Children’s Festival Listings
Edinburgh International Children’s Festival listings 2026
The 36th edition of the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival boasts 15 individual productions in venues around Edinburgh over the first week of June 2026.
This year’s Festival brings together productions from nine countries, with a special focus on Wallonia, the French- speaking region of Belgium, alongside five productions from Scotland — including two new works by disabled artists.
New Festival Director Adjjima Na Patalung celebrates the launch of this year’s Edinburgh International Children’s Festival programme with young people Ruby, Hollie, Sage and Piotr from Forthview Primary School. Pic: Tom Duffin.
Introducing the programme, new festival director Adjjima Na Patalung says: “Across the programme, which spans ages from babies to teenagers, audiences are invited on a journey through a wide range of emotions and experiences: from celebrating nature, to exploring themes of grief, finding home, and standing up to bullying; from dance, circus of objects, and acrobatics to theatre and storytelling.”
As usual the Festival opens with a day of free pop-up activities for families at the Museum of Scotland on Saturday 30 May. Public performances continue from Sunday 31 May to Sunday 7 June.
Productions are staged at the Traverse, Assembly Roxy, Fruitmarket Gallery, Lyceum Studio, Lyra, North Edinburgh Arts, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and the Studio Theatre.
Listings
Click on the name of the show or the Tickets and details link to go to the relevant page of the festival ticketing site.
After the opening event at the NMS, productions are listed by venue and then by date.
National Museum of Scotland
Chambers St, Edinburgh EH1 1JF.
Family Day
Sat 30 May
Events: 1am – 5pm.
Free Family Day, featuring free pop-up performances and artists’ interventions. This year the events include three commissioned works from artists based in Scotland. Windbags, by Ronan McMahon in collaboration with Sita Pieraccini, Fergus Dunnet and Ben Winger (details); Dreich, Drookit and Braw, by Julia Chan, Robyn Gray, Michelle Ross and Vee Smith (details); and Tufts! by Kerry Cleland, Ben Winger, Katy Wilson and Ella Mackay (details). Family day details.
Assembly Roxy
2 Roxburgh Place, EH8 9SU.
The Unlikely Friendship of Feather Boy and Tentacle Girl
Sun 31 May – Sun 7 June 2026
Sun: 1.30pm, 5.15pm; Mon: 11am; Tue: 1.45pm; Wed: 10.15am; Thurs: 1.45pm; Fri: 10.30am; Sun: 4pm.
Running time: 50 mins.
Ages: 8 – 12 Years. (Vee Smith & Sadiq Ali. Scotland)
Æ review from EdFringe 2025: ★★★☆ Mesmerising
Two friends perform breathtaking aerial shows. They fly, spin, hang from the rooftops and fall out of the sky… But they weren’t always so glorious. How did they transform from feeling like outsiders, unable to fit in, to the fantastical creatures they always knew they had inside them? Tickets and details.
Gretel
Tue 2 – Sun 7 June 2026
Tue: 10am; Wed: 1.45pm; Thurs: 10.am; Fri: 2.45pm; Sat: 1pm, 5pm; Sun: 11.30am.
Running time: 50 mins.
Ages: 5 – 10 Years. (Quattrox4 Company Italy)
Gretel lives in a tiny house, surrounded by small and precious objects: a tray, a teapot, a plant, a stool to sit on. She is absent-minded but rigorous, meticulously sticking to her bizarre logic in a world where everything is out of scale and out of place. But a catastrophe suddenly destroys her home, and Gretel must make her new path alone. Tickets and details.
Fruitmarket
45 Market Street, Edinburgh EH1 1DF.
Island
Wed 3 – Sun 7 June 2026
Two shows daily: 10.45am & 2pm.
Running time: 60 mins (including soft start and finish.
Ages: 0 – 12 Months. (Starcatchers and Frozen Charlotte, Scotland)
Join dancers and a musician in a multi-sensory landscape, where your baby is free to explore whilst you take a moment to reflect on the joys and challenges of new parenthood. Tickets and details.
Lyceum Studio
30b Grindlay Street EH3 9AX.
Antes de…
Wed 3 – Fri 5 June 2026
Wed: 1pm, 4.30pm; Thurs: 11am, 1pm; Fri: 9.30am, 11am.Running time: 40 mins.
