In September 2024 APIC worked with local children and teenagers from Langlees and Bainsford, Falkirk to hold a Children’s Neighbourhood Festival. The children and teenagers sought to bring the community together to celebrate the positive attributes of their neighbourhood and promote community spirit. You can listen to our new podcast on the festival project here and read more below!
The Children's Neighbourhood Festival Podcast
The Origins of the Festival
The idea for the festival began back in 2023 during the development of a neighbourhood plan with pupils from Bainsford and Langlees Primary Schools and Falkirk High School. Through a series of workshops, the young people identified a shared goal: to host a community festival that would bring everyone together and celebrate the positive things in their neighbourhood that they felt were sometimes overlooked. They wanted it to focus on play, walking, cycling, and the environment. This vision led to an application for funding from Paths for All, who generously match-funded the festival with Falkirk Council.
Co-Creating the Festival
With funding secured, the real work began. The planning, preparation and communication of the festival was done with local schools, ensuring that young people had a meaningful say in shaping the event. Through multiple sessions, the children and young people contributed ideas for activities, stalls, and entertainment—all while learning valuable skills in event planning, teamwork, creative thinking, conflict management, health and safety, persuasive writing, and supporting others. Their enthusiasm and creativity shone through, from designing posters to deciding on the layout and feel of the day.
A Day Packed with Fun
Held on the 6th of September at Langlees Primary School’s playing fields and nearby Dawson Centre, the festival was a resounding success. The grounds were filled with vibrant activities, including:
- Lots of Inflatables: A bouncy castle, a Helter Skelter, and a bungee run were among the favorites.
- Sumo Suits: These drew huge queues and fantastic photographs.
- Creative Spaces: An arts and crafts stall and an art gallery created and managed by young people. Both Primary 7 pupils and Falkirk High art students led face painting, and showed of their creative talents!
- Local Heroes: Falkirk Football Club brought skills sessions and their mascot, Fergus the Fox, while the fire brigade—briefly—allowed kids to try out the fire hose, and the community police officer gave children tours of his car. Cycling without Age gave people rides in their trishaws.
- Exotic Animals: Racks to Reptiles gave attendees the chance to meet snakes, lizards, and even massive insects.
- Community Connections: The marquee hosted stalls from local organisations like Baby Steps, Central Carers and Forth Environment Link—whose smoothie bike proved very popular.
- Climate Action: Fourth Climate Forests distributed free trees to support local greening efforts, whilst Sustainable Thinking Scotland gave free food and talked about their exciting biochar project.
- Food and ice-cream: The children from Langlees Primary did an amazing job of serving up food from the marquee stall, including pasta and sandwiches and juice, whilst the ice-cream van provided free ice-creams to children and teenagers!
Uniting the Community
The festival’s success lay in its ability to connect the community in a joyful and friendly setting. Families with young children, local residents, councillors, and community organisations all came together to share time together and appreciate the efforts that the children and young people had made for them. The Dawson Centre, initially booked as a backup in case of rain, served as a hub for tea, coffee, and additional stalls and provided a quieter space amidst the lively festivities.
Adding to the atmosphere, Falkirk High School’s young pipers delivered amazing performances demonstrating their talent and stamina.
A Lasting Impact
The Falkirk Community Festival was more than just a fun day out—it was a testament to what can be achieved when children and young people take the lead, and their ideas are respected and implemented. Their energy and dedication created a memorable event that fostered stronger community connections and set a positive example for future initiatives. It was even featured in the Falkirk Herald.
The festival’s success shows the power of collaboration and the importance of giving young people a platform to shape their local areas. As one young participant, Freya, put it: “We just wanted to create something that brought everyone together to have fun as a group.” Mission accomplished.
If you’d like to discuss this project, or if we can help you with something similar, please contact project lead Anna Gaffney: anna.gaffney@aplaceinchildhood.org.