This is what used to be called Imaginate, but the organisers have decided on a more descriptive name for the festival which runs from 27 May to 4 June 2017.
There will be 15 shows from 9 countries following a free festival opening weekend at the National Museum of Scotland. There are drop in events all weekend and all completely free.
After the festival a brand new international co-production will tour the country for three weeks.
The programme has just been launched and it will include theatre, dance, multimedia and puppetry shows for children and young people. The very young might like Primo which is an underwater installation in a large inflatable swimming pool, or Grass which is an exploration of the earth on real turf exploring the world lived in by wrigglers!
For older children there is Falling Dreams looking inside the mind of a teenage girl and Evil looking at bullying in a Swedish boarding school.
Wee Night Out
The festival will also be the culmination of a special initiative which gave a group of 10-15 year old children from Craigmillar the opportunity to work with the Festival Director. Together, they attended eight productions at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and following heated discussions about what they had seen and liked, selected two productions that have been included in the 2017 programme: Evil and Into the Water. The project was funded by The City of Edinburgh Council.
Festival Director Noel Jordan said: “2017 will witness changes and new beginnings at Imaginate. As Edinburgh celebrates its 70th anniversary as festival city, we are now firmly established in the yearly calendar of festival offerings, presenting our 28th international festival. I am thrilled that 2017 will see the staging of my first program in the role of Festival Director and am genuinely excited by the calibre of local and international artists presented at the festival. No two productions are alike and in no other city in the world is there an opportunity to see this incredible array of work which is electrifying, stimulating and continually surprising.”
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, said: “This year’s festival will deliver a diverse, high-quality programme of work in Edinburgh and beyond including Night Light, which was funded through £80,000 provided by the Scottish Government EXPO fund. Research has provided strong evidence on the value of young people experiencing culture from an early age, and the Children’s Festival ensures their exposure to high-quality arts. As Edinburgh celebrates its 70th anniversary as a festival city, it is a time for our artists to dream, reflect, invent and celebrate, bringing Scotland to the world and the world to Scotland through arts and culture.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