Ages: 2 – 6 Years. (BRONKS and Compagnie Tea Tree. Belgium)
What happens in the moment just before a first time? Before a first step, a first word, a first leap into the unknown? When curiosity meets fear. Two acrobats stand at the edge — hand in hand, foot to foot. They wobble, wonder, and dare each other forward. Taking turns to lead, to follow, to find the way together. A tender, playful and acrobatic adventure about all the big, small, scary, wonderful first times. Tickets and details.
Walangaan
Cancelled
Ages: 2 – 6 Years. (Théâtre de la Guimbarde. Belgium/Senegal)
Walangaan – flowing water in Wolof – tells the story of the water cycle. Water that quenches, water that trickles over the skin, water that splashes, water that cleanses, water that sings, water that rocks, water that gushes. And water that, sometimes, increasingly, runs out. A singer and a percussionist from Senegal follow the course of the water, revealing its sounds and playing with their voices and bodies, from the drop to the downpour, from the splash to the waterfall.
Lyra Artspace
11 Harewood Road, EH16 4NT.
Brrr
Mon 1 – Thu 4 June 2026
Mon- Thu: 10am, 11.20am, 1.30pm.
Running time: 50 mins.
Ages: ASN 10+ Years. (Hayley Earlam. Scotland)
A multi-sensory installation and dance performance for young audiences with complex needs. Set within an inflatable dome, Brrr is an immersive
exploration of winter featuring dance, sound, video, and lots and lots of snow! Created in collaboration with young people and a team of artists specialising in inclusive practice, the performance is tailored to meet the specific needs of each audience member, who have the freedom to engage in their own way and at their own pace with the shimmering winter landscape. Sold out: details.
North Edinburgh Arts
12C MacMillan Square, Pennywell Road, EH4 4AB.
Wow!
Wed 3 – Fri 5 June 2026
Wed: 10am, 11.30am, 1.30pm; Thurs: 10.30am, 12 noon; Fri: 10.30am, 2pm, 4.30pm.
Running time: 35 mins (Plus 10 mins stay and play)
Ages: 2 – 6 Years. (BonteHond. The Netherlands)
A physical and musical performance that reveals the world through the eyes of toddlers, who delight in everyday objects and situations. Ordinary things that appear mundane or challenging turn out to be much more interesting, exciting, and beautiful than we initially think. Tickets and details.
Scottish Storytelling Centre
43-45 High St, EH1 1SR.
Cringe
Sun 31 May – Wed 3 June 2026
Sun: 7pm; Mon/Tue: 10am, 1pm; Wed: 10am.
Running time: 60 mins.
Ages: 10 – 15 Years. (CompName)
It’s Reid Aitken’s first day of high school and he just wants to vanish. When an embarrassing incident spirals into a legend known only as “The Creeping Snake”, Reid finds himself at the centre of the cruellest joke in
school. Suddenly, the question isn’t how to disappear – it’s how to survive, and who will stand beside you when everything feels impossible. Tickets and details.
Cheeky Zippy Violette
Thurs 4 – Sun 7 June 2026
Thurs: 10.15am, 1.15pm; Fri: 9.45am, 3.30pm; Sat: 12 noon, 3.30pm, Sun: 12noon.
Running time: 55 mins.
Ages: 5 – 10 Years. (Théâtre des 4 Mains / La Datcha. Belgium)
Sent to the attic to think things over, Violette find herself surrounded by memories of her grandpa: his farewell party, the scary stories he used to tell her at night and even their crazy pickle recipes. So she decides to send him a letter to the moon, to tell him about the intense emotions and questions that make up her daily life.. Tickets and details.
Studio Theatre
The Studio, 22 Potterrow, EH8 9BL.
Mirkids
Sun 31 May – Mon 1 June 2026
Sun: 1.45pm, 4pm; Mon: 9.45am, 11.45am.
Running time: 45 mins.
Ages: 5 – 11 Years. (Prototype Status / Cie Jasmine Morand. Switzerland)
Mirkids is a feast for the eyes and the imagination. The audience lies on the stage around a cylindrical structure, gazing at a suspended mirror and glimpsing dancers reflected on its surface. Here an arm, there a leg, disconnected and multiplied. In sync, with a geometric rhythm, body parts create mesmerising shapes like the vibrant patterns of a kaleidoscope: symmetrical, fluid, enigmatic and forever-changing. Tickets and details.
