What’s on in Edinburgh this weekend? 25th March 2011

25th March 2011

The traditional arts festival that takes place in Edinburgh each spring, Ceilidh Culture, gets going this weekend at The Usher Hall and a variety of other venues across the city. Too many things to mention so have a look at their site!

Tonight at St Bride’s Community Centre Sporrandipity will be playing. “Sporrandipity is a lively and energetic band with a ceilidh that is open to all comers. Whether you are a novice or an experienced dancer there is a dedicated caller who will provide as much, or as little instruction, as you need. Experienced dancers will enjoy their unique twist to some of the well-known tunes and some more obscure dances that will keep you on your toes. They have a knack of making everything beautifully simple so that all ages and all levels are welcome.”

Friends of the Earth Scotland are holding a Craft Fair on 25 & 26 March 2011.  Entry is free and there will be a cafe selling drinks and home baking. List of exhibitors on the  FOE website. Augustine’s Church, George IV Bridge | 10 am – 3.30 pm | free

Guid Crack – Edinburgh’s monthly adult storytelling session at The Waverley Bar. An open floor special for the Ceilidh Culture festival

Waverley Bar (Address: 3-5 St. Marys Street, EH1 1TA, tel. 131 556 8855) | 7.30 pm | entry by donation (suggested £3)

Royal Scottish National Orchestra – Jarvi Conducts the Leningrad. Every performance of Shostakovich’s “Symphony No 7 – Leningrad” is a special event. Everybody is welcome to join a musical feast at Usher Hall! The pre-concert talk will be given at 6.45

Usher Hall (Box office: Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH1 2EA)| 7.30 pm

26th March 2011

Part of Ceilidh Culture there is a Family Ceilidh at 14.00pm at Rudolf Steiner School. “Family-friendly ceilidh with all dances called by Caroline of CeilidhKids with music by funky regular band Hud Yer Wheesht. Aimed at primary school children, parents and friends, we’ll have an organic juice bar and snacks, face-painting, a raffle and special guests. The is a Ceilidh Collective event, in association with CeilidhKids, fundraising for the Pregnancy and Parents Centre.”

Cadenza CD Fundraising Concert

Music | £8, £6 (conc.), £2 (schoolchildren)

One of Edinburgh’s leading chamber choirs, Cadenza, is performing to raise money for their next CD, due to be released in 2012. The repotoire will include classical, jazz and folk arrangements of works by Vaughan Williams, Gerswhin, Richard Rogers and George Harrison and many more. A light-hearted programme which should make for a very enjoyable evening.

St Peter’s Church | 7:30pm | Lutton Place, EH8 9PE | (0131) 447 3102

Disco Fever – Edinburgh Cyrenians

Dance | £9, £6 (conc.)

Disco music will be pumping out of the Assembley Rooms this Saturday, with fantastic songs from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. A fancy dress competition will also take place, with a first prize of an i-pod shuffle.

The event is being organised by Edinburgh Cyrenians, a local homeless charity, so come and strut your stuff and enjoy cheap drinks, all in a good cause!

Assembly Rooms | 8pm – Midnight | George Street EH2 2LR | Contact The Hub for tickets: (0131) 473 2000 | Edinburgh Cyrenians

The Star of the Theatre – Museum of Childhood

Workshop | Booking essential

The Museum of Childhood will be holding family workshops where children can make their own puppet theatre, complete with cut-out characters.

The Portobello community based organisation, PEDAL Porty, is work­ing with the local author­ity to develop an orch­ard in Portobello. It will be planted and worked by local people, and the fruit will be freely avail­able to all res­id­ents. Orchard work­days offer hon­est and reward­ing graft for those who want to help develop and main­tain the Donkey Field Orchard. Everyone is welcome!

“Whilst you are more than wel­come just to turn up to any of the work­days, it helps our plan­ning if we know we have a core of volun­teers for each work­day. We sug­gest that, if pos­sible, com­munity orch­ard volun­teers sign up to a min­imum of two work­days per year.” More information on the PEDAL website.

Saturday 26th March all day
Schools Public Speaking Competition Regional Heats
Saturday the 26th is a big day for the ESU Public Speaking Competition, with regional heats taking place in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Speakers will be expanding on the topic ‘Big Society’ and all are welcome to enjoy any of the heats, or indeed to pop in for as long as they want. Click here for details.


27th March 2011

Newfangled Folk at the Usher Hall tonight. Again a concert which is part of Ceilidh Culture. “Three of Scotland’s brightest emergent songwriters return after sell-out performances for the third year in a row with a brand new set of original songs. Kim, David and Yvonne perform a strong mix of creative melodies, compelling story telling and emotive harmonies, a combination of which earned each of their albums the accolade of being ‘Album Of The Week’ (BBC Radio Scotland). Join them for an eclectic evening of new song writing alongside traditional Scots and American song.”

The Edinburgh band Dead Boy Robotics-Vasuez,Esperi and Enfant Bastard appear at The Store, 36 Guthrie Street, Edinburgh. Entry £5 More details from Ginger