In August 2026, Wild Wings of Hope joined the Edinburgh International Book Festival for three days of family creativity inspired by one of the city’s most remarkable summer visitors—the swift.
The project unfolded in two parts.
It began with a joyful takeover of the Children’s Tent, where environmental artist Ed Harrison and Ghanaian storyteller and musician Chief Gift Amu brought the swifts’ migration between the UK and Africa to life through papercraft, stories, songs and participatory drumming.
Over the following two days, Ed hosted a papercraft stall in the Discovery Zone as part of the festival’s schools programme. Pupils created paper swifts and clouds while learning about their extraordinary journeys and the habitats they depend upon.
What We Delivered (over 3 days)
Families created & decorated paper swifts, transforming individual artworks into a growing community flock.
Chief Gift Amu led African rhythms & songs, bringing families together through movement, music & shared energy.
Interactive stories followed the swifts’ remarkable migration between Scotland & Africa, blending imagination with nature-connection.
Ecological facts & hopeful messages about swifts, sharing Scotland’s new law requiring swift bricks to provide nesting spaces in new housing developments.
The Papercraft
Participants were invited to create and decorate their own paper swifts while discovering more about these remarkable summer visitors, which had begun their epic migration south just the week before.
In the Children’s Tent, each session began around the craft tables, where Ed and the festival team helped families assemble their birds before carrying them into the storytelling circle.
With every new participant, another bird joined the flock, gradually transforming the space into a colourful celebration of collective creativity.
A wonderful and energetic presence. The sessions were interactive, educational and joyful.
Stories & Songs
With their finished swifts in hand, families settled onto rugs and beanbags for interactive storytelling, songs and participatory drumming led by Ghanaian storyteller, master folklorist and musician Chief Gift Amu.
Ed introduced the swift—one of the smallest yet most astonishing visitors to Scotland’s summer skies. Spending almost its entire life on the wing, this tiny traveller journeys thousands of miles between Scotland and Africa each year.
Stories of awe and wonder were woven together with hopeful developments closer to home, including plans for swift bricks in certain new buildings across Scotland, providing much-needed nesting spaces for their return.
Music-Making with Migrating Swifts
Chief Gift Amu brought migration to life through African rhythms, participatory songs and movement. With paper birds in hand, children warmed up their wings and imagined music travelling between continents alongside the swifts.
What began with one small paper bird soon became a flock—making, moving and singing together.
Project outcomes:
- Creative learning: Introducing children and families to the remarkable lives and migrations of swifts through playful, hands-on papercraft.
- Community making: Bringing individual birds together into a shared flock, celebrating creativity and collective participation.
- Music & connection: Bringing families together through African drumming, rhythm, movement and shared song.
- Nature connection: Inspiring curiosity, wonder and care for migratory birds and the places they depend upon.
- Cross-cultural storytelling: Connecting Scotland and Africa through migration, traditional storytelling, craft and live music.
- Hope & coexistence: Exploring how communities can make space for wildlife and inspiring hope for a shared future.
Wild Wings of Hope in AR
An immersive craft and storytelling experience for healthcare settings that supports wellbeing, reflection and connection with nature.
