Various venues across Edinburgh
The Edinburgh International Children’s Festival celebrates the best of children’s theatre and dance from around the world, showcasing high quality Scottish and international performances to an audience of children, their schools and families each year.
Featuring a mix of circus, dance, storytelling and theatre and with an emphasis on striking visual productions, the international programme aims to inspire and engage children, from toddlers to teenagers.
Running from 24 May to 01 June 2025 the festival’s 35th program explores timely topics such as celebrating difference, our fear of missing out, and the search for identity, weaving in humour and excitement to connect with children regardless of their circumstances, access needs or location.
Opening this year’s festival on Saturday 24 May is the Festival’s Family Day – a full day of popular, free, pop-up performances and artist interventions at the National Museum of Scotland.
Some of this year’s highlights include:
- Intimate sensory works for babies that will delight young audiences with their beautiful design and gentle interactions. These includes Great Big Tiny World an immersive show filled with sounds and scents taking placein a space filled up with hundreds of plants, or Beneath the Snow which creates a world of white tissue paper from which emerge beautiful creatures.
- Shows for both children and adults, with family pleasers such as Grown Ups and Double You featuring adults behaving badly with hilarious consequence, while The Show for Young Men depicts a funny and moving performance about friendship between a man and a boy.
- A regional focus on Flanders, with four stunning productions representing the vibrant and dynamic children’s theatre scene from this region.
- Two new Expo-funded commissions by Scottish companies, Tongue Twister and The Unlikely Friendship of Feather Boy and Tentacle Girl, which will be touring Scotland in the lead-up to the Festival. Both focus on celebrating diverse cultures and accepting differences.
For more information and to see the full programme, visit Edinburgh International Children’s Festival.
