Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema: a season of films curated by Scorsese, all screened in pristine digital restorations. Today: Night Train (Pociag) (12A) (In Polish and English with subtitles). A sleeper train rockets through the night, among its passengers might be a murderer. Leon Niemczyk and the director’s wife, Lucyna Winnicka, are strangers sharing a compartment while studiously hiding personal secrets. 6.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688. This film will be shown again at 6.15pm on Friday 8th May 2015
Bookbug: for pre-school children and their parents and carers. 10.30am, McDonald Rd Library, 2 McDonald Road.
Spotlight On: Serious Games. Join Pam Kato, Professor of Serious Games (Coventry University) to explore how the adoption of game technology in business, healthcare and the arts is changing our lives for the better. Pam is an internationally recognised expert on serious games for health. For ages 14+. 2-3pm, Auditorium, Level One, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free but ticketed: to book please call 0300 123 6789, call in to the Museum’s reception or book online here.
Piershill Library Easter Holidays Crafts: 3-4pm, Piershill Library, Piershill Terrace. Free.
Lunchtime Concert: Strandvik Blandakor, Fusa, Bergen, Norway. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.
Puppet Animation Festival: Puppet Stew Presents Puppets! Puppets! Puppets! A puppet-making workshop – make your own rod puppet to take home. For all ages – children under 8 must be accompanied. 10.30am, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be purchased via eventbrite here. Online sales close 24 hours before the event; any remaining tickets will be sold on the door, cash only.
From Heart to Hearth: an evening of heart-warming stories to make you laugh, cry, wonder and dream. Join this new and exciting company of Scottish storytellers around the warming hearth of stories – be transported into history and the supernatural, into fairy worlds and Celtic worlds as students share the fruits of their journey from the storytelling course Stories: Heart to Hearth. Hosted by David Campbell and Janis MacKay. 7.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£6 and may be booked online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579.
Spring Break Activities at Craigmillar Library: today 1.30-2.30pm Trivia Challenge. All children welcome; any child under 8 years must be supervised by a family member over 12 years. Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road. Free.
Spring Edible Gardening Festival: join the Edible Gardening Project as the team get started in the vegetable patch for another year. From growing chillies on the windowsill to creating a vegetable garden with habitat for pollinators, there will be information and hands-on activities for all the family. 1-4pm, Real Life Science Studio and Demonstration Garden, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. No booking required. Also at same times on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April.
Easter Holidays @ Gilmerton Library: Flower Fingers Craft. For children of all ages. 2.30pm, Gilmerton Library, 13 Newtoft Street. Free.
Easter Holidays @ Leith Library: Water of Leith Birds Craft. For under-12s. 2.30-3.30pm, Leith Library, 28-30 Ferry Road. Free.
Easter Fun & Games @ Oxgangs Library: Crafty Friday. 2.30pm, Oxgangs Library, Oxgangs Road North.
Collective Gallery Open Days: as the designs for the City Observatory complex go to planning, come along to the City Dome to talk to the staff and view the plans for this exciting project. 12 noon-4pm, Collective Gallery, City Observatory and City Dome, Calton Hill. Also at same times on Saturday 18th April.
Happy Easter at Magdalene Community Centre: today The Juniors – Youth Club 6-8pm and The Seniors – Youth Club, 8-10pm, Magdalene Community Centre, 106b Magdalene Drive.
Serena Korda: The Hosts – Ectoplasmic Variations. A month long project by the artist. An army of ceramic warriors lies in wait, wounded, amputated and punctured, an itinerant group of mercenaries or a rabble of dissidents. These warriors are waiting to be activated by Serena Korda and the Rhubaba Choir: over the course of the exhibition there will be a call to arms combining voice and percussion, drawing on a rich history of jugs used as musical instruments, from country blues jug bands to the psychedelic rock of the 13th Floor Elevators. The Hosts: Ectoplasmic Variations will unfold as a sound experiment fusing sculpture and voice at Rhubaba. Exploring the materiality of object and sound, Korda will work with the choir during Saturday rehearsals to develop a musical score that will be performed on Saturday 2nd May 2015. Preview tonight. 6-9pm, Rhubaba, 25 Arthur Street, then 12 noon-5pm Friday to Sunday until 10th May 2015. (If you would like to join the choir, see Saturday’s listings for information).
