Juggling in Edinburgh
A list of where to juggle in Edinburgh, last updated 2020-03-22.
I don’t think any of the indoor clubs below are meeting during the COVID-19 crisis. You could still check out the various Facebook groups below to socialize online, and get tips of things to look at online. If you decide to juggle outside, please keep your distance from people, and avoid dangerous activities. Hospitals have enough to deal with, without avoidable cuts/burns/sprains!
Most of these clubs are open to all, including complete beginners. Except where noted, you will be welcome if you drop in unannounced at any time. Many people will be pre-occupied practicing, so don’t worry if you’re not noticed. Just introduce yourself to someone who seems least occupied.
- Tollcross state circus (Facebook). Juggling and acrobalance club. Mondays 6:30–8:30pm at Tollcross Community Centre on Fountainbridge. Organized by gandolf (att) juggler.net. £1/£2. Does meet on bank holidays. There are usually only three days off a year: Easter Monday, the week of Christmas, and the Monday after that. Directions: enter this gate, go straight ahead and into the next courtyard. The Tollcross Community Centre entrance is on the right. Once inside turn left down the corridor, and we're in a room on the right. We're not currently in the large school hall, so some of the acrobalancers are currently practicing at Room to Move instead. Due to a fire in an adjacent building, the entrance is currently via a walkway starting in the centre car-park on Fountainbridge.
- Juggle jam at Room to Move. Saturdays 6:30–9:30pm. Check status in Facebook group.
- Room to Move also has acro on Mondays?
- The University of Edinburgh juggling club (Facebook).
You can show up and leave at any time during any session. £1/semester. Runs during University term time. From 18 September 2019 is Wednesdays 6-8pm, Lomond Room Pleasance. Go through the entrance at this mark, up the first flight of steps, through the door on the left, and find the stairs down to the Lomond room (used to be called 48a Lower). Some weeks it might be in the room next to the Lomond room, or upstairs in the Upper Hall. Ask at the bar or EUSA office if lost. - Fire club Edinburgh (web, Facebook). They meet by the pavilion on The Meadows near where Coronation Walk and Jawbone Walk meet. You’ll have to join the (closed) Facebook group to see what the current plans are. In the past it met on most Mondays (was called “Monday Meadows Fire Club”), weather permitting, from around 9pm, or later in Summer. I think I’ve seen people spinning there on Tuesdays recently though? Free, unless paying to use someone else’s fuel.
- Edinburgh Hoop Jams (Facebook): a Facebook group for irregular (Hula-)hooping meetups, classes, and workshops.
- Acro training: I don’t do any acrobatic stuff. Someone who does has a Facebook group, Acro Edinburgh, summarizing the options.
- Juggler’s corner (map). On nice summer days, you’ll sometimes find jugglers on “the meadows” (a park), between where Jawbone Walk meets Middle Meadow Walk.
This list is maintained by an individual juggler. I don’t run any of the clubs, I just wanted to make them easier to find.
If you want to get some juggling stuff of your own to practice with, there’s a juggling shop in Edinburgh: Cascade Juggling, 52 Clerk Street.
Hobby jugglers don’t necessarily perform, and I don’t. If you’re looking for a performer, please email someone else, perhaps a club organizer. If you want a job doing (performance or training), hire a professional. Professional circus performers or trainers in Edinburgh include: Analogue Acrobatics, Circus Alba, Delighters, PyroCeltica, Suspended Motion, and Voice Box Theatre. Performers are usually not wealthy, but train hard. Even if you are a charity, please don't ask them to work for free, just as you wouldn't normally expect to get security, a venue, or equipment providers for free either.
See also: similar pages for Juggling in Toronto, Juggling in Pittsburgh, and world-wide club listings on The Juggling Edge.