Creative Electric: drama and creative workshops for ages 16+. Creative Electric create contemporary performances based on real experiences; their work has been performed in Scotland and Sweden, in theatres, studios, art galleries, on trains, in fields, in city centre squares and on rooftops. 7-9pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. £5 per session, bursaries available. For more information and to book, contact creative_electric@hotmail.com.
Sonic Christmas Cards! A free Christmas craft event for ages 7+. 4-5pm, Stockbridge Library, 11 Hamilton Place.
The Edinburgh Telephone Choir: traditional carol concert with the choir, this year featuring a brass ensemble who will join the organ in several carols and also perform a seasonal number of their own. 7.30pm, Morningside Parish Church, Cluny Gardens/Braid Road. Retiring collection for the Wednesday Club for Disabled Men.
Chris Leslie and Mitch Miller: Red Road Revisited. For over three years, photographer and filmmaker Chris Leslie and illustrator Mitch Miller documented life at Glasgow’s Red Road flats, culminating in the 2012 exhibition Red Road Underground. Leslie’s revealing photographs and slide shows and Miller’s meticulously drawn ‘dialectograms’ shed light on the personal histories of the residents, employees and emigres who lived in the shadow of the great tower blocks. In this special event these award-winning artists discuss the detail of their long collaboration, how they built a rapport with locals, gained access to hidden spaces (such as the derelict underground bar and bingo) and used their very different, but complementary, visual techniques to tell a complex and often surprising story of life amidst a modernist icon. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
Health In Mind Over 65’s Coffee Morning. 10.30am-12 noon, Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. Free – just come along!
Rowan Coupland, Gavin Mee and Grant McNeil: one of The Forest’s last gigs this year – folk, old gospel and jazz ballads. Arrive early or risk standing! 7pm, Forest Cafe, 141 Lauriston Place. Free entry: BYOB – corkage 65p for beer, £1.50 for wine.
North Edinburgh Grows Christmas Tree Lights Switch On: North Edinburgh Arts Artist in Residence Natalie Taylor will be creating a Christmas tree sculpture on Monday and Tuesday – come along today and see the lights being switched on! Free mince pies and (non-alcoholic) mulled wine. 3.45pm, North Edinburgh Arts, 15a Pennywell Court. For more information call 0131 315 2151.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Peter Ranscombe: Hare, A Novel. When William Burke was hanged for mass murder in 1829, his accomplice William Hare was set free after turning King’s evidence and fled Edinburgh to escape the mob.. In Hare: A Novel, he is discovered years later working as labourer in Boston, a city terrified by a new series of murders – but although Hare is arrested, the deaths continue and the police have to release Hare and work with him to find the killer. Set against the background of the American Civil War, Hare: A Novel is Peter Ranscombe’s debut; the author is a freelance journalist who previously worked for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and The Field. 6.30-8pm, Blackwell’s South Bridge. Free tickets are available from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8218 or emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.
Morningside Library Craft Group: 6.30-7.45pm, Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. No need to book – just come along!
Boda Bar Christmas Quiz: a Christmas special fun-filled evening with a mixture of hilarious questions, true or false rounds and nail-biting games. Teams of 4 should book asap to get a table – contact Boda on 0131 553 5900 or email boda@bodabar.com. 8pm, Boda Bar, 229 Leith Walk.
St Margaret’s House Cinema Nights: Searching for Sugar Man (12A). Though he faded into obscurity in the US, an early 70s musician known as Rodriguez became a huge hit in South Africa and was widely believed to have died. Two obsessed fans set out to learn the man’s true fate. A BAFTA and Academy award-winning Swedish-British documentary by Malik Bendjeloull. ‘Powerful, uplifting and unforgettable’ (Dazed and Confused). 7-10pm, St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road. Free.
Music Among The Trees: Brigitte Harris. The Director of Music at St Andrew’s and St George’s West entertains visitors to the Edinburgh Christmas Tree Festival with a varied programme on the fine Wells Kennedy organ. 12 noon-1pm, Sanctuary, St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Free: all welcome.
Music Among The Trees: Saxophone Quartet. Young players from Napier Music School entertain visitors to the Edinburgh Christmas Tree Festival. 2-3pm, Sanctuary, St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Free: all welcome.
Paris of the North (15): the Nordic Film Festival continues with this ‘subtly deadpan and bleakly comic tale’ set against the hostile yet stunning mountainous landscape of Iceland’s West Fjords. In Icelandic with English subtitles. 6.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Book online or call the box office on 0131 228 2688. The Nordic Film Festival is presented by day for night.
