Five things you need to know about the Leith Festival

The Leith Festival is a community arts festival which comes together in a brilliant 10 day programme from today, 10 June to 19 June.

Here are five things you need to know about this year’s festival.

1. Tonight is the opening night for the festival and it will open with a bang, as a variety of community groups will entertain the audience. From Irish Dancing to a choir, tonight will be packed with entertainment.

2. Fans have until 5pm today to vote for their favourite act out of nine unsigned teenage bands from the Leith area, as they compete for a slot on the Leith Festival Gala Day programme on Saturday 11 June. You can vote at www.facebook.com/musicfaeleith.

3. Dance workshops have been carried out to bring young and old people together in a inter-generational project in a attempt to improve their tea dancing skills. The event will end in a celebration is the Super Jam Tea Dance on the 13th June at South Leith Parish Halls, when participants get the chance to showcase their new moves.

4. There will be various comedy nights taking place throughout the festival, such as The Leith Festival Late ‘n’ Live, which will see all of Edinburgh’s best comedians take part at The Granary. The event is on Saturday the 18th of June and starts at 10pm. Buy tickets at http://www.leithfestival.com/index.php?sn=ev&ssn=tt.

5. No festival would be complete without a beer festival and the Leith Festival is no different. The Beer Festival shall open to today and ends on Sunday the 19th of June. Leith’s beer garden The Pond will be host to all of the Beer Festivals that take place over the next 9 days.

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