Bookbug: for young children and their parents and carers. 10.30-11am, Oxgangs Library, Oxgangs Road North.
Birds of the Water of Leith Craft Session: for ages 5-12 years. 3pm, McDonald Rd Library, 2 McDonald Road.
The Big Photo Quiz Night: a pub quiz style event to raise funds for Stills’ engagement programme, which provides access to free activities for community groups, families and young people. An evening full of fun and photography – pitch your photo knowledge against others to see who really does know their Colin Prior from their Hobbit Shire (photographic knowledge will help but is not necessary to have a good time!) Teams will be of up to 8 people. 6.30pm, Stills, Cockburn Street. Tickets cost £10 and may be booked online here.
Monochrome: an exhibition celebrating the photographic history of Scotland and the rich natural beauty of the country; a collection of black and white Scottish work set in the context of work from further afield. Participating photographers: Mike Jackson, Katie Cooke, Rob Hudson, Andrew Sanderson, Carl Radford, Douglas Thompson, Jim Mortram and Rafael Biernicki. 9.30am-6.30pm Monday to Friday, 10am-1pm Saturdays, Institut francais d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. Ends 15th May 2015.
Help with the Library Igloo: for ages 5-11 years. 2-3pm, Wester Hailes Library, 1 Westside Plaza. Free.
Health In Mind Social Group: a new drop-in group for everyone aged 65+ in the Colinton Area. Come along for tea, chat and a different topic each fortnight, meet new people and enjoy a fun activity – today this will be on the theme of reminiscence. 10am-12.45pm, Colinton Library, Thorburn Road. For more information ask the library staff or call Natasha on 0131 225 8508 or email cc@health-in-mind.org.
Make a Sheep: for ages 4-11 years. 2-3pm, Ratho Library, 6 School Wynd. Free.
Easter Chick Paper Craft: for ages 4-11 years. 2-3pm, Sighthill Library, 55 Sighthill Road. Free.
Rally & Broad: Can’t Buy Me Love. A cabaret evening of spoken word and live music talking all things love and money, with Bella Hardy (BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year 2014), William Letford, Emma Jane Unsworth, Freddie Alexander and Faith Elliott, hosted by Jenny Lindsay and Rachel McCrum. 7-10pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Tickets cost £5 on the door.
Celebrate Vaisakhi – the Spring Festival! Colourful stories and crafts for ages 5-12 years. 2.30-3.30pm, Stockbridge Library, Hamilton Place.
Superhero Mask Making: plus, throughout the holiday, a Where’s Wally Edinburgh landmarks quiz. 3-4.30pm, Colinton Library, Thorburn Road.
Looking Glass Books Presents John Niven in conversation with Jenni Fagan. The author of Cold Hands, Straight White Male and The Second Coming will read from his work and discuss it with the Edinburgh University Writer in Residence. 6-7pm, Looking Glass Books, Quartermile, Simpson’s Loan. Free.
Caesura #30: third birthday. Featuring Glasgow-based poet Calum Rodger, new writer Katy Hastie, Scottish actor and writer Jamie Scott Gordon and Edinburgh native writer and curator GS Smith, who return to their old haunt to celebrate three years of exploring the recesses of language and sound. 7.30pm, Artisan Bar, 35-36 London Road. £5 on the door. For more information contact goodnightpress@gmail.com.
The Jazz Bar: King Louis and the Primas! Jump/jive fun with a 6-piece of top players, including Dave Batchelor (trombone/vocals), Fat Sam’s band leader Hamish McGregor (sax/clarinet), top trumpeter Colin Steele, and the bluesy, driving guitar of Ross Milligan. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, 1a Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is CASH ONLY.
Marmion Prophylactic Groove EP Launch. Alternative rock band Marmion launch their new 6-track EP with support from The Hecklers, Dog On A Swing and The Micro Band. For over-18s only: ID will be required. 7-10.30pm, The Banshee Labyrinth, 29-35 Niddry Street. Free entry: all profits and donations will go to Drake Music Scotland, a charity helping people with disabilities to learn, compose and perform music.
Nitekirk: a creative drop-in experience of church. ‘A place of welcome, a space for stillness, a pause on your journey, an open door’. This month’s theme is Surprise. 8-10pm, Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place. All welcome.
