebarbarie @edchildrensfest.bsky.social - slapstick don’t-try-this-at-home energy (& honestly not a million miles away from how I’d approach a leaky ceiling)

👅 We are delighted one of our Festival commissions this year, Tongue Twister, will begin performances tomorrow at North Edinburgh Arts! 

🎟 Grab the last few tickets here 
www.imaginate.org.uk/festival/whats-on/tongue-twister

What a day we had yesterday to kick off the Edinburgh International Children's Festival 2025! Thank you to everyone who came along and to the National Museum of Scotland for hosting! Roll on the rest of the festival!

Thanks Cirrus Logic and The Walter Scott Giving Group.

📷 Brian Hartley