I was delighted to join my friends from Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen Writers group at North Edinburgh Community Festival at West Pilton Park on Saturday, and the sun split the skies once again – that’s the third year on the trot!
Congratulations to the organisers and the entertainers who made it such a special day, and also a big thanks to the young festivalgoers who took part in our Citizen Big Board Game!
Looking forward to next year already!
There are lots more pictures on the North Edinburgh News Facebook page
The third North Edinburgh Community Festival will take place on Saturday 1th May 2024 in West Pilton Park. The park sits in the heart of North Edinburgh and draws its audience from Pilton, Muirhouse, Granton, Drylaw, Davidson Mains, Silverknowes and Wardie.
The event which has grown year on year is a fun, free to attend, family day out for new and existing residents to enjoy – promoting opportunities, creativity, enhancing community cohesion, reducing social isolation and celebrating the diversity of the area.
The Festival is going from strength to strength with over 100 local groups, organisations and charities taking part and providing workshops, information and activities – from glitter tattoos to video games, from dodgeball and football to obstacle courses and interactive theatre.
In the open area at the far end of the park we will have the Army, Marines and the Airforce in attendance showing as well as the Scottish Fire Services.
This year and moving forward, one of the key aims of the festival will be to work with young people in North Edinburgh and encouraging young people to take the reigns for future events and festivals.
One of the ways to engage with the young people is through music and over 600 young people from across North Edinburgh have taken part in the Tinderbox Garage Band Challenge, creating their own new music for the event. The winners will perform their original tracks on the main stage at the festival.
The music for the festival has been curated by local organisations Tinderbox Collective and Granton Youth’s Mixtape Music Club.
There will be more than 30 acts playing over the afternoon including over 160 performers, almost all of them from the local neighbourhood. On the outdoor stage, highlights include the incredible Fischy Music, Ama-zing Harmonies Choir, Heritage Of India Through Dance and Edinburgh Ukrainian choir.
On the indoor stage we have an exciting lineup of youth bands who are part of ‘North By North West’ a collaboration project between 5 youth music organisations across North Edinburgh the aim is to get the very best emerging talent out onto the Edinburgh music scene.
From the slick electronic pop of Muirhouse local (and BBC Introducing alumni) Laurent, Granton rapper Leon Highway, or the pop-rock stylings of Drenched in Dreams – we’ve got something to suit all tastes. Look out for amazing youth artists A420, Kieran Crosbie, Mezari, and Trisha Muco finishing out the festival in collaboration with players from Tinderbox Orchestra.
Head into the Sports Hall of West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre to find Tinderbox Games Showcase, an exhibition of playable games made by young game designers of all ages from North Edinburgh.
These will be featured alongside an exciting new escape room made in collaboration with young people from Granton Youth, which draws inspiration from trips to the Granton Hub archives and the area’s rich history, as well as a selection of games made by previous winners of the East Lothian Game Jam.
You’ll discover a mix of digital, physical and table-top games made by the next up-and-coming generation of game designers and creators from the neighbourhood.
Look out for Granton Youth’s stall advertising its youth work provision, which includes work with local schools, detached youth work, counselling for parents and young people, open access youth clubs, family support, and Mixtape – our music club.
This year we are extremely excited to have so many of the Edinburgh Festivals joining us on the day.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival Society will have street performers on the day and will be handing out free tickets to shows at this years Fringe Festival under their new Fringe Days Out Scheme which offers free Fringe vouchers and Lothian bus tickets to people who wouldn’t normally get to experience the Fringe.
The Edinburgh Science Festival are back with bigger and better street performance style science shows as well as their cargo tricycle for their science demonstrations.
And there will be storytelling activities for families from the Edinburgh International Book Festival Citizen Adults Writing Group plus loads of free books for children.
North Edinburgh Arts have a host of activities planned across their two large marquees this year. There will be drop-in arts activities for children and families, carpet bowls, and information on their newly refurbished and extended building opening later this year.
There will be family-friendly performances by commissioned artists, selected by local children from Forthview Primary School and Pilton Youth, as part of the Creative Encounters project, delivered in partnership with Imaginate, the Childrens Festival and North Edinburgh Arts.
And there will be storytelling activities for families from the Edinburgh International Book Festival Citizen Adults Writing Group plus loads of free books for children.
Of course, there cant be a festival without a parade and this year North Edinburgh Childcare have stepped up and organised the parade which will leave from their premises at 1130am and make its way along Ferry Road Drive around West Pilton Park and entering the park for the official start of the festival at 12noon.
The theme is Superheroes and any families looking to join in are most welcome. Pulse of Place will lead the parade and if you are around North Edinburgh on Saturday 11th May, you’ll most certainly hear the parade before you see it!
Other activities on the day include:
Important information from around 80 third sector organisations
Badge making with Pilton Community Health Project
National Galleries of Scotland’s Art in the Open electric cargo-bike for a sustainable art making workshop
Storytelling with Muirhouse and Granton Libraries
Human tower building with Colla Castellera d’Edinburgh
Horses from Edinburgh Equilearn
Each year the festival provides free food – the amazing RRT (Rapid Relief Team) hand out a few thousand burgers and will return again this year.
