- Ten young people (aged 14-18) have taken part in a six-month course with Tinderbox Collective and North Edinburgh Community Festival to learn how to organise a festival.
- The course, Festival Futures, culminates this weekend (Saturday 28th March) in West Pilton for the launch event for North Edinburgh Community Festival.
- The launch event will feature live music from local performers, a games hub, food stalls, community stalls and sports activities.
Local young people are behind the organisation of the launch event for North Edinburgh Community Festival, taking place in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre tomorrow (Saturday 28th March) from 12-2pm.
Festival Futures, a six-month project between Tinderbox Collective and North Edinburgh Community Festival, has allowed ten young people from North Edinburgh to get hands-on experience, workshops and work experience on how to run a live event. This festival launch is the culmination of their work and has given the young people the chance to step behind the scenes and learn how a real community festival comes to life.
The launch event will host live music from local young performers who have been honing their skills and shaping their sound in youth clubs and community spaces delivered by Tinderbox Collective and Granton Youth, including Lotas, Georgia Amery, Abraham Olivier, and Leon Highway.
There will be community stalls from local organisations including Granton Baptist Church, Spartans, Childrens’ Holiday Venture, Project Esperanza and more, as well as sports activities and food stalls. Tinderbox Games Club will also be hosting an escape room they have designed, letting people try out computer games they have designed over the last year.
This weekend’s event marks the launch of the programme for the 2026 North Edinburgh Community Festival, which will take place on 16th May.
Returning for its fifth edition, the much-loved festival continues its mission as a family friendly fun day out for all the residents in North Edinburgh, and a vital community anchor which brings people together, strengthens local pride, and connects thousands with essential services and opportunities.
During the festival itself, Tinderbox Collective will be producing and running the Main Stage, which brings together choirs, youth bands and community performers from across North Edinburgh.
The North Edinburgh Community Choir – a vibrant group of around 100 singers from Pirniehall, St David’s Craigroyston and Forthview Primary Schools and Craigroyston High School – will return to perform, and Tinderbox’s Tuesday Music Club band – made of up thirty young people from across North Edinburgh – will also take to the stage with original tunes and reimagined covers they’ve been developing together.
Also featuring on the main stage are Edinburgh Ukrainian Choir, Ama-zing Harmonies and Pulse Of The Place.
Tinderbox Collective will also join forces with Granton Youth to produce the North by North West stage which will feature emerging young musicians and new talent still to be announced.
Adele Conn, Festival Director of North Edinburgh Community Festival, said: “I’m incredibly proud of the young people in our Festival Futures programme; their creativity, commitment, and professionalism over the last six months have been nothing short of inspiring.
“Seeing them lead today’s launch with such confidence and pride is a real joy, and they should each feel immensely proud of what they’ve achieved.”
The North Edinburgh Community Festival launch takes place tomorrow – Saturday 28th March, from 12 – 2pm at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre and is free to attend.
The full festival will follow on Saturday 16th May 2026 at West Pilton Park and the West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
