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Clicket at the Festivals Day 9

10/08/2012 | 12:02

Author: Catriona

Clicket Blog Edinburgh Festivals Day 9, on clicket.co.uk

Today's blog is all about having family fun at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We're delighted to have a mummy blogger share with us their Edinburgh Festival experience. Do read on! Click here for our recommendations on Family Theatre at the Festival Fringe or Mini Family Festival Fringe Guide.

"I'm writing this on the train with my exhausted boys (7, 10 & 44!) on the way home from our annual Festival extravaganza. This is our fifth year of coming up to visit friends (who also have a 10 year old) for the opening weekend and we tend to go a bit mad. Every year we say we won't do as much this year but we just can't help ourselves, there's so much to do.

During the days we try to do as much with the kids as we can, and now that they're a bit older we're branching out into some of the more grown up early evening stuff with them too. Of course in the evenings the adults act like kids in a sweetie shop with a real pick 'n’ mix of the night time festival too. So here's a little snapshot of our Edinburgh diary..."

Thursday

"With no time to waste we jumped off the train and went straight to our first show, HI Kick, a Korean football dance show. The evening was then spent limbering up for the weekend proper with a cheeky little bit of stand up comedy, Sara Pascoe - the Musical, and checking the game plan for the weekend.

Hairy Maclary and Friends at The Assembly on George Square struck us but only starts Sun 12 Aug and perhaps a little too young for the boys. Aren't the characters cute though!

Sun 12 Aug - Wed 22 Aug. Photo by Eoin Carey

For ages 2+. Photo by Eoin Carey

What to choose?!

We needed to work out the logistics of swapping the children between us, where we could fit in eating between shows and if there was anything else we could cram into the schedule. Have to say, our Clicket itinery came in very handy at this point!"
Friday

The boys bumped into Harry Hill at Waterstones

"We saw three great kids’ shows including the excellent Ballard of Pondlife McGurk (Traverse @ Scottish Book Trust) and a really entertaining A Midsummer Night's Dream at Assembly George Square - a great introduction to Shakespeare, very funny and the boys loved it! An added bonus for the kids was meeting Harry Hill at Waterstone's proving Edinburgh is always full of unexpected surprises!

Quick pizza at home then off see Knee Deep, an Australian circus group - super cool emo acrobats, thrilling, stylish and we all loved it. The kids went home with the other mum giving myself and the two dads the chance to enjoy dinner and another show. The horror comedy musical was a wild-card choice and frankly a bit of a shocker. That was the one I could have given a miss..."
Saturday

"We're now into our festival stride. After a big breakfast we got the day off to a flying start with the hilarious Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre (the kids voted that their top show), followed by the bonkers and delightful Slapdash Galaxy - shadow puppets made of junk this time. The kids enjoyed a run around in the park while three of us got to see some brilliant drama – the double bill at the Traverse (a real brain treat!).

All back together again for The Vocal Orchestra - kids loved this musical / beatboxing extravaganza, the adults could have done without the audience participation! Kids home to collapse in bed and the adults off for a bit of cheesy comedy and grungy cabaret - the perfect fringe evening. Plus, we realised as we walked home at midnight through the beautiful moon lit city that it hadn't rained once!"

The boys about to trail up The Royal Mile
Sunday

The festivals are a bit of a balancing act!

"We spoke too soon. Heavy persistent drizzle today! Still the show must go on so we packed up the raincoats and went to a couple of kids shows: Horrible Histories (NB. not the boys from the telly!) and a serious World War I drama, The Trench, which slightly went over the head of my youngest but which held them all enthralled. The other three adults all enjoyed a delightful slice of lunchtime poetic romcom - Dirty Great Love Story (my husband still grinning over that one - it was his top pick). Our friends took all the kids off for a restorative fry up and an energising swim at the Commonwealth Pool while my husband and I got a child-free moment to enjoy Appointment with the Wicker Man at the beautifully refurbished Assembly Rooms. All reunited for eccentric Irish Dance spoof - which left us all open mouthed at their skill and fitness. The kids were safely despatched home with our host (desperate for an early night himself) leaving the remaining three die-hards for more drama at the Traverse, Angles, followed by cabaret at the Assembly Rooms."
Monday Morning

"Over the past few days we covered over 20 show at 14 venues. As we sit here on the train discussing our hits and misses / our high points and comedy moments I feel like I need a month to recover... but having said that we're already booked in for next year."

Festivals and cake - the perfect combination!
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