Friday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

The Cancer Research UK Ceilidh Experiment! Dancing (with caller), fairground games, films, theatre, poetry and the chance to try some hands-on science. Brew up a hoolie with Edinburgh-based Cancer Research scientists and find out more about their advances against cancer whilst ceilidh-ing the night away in an event packed full of your favourite dances. Three bars, a crepe stall, sweeties, hook-a-duck; try dancing the ‘DNA Replication‘ with glowstick armbands! 7pm, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets £7 in advance via eventbrite £10 on the night. In aid of Cancer Research UK.

Africa In Motion: Scottish African Film Festival. ‘A diverse array of inspiring, innovative and challenging stories from across the African continent’ – this year’s theme is Looking back, reaching forward, and the festival will focus especially on 20 years of democracy in South Africa and the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. Contemporary and classic films (including some ‘lost’ films rarely seen anywhere in the world), documentaries, animations and shorts; art exhibitions, township cafe, storytelling, live performances, workshops, school screenings and more. Opens today with the UK Premiere of Soleils ‘a funny and thrilling philosophical road movie…a love story between a wise old griot and a young girl that opens up an Africa rarely seen before.’ 8.45pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Prices vary, see Filmhouse website. For full programme with details of all events, venues, times and ticket prices (some events are free) see Festival website. Ends 9th November 2014.

Sounds Like Friday: FREE music classes for children in P5-7. Singing, guitar, chanter and pipe drums. From 1.20pm, Friday afternoons at Craigroyston High School,  67 Pennywell Road; come along today at 1pm to sign up for the new term. For more information contact Frances Rive on 0131 469 3155 or email frances.rive@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Gallery Social: Remembering the Great War. Join artists for relaxed guided tours for anyone affected by dementia, their friends, relatives and supporters. These very informal tours will explore highlights from the permanent collection or special exhibitions and will begin with refreshments in the learning centre. 10.30am-12 noon, Scottish National Portrait Gallery (meet inside main entrance), 1 Queen Street, Free: please call 0131 624 6560 to book places.

Tales of a Grandfather: Donald Smith, Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, introduces Sir Walter Scott’s Tales of a Grandfather. Scott wrote this history of Scotland for his six year old grandson; he believed children disliked being ‘talked down to’ and preferred a challenge to their understanding and curiosity. This event is for adults. 2.30-3.30pm, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking required via eventbrite.

Family Fun Day: crafts, cake decorating and much more! Find out what’s going on in Kirkliston for families. 2-4pm, Kirkliston Library, 16 Station Road. No booking required.

A Life Shared: an exhibition spanning the life of James PW Syme (1928-2011), who was educated at Broughton and Edinburgh College of Art, and who exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy for more than 30 years. 11am-6pm, Dundas Street Gallery, 6 Dundas Street. Ends 2nd November 2014.

Carnival Masks: craft session for under-12s. 2-3pm, South Queensferry Library, 9 Shore Road. Call 0131 529 5576 or email southqueensferry.library@edinburgh.gov.uk to book your place.

Balancing Robots: for under-12s. 2.30-3.30pm,  Corstorphine Library, 12 Kirk Loan. To book your place call 0131 529 5506 or email corstorphine.library@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Blackwell’s Edinburgh and The Surgeons’ Hall Museum Present Anthony Horowitz: Moriarty. Anthony will chat about his new novel Moriarty, his second venture into the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: days after Holmes and his arch-enemy Moriarty fall to their doom at the Reichenbach Falls, Pinkerton agent Frederick Chase arrives in Europe from New York. Moriarty’s death has created a vacuum which has been swiftly filled by a fiendish new criminal mastermind, a man determined to engulf London in a tide of murder and menace. Chase must forge a path through the darkest corners of the capital to shine a light on this shadowy figure.7-8pm, The Surgeons’ Hall, Nicolson Street. Free tickets are available from Blackwell’s front desk or by calling 0131 622 8218; they can also be booked via eventbrite.

Monster Costumes: prepare for Halloween at this fun craft session. 2.30-3.30pm, Newington Library, Fountainhall Road.

Crafty Friday: fun arts and crafts event for ages 4+.  2pm, Blackhall Library, 56 Hillhouse Road. Free, no booking required.