Toto Kerblammo!
Tue 2 – Thurs 4 June 2026
Tue/Wed: 1.15pm, 7pm; Thurs: 10am, 1pm.
Running time: 70 mins.
Ages: 10 – 13 Years. (Unicorn Theatre. England)
Poor Effy. Sent to live with her aunt and uncle in a block that won’t allow dogs. What’s a girl to do? She smuggles her furry friend in, of course. Keeps him under a blanket. Feeds him biscuits. Ssh Toto, quiet. But it can’t last forever. Effy needs saving. And Toto is up to the task. Tickets and details.
The Fabulous Tale of BasarKus
Fri 5 – Sun 7 June 2026
Fri: 10.30am, 2.30pm; Sat/Sun: 11am, 2pm.
Running time: 35 mins.
Ages: 3 – 7 Years. (Company Lamento and L’ Académie Fratellini. France)
BasarKus is like no other creature. He has two heads and many arms and several legs. He is happy playing the guitar with four hands, rolling about and juggling. But BasarKus isn’t one but two! As the performers realise they are separable, they start exploring their own special talent, as acrobat and juggler. Tickets and details.
Traverse
10 Cambridge Street, EH1 2ED.
In Time
Mon 1 – Thur 4 June 2026
Mon/Tue, Thur: 9.45am, 11.45am; Wed: 1.30pm, 5.30pm.
Running time: 40 mins. (Trav 2)
Ages: 3 – 7 Years. (Teater Refleksion, Andy Manley and De Røde Heste. Denmark and Scotland)
One seed, two men – three lives and a budding beginning. Two men need to look after a tiny seed; it is their job to nurture this small life and help it blossom. But as every new parent knows, this is no easy task. When a sheep wants to nibble its leaves, how do you protect it? When techno tracks replace lullabies, how do you accept the change? And as the seedling becomes a sapling and needs to branch out, how do you let go? Tickets and details.
Boys Don’t Dance
Mon 1 – Wed 3 June 2026
Mon: 12.30pm, 7pm; Tue: 10.15am, 1.15pm; Wed: 10.15am, 1pm.
Running time: 60 mins. (Trav 1).
Ages: 8 – 12 Years. (Marc Brew Company. Scotland)
A poignant dance theatre show by acclaimed disabled artist Marc Brew, reflecting on his journey as a boy who defied society’s expectations to embrace his love for dance. The performance unfolds through a tapestry of memories, shedding light on the loneliness of being the only boy in a rural Australian town who dared to dance. Tickets and details.
It Would be Such a Shame if You Missed Out
Thur 4 – Sat 6 June 2026
Thurs: 6.30; Fri: 10am, 7pm; Sat: 2.30pm, 6.30pm.
Running time: 1hr 20 mins. (Trav 1)
Ages: 10 – 16 Years. (Theater Artemis & Theater Basel. Netherlands)
Do you ever feel that you’re missing out? That life is happening outside of your control? That’s how these three characters feel – they are trying to rehearse a play, despite the big party box taking up all the space on stage. Something is going on that they’re not part of. It feels like one big, thumping, steaming party, that they can’t find the entrance to. They hear the bass, but where’s the music coming from? Tickets and details.
Everything/Nothing
Fri 5 – Sun 7 June 2026
Fri: 10.15am, 5.30; Sat: 2pm, 5pm, Sun: 11am, 3pm.
Running time: 55 mins. (Trav 2).
Ages: 7 – 11 Years. (Modo Grosso. Belgium)
How can we make people see, feel and grasp the passing of time using movements? Circus artist Alexis Rouvre takes up this challenge in his circus of objects. Juggler of time, rather than gravity, he manipulates a variety of simple materials to astonishing effect. Using chains, needles and wool, volcanic stones, sand and magnets, he creates a poetic work of wonder which defies the laws of physics. A magical ballet of hanging objects, flying and tumbling down. Tickets and details.
Full details of the 2026 Edinburgh International Children’s Festival are on the Imaginate website here: https://www.imaginate.org.uk/festival/whats-on/.
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