Edinburgh’s “other festival” is being revived, despite the challenges of the Covid pandemic.
Over the weekend 14-15 August, 16 venues across Craigmillar will stage concerts, shows, art exhibitions, food stalls, story-telling sessions, football matches and a parade. All of this activity celebrates the 100 years since Craigmillar became part of the City of Edinburgh.
Sometimes called “the People’s Festival”, the original Craigmillar Festival began in 1962 when local woman Helen Crummy, MBE, was so shocked at her son being denied violin lessons at school that she started her own music festival. She and a valiant band of volunteers ran it every summer for 40 years until 2015. At one point in the 1970s the festival employed 500 people and involved 1500 volunteers. It inspired local community arts initiatives all over the world.
This year it is being brought back to life by over 20 local organisations, including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra which is beginning a year-long programme of events in Craigmillar. Members of the orchestra will be staging a children’s show at Craigmillar Castle, hosted by the TV presenter Chris Jarvis.
There will be an opening ceremony at noon on 14 August at the Helen Crummy statue outside Craigmillar Library.
Paul Bush, of EventScotland, one of the sponsors of the festival, said: “Events play an important role in our communities as they sustain livelihoods and bring social and economic change.”