There will also be free food from Bangla Kitchen and Multi-Cultural Family Base.
This year we have yet again a larger food presence with some new vendors but as always there is cap on the cost of food at £5.
Lyndon Cane from RRT says “RRT is pleased to support North Edinburgh again by providing the signature burger meal at the North Edinburgh Community Festival.
“Care and Compassion is at the heart of what we do, and this event is important for us to attend so we can widen our support to communities during times of need.”
North Edinburgh Community Festival really does have the community at its very heart and we can’t wait to see everyone on the day.
80 stalls from local organisations, charities and groups hosting interactive activities such as glitter tattoos, hair braiding, craft workshops, facepainting, games, help, advice, storytime.
Edinburgh festivals – Edinburgh Science festival with their cargo tricycles and science demonstrations.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society – street performers.
Edinburgh Book Festival – free books and talks.
Colla Castellera – building human towers.
Edinburgh Equi Centre returns with their horses.
Obstacle course from North Edinburgh Childcare, and activities from Royal Air Force, Army and Scottish Fire Services.
Art and craft workshops with North Edinburgh Arts, National Galleries of Scotland, video games and scavenger hunt with Tinderbox Collective.
We have Granton Giants Dodgeball, Super strikers and Blast Boxing.
And things to buy include, tie dye clothing, pocket money toys, wax melts, cupcakes, dog accessories etc.
As for food we have RRT handing out free burgers again but we also have cupcakes and cookies, Indian food, hotdogs plus several other stalls to purchase food from.
We have 2 Music Stages this year – the park stage filled with community music and performances and the North by North West stage inside the WPNC for up and coming young musicians.
The parade will kick start the festival, starting at North Edinburgh Childcare and heading along Ferry Road Drive, round the park and into the park. Everyone welcome to join in the parade – theme is Superheroes!
There is so much going on at the festival, with something for everyone. I hope that you will all come along and enjoy the day.
The festival is free to attend. Many of the activities/food/items will be free but there will also be some that require payment.
Please feel free to share this and spread the word.
If you are looking to reach and engage with over 10,000 people in the North Edinburgh area, then register to participate in the festival.
We have 80 stalls this year and they are fast selling out!
You can be a group, charity, organisation or individual selling arts and crafts. From gardeners to third sector, from armed forces to housing associations; from free food to glitter tattoos, we will have it all.
Stalls cost £50 – marquee, table and 2 chairs will be provided. To register complete this online form:
We are hosting a Festival Gathering and invite you to come along and share your thoughts.
This will take place on THURSDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER 2023 AT 6PM at the West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre. We’d love to see you there.
We now have a Ko-Fi account. A Ko-Fi account lets anyone donate a minimum of £3 to the festival which will go towards providing free meals at the festival next year. We have lost some funding for next year, so any contributions to this festival cause are most welcome.
Granton Youth, who work out of Royston & Wardieburn Community Centre, have developed a very successful ‘Mixtape’ group (writes DAVID MACNAB).
This provides opportunities to learn from volunteers and tutors who come from different backgrounds but perform music. The young people get bespoke lessons such as vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, and drums – along with learning music production, song writing exercises, and how to play in a band environment.
The 2023 – 2024 year looks like it is going to be a defining year for the young people who get music tuition and support from Granton Youth and Mixtape.
This year five of the young acts performed at the second North Edinburgh Community Festival, attended by over 6000 people in West Pilton Park, with Granton Youth and Tinderbox partnering on the musical end.
Kat, who plays under the name “Laurent” (french pronunciation), completed her debut EP “Modern Myths” and released this to much acclaim.
Despite being only 17, they have already been named “track of the week” on BBC introducing in Scotland with the track “News to Me” and has become one of the youngest ever people to headline Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh. Her other singles “Paint” and “Hunting Season” are also receiving national and US airplay.
Tonight – Friday 1st September – the Mixtape club takes over Sneaky Pete’s again, with four young Broughton High students headlining as the newly formed band “Low Tide” and having sold out the venue in advance following the release of their debit single “Between Knuckles” – all received tutelage, rehearsal time, and recording studio hours through Granton Youth.
They have also worked closely with our school workers within Broughton High, forming meaning relationships with Granton Youth which made them feel comfortable in coming to Mixtape.
Later this year, Mixtape has these two acts performing at Dunfermline’s “Outwith” Festival – as well as our young persons covers band “Ecliptic”, has partnered with Tinderbox again to form “North By Northwest” – a free entry gig evening in Leith showcasing young and emerging talent, and will be touring it’s young acts across Scotland in the months to come with shows already scheduled in Aberdeen and Glasgow.
A great example of how youth work can really make a difference to young lives.
North Edinburgh Community Festival held its 2nd festival this year on Saturday 13th May with a record number of people attending this scorching day!
Not only were the numbers high on the thermostat but also for the amount of attendees. Over 8000 people attended the festival at West Pilton Park which is becoming THE community festival to attend in Edinburgh.
