Craft Afternoon: 3pm today and every Friday, McDonald Road Library, 2 McDonald Road. Free: no booking required.
Christian Aid Fundraiser: Allan Little, for 25 years one of the BBC’s most distinguished foreign correspondents, will be in conversation with Eleanor Naughtie about his career. He has reported from the first Gulf War, the Yugoslavian conflict in the mid-1990s, the Rwanda genocide and the ebola breakout in Zaire, and has also interviewed many prominent world figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mikhail Gorbachev and reported on the Scottish Independence Referendum. 7.30pm, Fairmilehead Parish Church, 1a Frogston Road West. Tickets cost £6 and are available from Bill Reid on 0131 466 3111, Bob Cunningham on 0131 447 4757 and Ruth Henderson 0131 449 6449. Refreshments will be available.
Raoul De Keyser: Paintings 1967-2012 – Curator’s Tour. Curator Paul Nesbitt and Exhibitions Officer Chloe Reith lead this in-depth discussion on the artist’s work and the current exhibition at Inverleith House. De Keyser’s paintings combine elements of both abstract expressionism and figuration inspired by the natural world. His unique approach pushed the boundaries of painting and explored its very nature through the lens of everyday experience. 2-3pm, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free and unticketed. The Raoul De Keyser exhibition continues at Inverleith House until 12th April 2015.
A Night for Malawi: a ceilidh with music and Scottish dancing to support Mulanje Mission Hospital. 7-9pm, Stockbridge Church, 7b Saxe Coburg Street. Tickets cost £10/£8 (including refreshments) and can be purchased from Stockbridge Church and St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street.
The Cinemaatic Short Film Showcase: taking cinema out of cinemas, Cinemaatic showcases cult, rare and classic Spanish feature films and powerful Latin American short film sessions. In this short film night there will be networking breaks for the enjoyment of the audience. ‘A nomad space for films and happenings!’ All films are subtitled in English. For over 18s only. 8-10pm, Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £5 and can be booked online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 560 1581.
Raglans: Irish/indie rock band whose self-titled debut album launched in March 2014, followed by a huge nationwide tour with Strypes, a coveted opening slot at Shepherd’s Bush Empire for the NME Awards Tour, and a headline tour across the UK and Ireland. With support The Moon Kids, a four-piece making music ‘full of neon-lit thrills and rollercoaster melodies’ who ‘blew the doors off at T In The Park and raised the roof at Wickerman‘. Over 18s only. 7pm, Main Room, Electric Circus, 36-39 Market Street. Tickets cost £6.50 plus transaction fee and can be booked here.
Doing Time, Doing Vipassana and Spiritual Wanderings in India: a double bill of short films followed by post-screening discussion and Q & A with Dr Abha Rodrigues (entrepreneur and author of 50 Mantras for the Empowered Woman), Rev Ali Newell (former Prison Chaplain and Associate Chaplain, University of Edinburgh) and Pt Vrajvahari Sharan, (Priest, Edinburgh Hindu Mandir). 6pm Screening Room G.04, 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh. An Edinburgh University Chaplaincy and Centre for South Asian Studies event.
Vegetarian Weekend at Joseph Pearce’s: all specials this weekend will be vegetarian (with the standard menu available for carnivores). 11am-9pm today, Saturday and Sunday, Joseph Pearce’s Bar, 23 Elm Row.
Jonny Fontaine: Funk Delicacies. Local DJ Jonny Murray plays a blend of rare funk, soul, disco and jazz, with the odd classic thrown in. 9pm, Victoria Bar, 265 Leith Walk.
Song, By Toad’s Bad Fun: Viking Moses, Kathryn Joseph + Beam. Viking Moses plays an intimate, piano-based set, supported by Kathryn Joseph (recent album Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled) and Beam, who is best known for singing with King Creosote but has some gorgeous songs of her own. 7-10pm, Henry’s Cellar Bar, Morrison Street.  £5 on the door.
Rally & Broad: Dance While the Sky Crashes Down. Cabaret with RM Hubbert, Alan Bissett, Lynsey May, Elyssa Vulpes and the newly crowned Scottish Slam Champion Bram E Gieben, hosted by resident comperes Jenny Lindsay and Rachel McCrum. 7-10pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. £5 on the door, subject to availability. The Bongo Club is a nightblub, live venue and all-round artistic hub owned by local arts charity Out of the Blue.
Lallie Wilson: a collection of bold, vibrant and exciting mixed media artworks and paintings. The first major painting exhibition by the Musselburgh-based artist portrays Lallie’s life story, from a young girl in wartime Britain to a woman who is still painting many years later. Opening tonight 6-7.30pm, then 10am-7pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 1-5pm Thursdays, North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court.
Sivu: Finnish songer songwriter who has been described as ‘a one-man Wild Beasts’. Strictly over 18s only. 7pm, Sneaky Pete’s, 73 Cowgate. Tickets cost £9 and can be booked online here.
Like Leaves in Autumn: responses to the war poetry of Giuseppe Ungaretti. Launch of this new publication, which contains 21 poems by Giuseppe Ungaretti in a new English translation, 21 new poems by contemporary Scottish poets writing in response to Ungaretti, and 21 black and white art works from the Artists Rooms collection, acquired for the nation by NGS and Tate through the generosity of Anthony d’Offay. The publication is part of The Ungaretti Multi-Media War Project led by Carlo Pirozzi, which will be presented at Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh. The Project brings together new publications, film, animation, music and sculpture in response to poems written in the Great War by Ungaretti, one of Europe’s greatest modernist poets. The evening will include keynote speeches from Edinburgh Makar Christine De Luca, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Stefania Del Bravo and Carlo Francini (Florence UNESCO office), and will also feature musical performances, videos and readings by some of the poets featured in Like Leaves in Autumn. The project is intended to commemorate both the centenary of World War One and the fifty years since Edinburgh and Florence were first twinned. 6.45-9pm, Talbot Rice Gallery, Old College, South Bridge. This event if free but booking is required and can be made here.
