Family Encounters opens the Children's Festival on 25 May from 10am to 5pm in the lovely setting of the National Museum. There will be a printed programme with a museum map available on the day. You will also be able to download it on this page very soon.
All events are free and drop-in! Some events have a specific starting time while others will be happening throughout the day.
Prom Pom Queen (0-6 yrs)
Kerry Cleland, Katy Wilson, Ben Winger, Alison Brown and Amy Hall Gibson
The Prom Pom Queen and her Pom Pom entourage have arrived - there’s a perfect pom pom for every person! Let the Queen help you find yours... Developed with support from Starcatchers and families in Wester Hailes.
Grand Gallery and other rooms (walkabout): 10:00-12:15 and 13:45-16:15
Grand Gallery (performance): 12:30; 16:30
Performance (15 min)
The Boy Who Couldn't Sit Still (5 yrs+)
Cecilia Thoden van Velzen & Cameron Prince
The Boy Who Couldn’t Sit Still is a dance between a boy and the chair he’s been told to sit in – a chair that secretly isn’t a chair at all. Developed with children from Pilton Youth & Children's Project.
Grand Gallery: 10:15; 11:30; 12:45; 14:45; 16:00
Performance (15 minutes)
Cat and Ball (4 yrs+)
Nudge Puppets and Circus Tempo
Meet a giant cat and her favourite toy a big red ball. Find them playing and join in. Walkabout act featuring a large scale puppet, ball & acrobat.
Gallery, Animal Gallery and Space: 10:15; 11:15; 13:30; 14:45
Walkabout (20 min)
Spaceman’s Spacewalk (All ages)
Dan Brown
Join Spaceman on the first spacewalk of his intergalactic voyage through deep bubblegum space. Watch as he slowly pushes through gravity, to complete his mission and dance his cosmic dance!
Ground Floor (walkabout): 11:15; 12:30; 14:45; 16:00
Hawthornden Court (performance): 13:15; 16:45
Walkabout (45min) & Performance (5 min)
Soup (5 yrs+)
Alex McCabe and Suzi Cunningham, with Fergus Dunnet, Gameli Kodzo Tordro, Dylan Read and Kae Sakurai
Two chefs attempt to make soup using a range of vegetables and utensils while getting into absurd situations. With comical sketches, tea-towel acrobatics, vegetable puppets and interactive music making. Developed with pupils from Forthview Primary.
Hawthornden Court: 10:45; 12:00; 14:15; 15:30
Performance (15 min)
Lo-Fi Hip Hop Beetroots (4yrs+)
Lewis Sherlock
Come celebrates what we all love and hate about vegetables, with two giant beetroots and their carrot microphones dancing and interacting as they roam the museum. Commissioned with Aberdeen Performing Arts.
Grand Gallery and other rooms: 10:45; 12:15; 14:00; 15:15
Walkabout (30 min)
Where Are You? (all ages)
Marion Geoffray, James Beagon, Sophie Harris, Adam Kashmiry, Ola Olsinova, Irinia Vartopeanu and Karen Forbes.
Help Mr & Mrs Hedgehog welcome their animal friends from around the world. Newly arrived in Scotland and scattered around the museum, they'll need YOUR help to make themselves at home in this foreign habitat. Supported by Catherine Wheels and Strange Town.
Starts at Millenium Clock, Level 5 Balcony, Animal World, Level 3 Cafe/ Communicate (walkabout): 10:45-13:00 and 14:15-16:15
Millenium Clock (performance): 13:00; 16:15
Performance (5 min)
The Ambient Arcade (all ages)
Soundplay Projects
A multi-sensory audio visual playground where families can play together to explore sound and moving images in the form of retro-futuristic arcade units.
Seminar Room (Level 4): All day from 11:00
Interactive play (drop-in)
Pop (all ages)
Vince Virr and KJ Clarke-Davis
An energetic dance duet that will get your body popping. Supported by Catherine Wheels and Kala Sangam.
Grand Gallery: 11:00; 14:00; 15:30
Performance (10 minutes)
The World We Share (all ages)
Farah Saleh & Collaborators
How do we solve personal and collective problems? Can we do it together, even though we are all so different? Join an exciting, intergenerational, ensemble as they re-imagine, re-build and reflect upon ‘the world we share’.
Grand Gallery: 11:15; 13:30; 15:00
Performance (15 minutes)
Seashells (3 yrs+)
Greg Sinclair
A short film featuring tongue twisters in eight languages, from Arabic to Urdu. Inspired by the bizarre imagery in the words, each tongue twister has its own specially designed costume. Humorous, colourful, rhythmical and odd, the film is a celebration of the musical beauty of language.
Dunfermline Room (Level -1): All day
Film (10 min)
