Leith Festival marching to its own beat

Behind the scenes things are pretty frantic. The organisers who are busy tying up loose ends admit as much themselves, revealing they are "exhausted" with less than a week to go until the launch of the Leith Festival 2011.

"It's great though," says Adele Conn, festival manager. "We're surviving on the adrenaline."

The festival itself starts on Friday, lasting just over a week, with more than 100 shows packed into 50 venues across the port. It's the highlight of the summer in Leith, a chance for locals, and visitors from elsewhere in Edinburgh and beyond, to celebrate all the area has to offer.

But it wouldn't be complete without its showpiece event - the annual gala day, which takes place a week today.

While Adele and her team are finalising the intricate details involved in managing the festival, hundreds of locals are also very busy - many of them making costumes and perfecting dance routines for the moment they will take centre stage in the community, some of them among the 250 people who will take part in the annual Leith Pageant.

"There is a real buzz about the place at the moment," says Adele. "This year there will be even more of a family feel about gala day, with lots of bouncy castles and slides for children, as well as outdoor sports such as football."

There will also be 130 stalls packed on to Leith Links, including one manned by staff from the Scottish Lime Centre who will encourage people to try their hand at traditional stonecutting and plastering. Environmental group Greener Leith will be offering demonstrations and Play to Learn will be hoping as many people as possible join them for a day of action-packed sports.

Taking to the main stage will be a broad selection of entertainment, ranging from Scottish country dancers to live music, providing a backdrop of sound for the day. There will also be the popular Taylor's Fun Fair at the event, adding the thrill-factor to proceedings.

One event not to be missed is the festival's legendary tug o' war, now in its tenth year, which sees teams from the port's many pubs battle it out for glory.

"Then there is the pageant," says Adele. "It's very big this year. The theme is 'The monsters are coming' so we'll have decorated mini-buses and lots of costumes.

"The amount of people asking to be volunteers at the event has been overwhelming this year. It is definitely going to be bigger than 2010."

Rain or shine, the Leith Festival Gala Day will go ahead and if popularity in previous years is anything to go by, it looks set to be a busy one.