Lunchtime Concert: Erland Hilden (organ) plays Johan Helmich Roman  Allegro con Spirito from Drottningholmsmusiken, Erland Hilden Toccata from Organ Symphony No 1, Sweelinck Variations on Mein junges leben hat ein end, JS Bach Fugue in E Minor BWV 548, Erland Hilden B-A-C-H mass for organ and Steigleder Toccata on Vater Unser (Tabulaturbuch 1627). 1.10pm, Reid Concert Hall, Bristo Square. Free and unticketed.
Habitats for Happy Ageing: Is there such a thing as a habitat for happy ageing? How does where we live affect our mood? Why is it so important to get outdoors in later life? Come along to a free event on the UN International Day of Happiness to hear from experts in happiness and place, take a mood test, browse photos of people’s ‘happy places’, and see how Edinburgh has changed over time. This event will follow Erland Hilden’s organ concert (see above). Open to everyone with an interest in the links between place and health and wellbeing, but of particular interest to older people. Refreshments provided. 2.30-4pm, Reid Concert Hall, Bristo Square. Free but places are limited and booking is essential: call 0131 651 5834 or email OPENspace@ed.ac.uk.
Watching: a new opera for children about sleep. Ada can’t sleep – will the two apothecaries Dewberry and Frostbait have the remedy for her sleeplessness? A promenade performance through the gardens and glasshouses of the Royal Botanic Garden, performed by Music in the Community at Edinburgh College of Art, and children from Leith Walk Primary School. Please note that this is event is partially outdoors: dress warmly. 7pm (entry from 6.45pm), North Gate, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Place. Tickets cost £10/£5 and must be purchased in advance only from Brown Paper Tickets here (transaction fee applies). Also at same time on Saturday 21st March. Funded by The Wellcome Trust.
Freeze Frame Film Club: a monthly film night in Leith – ‘an informal evening of flickering images drawn from old favourites’. Tonight’s film is Ealing Studios classic Whisky Galore (PG). Free popcorn and good company, plus optional celluloid pre-film menu from the Drill Hall Arts Cafe, with dishes inspired by the films themselves. Doors open 6.30pm, film begins 8pm, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street. Tickets for the film only cost £2.50 (children £2) and can be purchased in advance from the cafe or on the door. Tickets for the 3 course meal prepared by special guest chef Anna Hamilton (www.alright-treacle.com) cost £15 and must be pre-booked – call the cafe on 0131 555 7100 or email stephanie.haigh@outoftheblue.org.uk. This is the last Freeze Frame night until September.
ECLIPSE (Moon draws Sun/Earth draws Moon): as the new moon eclipses the morning sun at 9.45am today, Northern Europe will be cast into darkness. In conjunction with this spectacular celestial event, artist David Faithfull and Dr Hermine Schnetler from the UK Astronomy Technology Centre have been commissioned by Edinburgh Printmakers to present ECLIPSE at Castle Mill Works, a dramatic visual artwork that mirrors and responds to the phases of this solar/lunar extravaganza. 9-11am, Castle Mill Works (former North British Rubber Company HQ), Gilmore Park, Fountainbridge. Free. This commission is part of Dark Matters (see below). PLEASE NOTE: the sun will not be safe to look at today without proper protection.
Dark Matters: a project comprising of new temporary public art installations that will be presented in various sites across the city over a period of 12 months, and launched in conjunction with this year’s Science Festival theme of Light and Enlightenment. Edinburgh Printmakers has commissioned artists, astronomers and space engineers to create art from space and create installations that explore the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Areas of research for this project include investigations into ancient astronomical almanacs, Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the creation of new constellations, seeing the invisible, transforming the infra red and spectrometric data from distant galaxies and nebulae, and attempting to freeze and unfreeze sound waves. Edinburgh Printmakers and Castle Mill Works, Fountainbridge, will launch the project and present installations by artist David Faithfull and Dr Hermine Schnetler, artist Alastair Clark and Dr Eckhard Sutorius, and artist Mike Inglis working with space engineer Martin Black. Dark Matters is a collaborative partnership between Edinburgh Printmakers, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre and Edinburgh University, and is curated by David Faithfull. It will be accompanied by an ambitious events programme (including a gallery talk on Sunday 21st March). Launch tonight 6.30-8.30pm, Edinburgh Printmakers, Union Street. This installation ends 23rd May 2015.
The Gondoliers: let Portobello & Joppa Parish Church Drama Group take you away from the Scottish weather to sunny Italy with their production of the Gilbert & Sullivan favourite! 7.30pm, Church Hall, Portobello & Joppa Parish Church, 1 Brunstane Road North. Tickets cost £10/£5 and may be purchased by emailing office@portyjoppachurch.org. Also at same time on Saturday 21st March 2015.
Nitekirk: a space for peace in Edinburgh’s heart. One Friday evening each month Nitekirk provides a creative, drop-in experience of church. This month’s theme is Acceptance. 8-11pm (drop-in), St Columba’s By The Castle, 14 Johnstone Terrace. All welcome. ‘A place of welcome, a space for stillness, a pause on your journey, an open door’.