The festival provides a fun, free, family day out for new and existing residents to enjoy – promoting opportunities, creativity, enhancing community cohesion, reducing social isolation and celebrating the diversity of the area.
The Festival took place for the first time in May 2022 with an attendance of 6000 people and this year we hit the 8000 attendance mark.
This year, we had over 80 locally based organisations and community groups offering stalls, activities and workshops.
There was interactions available on most stalls like Draw your dream home, hair braiding, face painting and glitter tattoos.
North Edinburgh Arts provided the arts element with creative sessions, dance, park rangers, and HAT HAT HAT Theatre Performances with Imaginate, Edinburgh’s International Childrens Festival and the young people from Forthview Primary School.
Around the park, the festival was bustling with all sorts of family friendly activities such as
Busking Bike Street Science with Edinburgh Science Festival
Granton and Muirhouse Mobile Library
Horses with EdinEqui Centre
Parkour climbing frame with Access Parkour
Rugby with Inverleith Rugby Club and football with Spartans Community Football Academy
Assault Course with the British Army and Obstacle Course with the Royal Navy
One of our core aims is to provide as much free food as possible. This year with thanks to RRT (Rapid Relief Team) we gave away 1500 burgers, Kings Church Street Café handing out over 1000 cups of tea, coffee and hot chocolate, free chocolate bars from Mackies of Scotland and over 1000 packets of Scottish Porridge Oats from Hamlyns of Scotland.
There was also free pizza from The Space at Broomhouse in collaboration with Ooni Pizza ovens, as well as many stalls like Pilton Equalities Project and DCLM Scotland handing out free food, baked goods and juices.
There were a few more food vans who sold food for £5 or less including Scranvan, who sold over 1000 hotdogs, The Chick Kings, Project Esperanza and Lolas selling tea, coffee and waffles.
A large communal stretch marquee took centre place in the park as a gathering space for people to eat, drink, relax and enjoy the festival as well as providing much needed shade!
Lyndon Cane, the Rapid Relief Team’s Local Team Leader in Edinburgh, said:“The Rapid Relief Team was delighted to support the North Edinburgh Community Festival in what was a fantastic event for the local community.
“With the support of our exceptional volunteers from the Davidsons Mains and South Queensferry area, we prepared over 1,500 burgers free of charge during the Festival as part of our shared values for reducing social isolation and enhancing community cohesion.
“Preparing nutritious food forms part of the Rapid Relief Team’s wider charitable mission which puts compassion into action. We work with emergency services, charities, NGOs and many more organisations to help those in need, including through our hot food provision and delivering thousands of bespoke Food Boxes to vulnerable families and children.
“We look forward to seeing the Festival go from strength to strength, with the 2024 event promising the build on the success of this year’s Festival!”
We had two stages this year – the main park stage as well as the Green Room stage located inside the West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre.
Performances included Ama-zing Harmonies, Rai Williams, The Mockingjays and Laurent, all performers and young people are from local groups and schools. Pulse of Place led the parade to the park, then it was time for Fischy Music and a sing-along.
Organised by local charity Low Income Families Together (LIFT), the Festival parade brought together around 250 local families and young people to parade from the Muirhouse Millennium Centre to the Park to launch the Festival. The theme this year was Disney – and what a splendid array of costumes on show as well as hundreds of Mickey Mouse ears!
This festival is a much needed community gathering in North Edinburgh and we could not have put on such a fantastic day without all the organisations, charities, volunteers, young people and individuals who helped pull this all together, and of course a massive thank you to everyone who attended!
Also our sponsors are most important because without them we really couldn’t have supplied anything to put the festival on.
Thank you to CEC Local Cultural Festivals and Events Fund, Police Scotland, National Lottery Awards for All, West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre, Muirhouse Housing Association, Edinburgh College, Scotmid, Nancy Massie Trust, Forth Neighbourhood Network, Mcleod Trust and Manor Housing.
Next years festival will take place on Saturday 11th May 2024, 12 .-530pm, West Pilton Park.
2023 Feedback:
“I just want to pass on my kindest regards and a big “thank you” too, you and your team for everything you all did for us at your Community Festival. Your team were there for us, throughout the day. I have received nothing but very encouraging comments from all of my team. A most enjoyable, very busy fantastic day for all. (Amazing community spirit).”
“It was a beautiful day and we truly enjoyed performing, watching other performances, and visiting stalls.”
“Thank you so much for having us at the festival today. Was a fab day and really enjoyed meeting so many people”
“I just wanted to say thanks so much for having the Book Festival as part of your festival on Saturday. We had such a great time and our writers group really enjoyed performing their stories to families. The book bags I brought down were gone in a matter of minutes – I’ll know for next time to bring 1000 rather than 100! “
ELEVEN members of Edinburgh International Book Festival’s Citizen writer’s group will be sharing their work with North Edinburgh’s children at tomorrow’s Community Festival.
The selection box of stories and poems have a food theme and will appeal to grown-ups and well as primary school children.
You’ll find us in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre from 2 – 3pm.
Come and join Olivia, Dave F, Julia, Jeff, Marjory, Evelyn, Jane, Maureen, Nandini, Carmen and me … There may even be sweeties … !
