AND THE SUN IS SHINING ON WEST PILTON PARK ONCE AGAIN!!
North Edinburgh Community Festival is back TODAY – Saturday 16 May, taking over West Pilton Park for a full day of music, food, activities, sports, arts and crafts and proper community spirit.
Expect live performances, family fun, local groups showcasing what they do best, and plenty of free things to get stuck into. It’s a celebration made by the community, for the community, and everyone’s invited to come along, get involved and make the park buzz.
The festival parade will set off from North Edinburgh Arts at 1030am and wind its way to West Pilton Park arriving for 12noon. It’ll be led in vibrant style by local groups, organisations, schools and performers – a wonderful colourful collaboration with Edinburgh Carnival.
Expect colour, music and a proper burst of energy as the community walks, dances and drums its way into the heart of the festival.
This year, we’re continuing our testing of an initiative to to expand access and the sense of belonging at the festival.
If you don’t mind being a “casual interpreter” and helping our friends who may not speak much English navigate the festival (or even chatting with those who just want to speak their heart language! ), reach out to elizabeth.hampson@mcfb.org.uk and let me know what language(s) you speak!
We’ll make you a lovely lanyard and hopefully we can build up some community through shared languages.
Scruffs Dog Show is back — and we can’t wait to see your four‑legged superstars shine!
From waggiest tail to best male, this is your pup’s moment to steal the spotlight. Bring the family, bring the fun, and let’s celebrate the dogs who make our days brighter.
Join us on the day and get ready for a whole lot of paws, applause, and happy chaos!
We are looking for volunteers to help us at the 5th North Edinburgh Community Festival on Saturday 16th May. Any time you can give would be most welcome.
We’re looking for help with the following:
SETTING UP
help setting up the festival in the morning pre opening to the public at 12noon. This includes placing tables and chairs in all the marquees, helping set up the food court, putting up signage and other general tasks. 8am-11am.
MANNING THE REGISTRATION DESK
Showing people where to go and general information. 12noon – 530pm.
DISMANTLE AND CLOSE DOWN POST FESTIVAL
Helping to pack down the festival – packing up of tables and chairs, helping with rubbish and litter, and removal of signage.
PARADE STEWARDS
The parade starts outside North Edinburgh Arts, Macmillan Hub and walks towards the park. Route should take about 45 minutes.
If you are keen to get involved, even if its for an hour or two across any of these roles, please email northedinfest@gmail.com
Get ready for big colours, big noise and big North Edinburgh spirit. Whether you’re marching, cheering or just soaking up the atmosphere, come join the fun and show what this community is made of. Let’s make it unforgettable.
If you want to be part of the parade, wear costumes, sing, dance, or just walk the route, contact stephnecf@gmail.com
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.
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.
SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY FESTIVAL – REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!!!
As many of you know, we run this event on passion, community spirit, and a shoestring but this year the funding challenges have been extreme. So much so that, for the first time, we’re facing the very real possibility that the festival might not be able to go ahead.
To give us the best chance of keeping it alive, we’ve introduced a tiered cost for stalls, ranging from a heavily discounted £80 up to £250 depending on the size of your organisation.
This structure lets smaller groups stay involved while asking those with more resources to chip in a little extra to support the wider community.
If you’re taking a trading or community stall, we’re encouraging everyone who can to select the £150 payment. That contribution genuinely makes a difference to whether the festival can run. But if £80 is what’s manageable for you, please know that it’s still hugely appreciated, your presence matters just as much.
We’re doing everything we can to protect this festival and the space it creates for local makers, groups, and neighbours.
Your support, in whatever form you can offer it, means the world.
Thank you for sticking with us and for being part of what makes this festival special.
), reach out to elizabeth.hampson@mcfb.org.uk and let me know what language(s) you speak! 
Scruffs Dog Show is back — and we can’t wait to see your four‑legged superstars shine!
Join us on the day and get ready for a whole lot of paws, applause, and happy chaos!
COMMUNITY PARADE ALERT 
