Thinking of booking a CeilidhKids Family Fundraiser?
We’d love to help you raise funds for your playgroup, nursery, school,
church or youth group with a family ceilidh! Here are some things to bear in mind.
church or youth group with a family ceilidh! Here are some things to bear in mind.
What about music?
That depends on your budget! An accordion player adds no end of atmosphere, and if your budget isn’t too tight we have plenty of contacts so may be able to book somebody to play the music whilst we do the calling. The best musicians get booked up months in advance, though, so give us lots of warning! If you’re on a budget we can bring along a full professional PA system and MP3 player.
What format works best?
At first everyone arrives in dribs and drabs, keen and full of energy, so it’s best to start with an hour of dancing. It’s a good idea to have water or juice available as dancers do get very hot and thirsty. We can just do the hour, and you can finish it there, or end the event with your own activity. Or if you want a two-hour event, I’d suggest a break after an hour, for a half hour sit down and a snack, after which time everyone is tired and hyper, so a final half hour of dancing is enough to round things off and send them home happy and exhausted!
When and where shall we run our event?
Somewhere with loads of space - people usually underestimate how much room is needed. I can suggest some venues in Edinburgh. Church halls, school halls and community centres are all good. Weekend afternoons are good times for fundraising events. If you want to coincide with Burns’ Night or St Andrew’s day, book well in advance as that’s our busiest time.
Tips for success
We can run you a fantastic family Ceilidh, or a ticketed workshop at a big family festival. However CeilidhKids doesn’t work as a small optional sideshow touting for business in a side room. You need a large area and a focused critical mass of everyone dancing at once, even if it’s only just for 20 minutes. So if you want people to dance, keep other distractions to a minimum and just focus on the dancing. People can eat cake, get their faces painted, play with balloons, or hook the duck either beforehand, afterwards or in the interval!
Remember to maximise your floor space, so by all means put chairs out but put them flat against the walls if you can. Unless people are having a sit-down meal, it’s better not to seat people at tables if it can be avoided, as tables just fill the dance floor!
And DON’T put the food out until you want people to eat it…
I cannot emphsise this enough.
Remember to maximise your floor space, so by all means put chairs out but put them flat against the walls if you can. Unless people are having a sit-
I cannot emphsise this enough.
For children, or for families?
If you’re old enough to go to school, you can dance with your friend. If you’re not old enough to go to school, you’ll need an adult’s hand to hold (or an older boy or girl) - an older partner is essential for wee ones.
But one adult can dance with two children.
But one adult can dance with two children.
So any under-
I’m organising a ceilidh at 2pm on Saturday 6th - can you come and run the dancing ?
Aaaaggghhhh... We’d love to, but most probably not! We get very booked up a long way in advance, particularly around St Andrews Day and Burns night, and we also have lives and families... So if you can give us a few alternatives (such as ‘a weekend in February’ or ‘ a morning at the start of June’) that would increase our chances of finding a mutually convenient date and time.
Happy dancing!