News: Festival

We are delighted to announce that Belinda McElhinney has been appointed to undertake a PhD over the next three-year in partnership with the University of Aberdeen, on the following topic: Valuing Young Audience: how children experience and value live theatre and dance, and why it matters. This research project seeks to explore and evidence the value of watching theatre and dance for children as audience members in a school setting and in an arts venue. It will use a combination of ethnographic tools including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and workshops to engage with children, teachers, parents and artists to understand the children’s experiences. 

Rosa is one of two Launchpad artists with Imaginate, here she talks about her recent trip to Krokusfestival in Belgium.

Our PhD student Katie Hawthorne is discovering the treasure-trove of the Scottish Theatre Archive at Glasgow University, and meeting with a raft of people from Imaginate's past.

As Imaginate prepares to celebrate its 30th birthday, PhD student Katie Hawthorne is creating an interactive archive to open up 30 years of Imaginate’s history to the public. In this series of blogs, she shares her experience of rummaging through boxes, dusting off photo albums and finding hidden gems...

Imaginate has announced the programme for its 30th anniversary year, which will feature an enhanced Children’s Festival programme including an immersive production from ground-breaking Punchdrunk, two new commissions from Scottish theatre makers, an exciting year-round schools programme, new international partnerships and more development opportunities for artists.

Imaginate is partnering with Merchant City Festival to present two Family Fun afternoons of performances and pop-up characters in Merchant Square. 

Funding success for Imaginate and PUSH partners to develop ideas over the next three years with PUSH+.

Paul Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive of Imaginate, celebrates World Day of Theatre for Children and Young People with a blog about the importance of children as audience.

Imaginate's statement following Creative Scotland's decision to reverse funding.

Imaginate has won the prestigious International Award of The Stage magazine.

Our statement about Creative Scotland's funding and how it is affecting the children's theatre sector.

Shona Reppe who is co-creating Imaginate's commission and recently took part in our EU-funded PUSH lab explains how it has started to influence her practice: "Baba Yaga is about wild women reclaiming the true meaning of the witch as a wise woman who lives without fear, and not a spidery two dimensional purely evil hag..."

We are delighted to announce that our latest commission, Baba Yaga, will be a co-production between Imaginate and Windmill Theatre Co (Australia), created by Rosemary Myers, Christine Johnston and Shona Reppe and co-funded through the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund.

"As an Arts Management student, the experience at Imaginate was a very relevant one as I had the chance to meet industry professionals, experience the working atmosphere of a very-well established festival and to further develop important skills such as communication, team work and problem solving. I would recommend volunteering at this festival to anyone who is interested in a career in the arts!"

Our flagship festival is now called Edinburgh International Children’s Festival (formerly Imaginate Festival). This change reflects the fact that Imaginate not only produces the Festival, but also has a wider remit as a year-round organisation supporting artists to make new and exciting work for young audiences. Imaginate's strategic role within the sector will thus be emphasised, while the Festival's new name will help build awareness amongst audiences who are not familiar with our work.

Our Festival Director, Noel Jordan, fills us in on his travels from the last few months.