Once Upon a Place: The 2014 Scottish International Storytelling Festival opens today! The Festival will focus on the living environment around us, looking into the past in town and country and gazing into the future through the dreams, imaginings and visions of the poets and bards. Talks, tours, live performances, children’s events, ceilidhs – and storytelling at its best. The Festival will also celebrate Edinburgh’s 10th Anniversary as a UNESCO City of Literature and the 200th anniversary of Sir Walter Scott’s first novel Waverley. Open Hearth sessions in the evenings will offer relaxed traditional storytelling and music round the hearth ‘as the darkness closes in and the embers glow with pictures in the fire.’ Events begin today at 2.30pm when Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre Donald Smith talks on Tales of  a Grandfather – Unrolling Walter Scott’s Magic Carpet – at the Central Library. For full programme with details of all events , venues and tickets, see the Festival website: the paper version is also widely available in libraries, bookshops and other venues, or from the Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street. Festival ends 2nd November 2014.

Lean On Me: North Edinburgh Timebank Singers. If you can breath, you can sing! North Edinburgh Timebank Singers showcase the transforming power of communal singing in their performance of various rock, folk, pop and world music songs. 7-8pm, North Edinburgh Arts, 15a Pennywell Court. Free but booking required: contact Julie Smith on 0131 315 2151 or email admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk. Part of Scottish Mental Health Arts & Film Festival 2014.

Edinburgh Independent Radical Book Fair continues with book launches, discussions, a film and school’s workshop. See The Edinburgh Reporter’s article for more details; for full programme visit Word Power Books‘ or Out of the Blue’s websites.  All sessions at Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 35 Dalmeny Street. All events free: donations very welcome.

Christian Aid Sale of Pictures and Scottish Books. 10am-3pm today and Saturday, Sanctuary, St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, 13 George Street.

Lunchtime Concert: David Gerrard (organ) plays JS Bach Sonata in A minor BWV 967, Frescobaldi Toccata Sesta ‘sopra i pedali per l’organo, e senza’, Froberger Toccata VI ‘Da sonarsi alla Levatione’, Kerll Toccata VI ‘Per li Pedali’ Capriccio Cucu and Buttstett Fugue in E Minor. 1.1opm, Reid Concert Hall, Bristo Square, University of Edinburgh. Free.

Friday Lecture Series: an inspiring series of talks by some of today’s most influential artists and thinkers. This week: Carol Mavor and Megan Powell ‘Mouthing Gold, Spitting Gold Mush’ or ‘Eating Sadistically’.  11.30am-1pm, Main Lecture Theatre, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place. Contact ECA or see Stills website for more information. Free and open to all: no booking required.

Eco Kidz: an exciting creative project for 8-12 year olds. Make a range of original mini artworks using recycled materials, with the chance to retail your products. 1.45-3.15pm today and every Friday, North Edinburgh Arts, 15a Pennywell Court. More information on 0131 315 2151. Free.

Easel Sketching in the Gallery: session led by artist Damian Callan. A different subject each month, sometimes with a model. All materials supplied. 2-4pm, Main Gallery, National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound. Free; no booking required.

Triptych by Bernardo Daddi: art historian Ailsa Turner discusses this exquisite painting, an excellent example of a portable tabernacle produced as a devotional aid for a private patron in fourteenth century Florence. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Gallery of Scotland, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Exhibition Tour for people with a hearing impairment: a portable hearing loop will be available for this tour of the Behind The Lines exhibition. 2-3pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is essential, either online or by calling 0131 623 3734.

Free Cooking with Canny Families: Edinburgh Community Food and Changeworks offer free six week affordable cooking courses for all families with a child under 16 – improve your cooking skills with quick and easy recipes to take away each week, learn about nutrition and healthy eating, and reduce your food waste. 9.30-11.30am, Valley Park Community Centre,37 Southhouse Road. For more information and to register contact Stephanie at Edinburgh Community Food on 0131 467 7326 or email sscott@edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk.

U3A Greetings Cards Exhibition: an exhibition of handmade greetings cards by the Edinburgh U3A Craft Group following a workshop with residents of the Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association. 2-4pm, Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association, 17 Lauriston Park, Tollcross. Part of Luminate: Scotland’s Creative Ageing Festival.

Bow-Tow: A Newhaven Story. ‘A celebration of a vibrant community and its place in the 21st century.’ Songs, choirs, stories and spectacle inspired by the Newhaven people. 7-9pm at the harbour and throughout the village. For more information see event Facebook page. Free. Also at same times on Saturday 25th October 2014.