This blog post was written by Sam, who joined us in the Edinburgh Food Social office for a week during his high school work experience. It was great fun having him around — especially in the lead up to the Craigmillar Community Campfire. He helped with admin, sales and marketing tasks, and even interviewed attendees at the event. Here’s his version of how the night went:
The evening of November 5th 2025 was Bonfire Night, and there was a big event at Sandy’s that people could go to. There were loads of things to see and do, like acrobatics, fire spinners and live music. You could also join a silent disco, go on a woodland walk and more. One person said: “It was great seeing people outside during bonfire night, as some people just stay inside on this day.”
This really shows how happy people were to see the community come together. Some years, Bonfire Night can involve riots or disruption, which can give Craigmillar a bad reputation. But this event felt different. It brought people together.
Enjoying a hot chocolate in the enchanted forest!
The organisations involved were Sandy’s Community Centre and Edinburgh & Midlothian Greenspace Trust, and they helped us a lot. Their aim was to show that Craigmillar isn’t as bad as people think, and to give everyone something fun and positive to do. It seemed to work too, bus routes didn’t need changed and there weren’t as many police around, which people thought was a good sign. There were volunteers from everywhere: high school pupils, community groups and even people in local recovery programmes.
Before the event started, it was a bit chaotic (but still fun) because we had to rush to get everything ready. At one point, I had to go all the way back to the Edinburgh Food Social office to get more supplies right before the event opened. Then I rushed back to help set up again. This was also my first ever event with EFS and it was really good and fun to be part of.
Cooking class attendees served up their homemade beetroot and lentil dhal.
As soon as the doors opened, everyone rushed straight to the food stalls. At one point, the queue for food was actually bigger than the queue to get in! We served chicken curry, veggie curry, poppadoms, homemade marshmallows, hot chocolate and hot apple and cinnamon cordial. While roasting the marshmallows, we asked Donna what her favourite food was. She said: “I loved the chicken curry — it tasted amazing.” We also asked Dean if he enjoyed the night overall and he said: “It was a great night and I very much enjoyed my time here. I would definitely recommend it to other people for next year.” Then we asked another Sam what the best part was, and while watching the live performances he said: “It was great seeing so many people out during bonfire night.”
It was a really busy and fun event. We were expecting around 500 people, but more than 900 turned up!
I’ve learned a lot during my week at EFS — including how to write this blog! I’m really glad I came here, tried new things and met new people.
Overall, the night was great and I’m happy everyone else had a good time too.
