Water of Leith Conservation Trust: Floral Delights of the Dells. A guided walk to discover the beautiful wildflowers of Craiglockhart Dell and the secrets of wildflower identification. 2pm, Water of Leith Visitor Centre, 24 Lanark Road. £4 per person (members £2). Booking is essential: please call 0131 455 7367.
Summerhall Historical Fiction Festival. This three-day festival will explore the richness and variety of the historical novel – why writers love to write it and why readers delight in reading it. Today’s events:
(1) 10.30am: The story behind Wake. Debut author Anna Hope discusses the inspirations for her first novel, which focuses on the journey home from France of the Unknown Soldier and the stories of three women who are coping with loss and struggling to carry on in the aftermath of World War I.
(2) 11.45am: Inventing Cosy Noir. Edinburgh author and self-confessed ‘swot’ Sara Sheridan talks about her Mirabelle Bevan series, her novel about the abolition of the slave trade The Secret Mandarin, her book about plant hunter Robert Fortune The Secret of the Sands, and the pleasures and perils of writing cosy noir and historical fiction.
(3) 3.15pm: The Defender of Rome series. A former newspaperman who wrote his first novel on his commute to work, Douglas Jackson has been heralded as one of the best historical novelists writing today. His latest book Enemy of Rome is set in AD69 amid the turmoil of Rome’s civil war. Find out why the ancient world fascinates this author, and how he crafts his fast-paced, meticulously researched novels.
(4) 4.30pm: Circuses and Suffragettes. One of the Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers of 2014, Lucy Ribchester’s debut novel The Hourglass Factory is set in 1912 London, in a world populated by suffragettes and circus performers, journalists and cut-throats. Lucy will talk about her love affair with history, her ‘strange and waggly’ career path, and the myriad influences that helped to shape her novel.
All events take place in the Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets for each of today’s events cost £6/£3 and may be purchased via the festival’s website here or by calling the Summerhall Box Office on 0131 560 1581.
Filmhouse Junior: films for a younger audience. This week: Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (PG). When the ancient tablet that brings the Museum of Natural History’s exhibits to life at night begins to decay, nightwatchman Larry Daley must travel to London and the British Museum to heal it. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small, and may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688.
Magical Story Cushions with Margaret Findlay. Bring along your favourite story book and create an amazing cushion based on your chosen character, hand-felted from sheep fibres, then decorate your cushion with a host of beautiful embellishments. For families. 11am-3.30pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. £6 per person: places must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, Lothian Road, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note that at least one paying adult must accompany each child: children must not be booked into workshops alone.
Storytelling: Travels, Tribes and Treasures. Come and join a storytelling adventure exploring faraway shores! Inspired by portraits of famous Scots who were keen travellers, storyteller Anna Lehr will take you on a journey around the world. For ages 7+. 2pm, 2.45pm or 3.30pm (30 minute sessions), Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed: supported by the Friends of NGS.
Scotland’s Gardens: Shepherd House – an artist’s garden. The house and its one acre garden form a walled triangle in the middle of the 18th century village of Inveresk. 11am-4pm, Shepherd House, Inveresk, Musselburgh. Entry £4 (children free) of which 40% goes to The Teapot Trust and the net remainder to Scotland’s Gardens beneficiaries. For more information please call 0131 665 2570.
Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair: 50+ stalls of fashions, homewares and collectibles from the 20s to the 80s. Judy’s resident Gramophone DJ Lord Holyrude will be mixing the best retro tunes and Miss Dixiebelle Ladies will be offering discount vintage makeovers. 11am-4pm, Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street. Entry £2, under 12s free.
Cameo Vintage Sundays: ‘classic films back on the big screen where they belong’. This week: Au Revoir Les Enfants (12A). In Nazi-occupied France, boarding school pupil Julien befriends a new boy; his childhood ends when Gestapo agents arrive to arrest Jewish children. This moving film won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1987. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723.
Scotland’s Gardens: Gilmour Road Gardens. There will be seven gardens open in this quiet residential street on the south side of Edinburgh, ranging from the small to the large, the well established to the newly designed. Rhododendrons, magnolias, azaleas and spring bulbs. Tickets, maps, teas and a plant sale will all be available from Craigmillar Park Bowling Club. 2-5pm, (start at) Craigmillar Park Bowling Club, 34 Gilmour Road. £5 for entry to all seven gardens, of which 40% will go to Alzheimer’s Scotland and the net remainder to Scotland’s Gardens charities. For more information please contact Mrs Rae Renwick on 0131 622 0728.
LGBT : Me & T Monthly. A supportive space for people who have friends, family or partners who are transgender or exploring their gender, and an opportunity to meet other people who may have similar experiences, questions or concerns. 2-4pm, LGBT Health and Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. Group contact: me.and.t.scotland@gmail.com.
WHALE Craft Fair – Spring Special: handmade arts, crafts and gifts from local crafters. 1.30-4.30pm, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. Free entry.
Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema: a season of films curated by Scorsese, all screened in pristine digital restorations. Today: The Saragossa Manuscript (Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie). (In Polish with subtitles). ‘One of the great 1960s ‘head trips’ – an adaptation of Count Jan Potocki’s legendary labyrinthine novel into a bewildering but exhilarating lattice of stories within stories within stories.’ 7.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688. This screening will be introduced by Dr Malgorzata Bugaj (University of Edinburgh and University of Stirling); the film will be shown again at 2pm on Sunday 17th May 2015.
Rock & Roll Ping Pong with DJ Ding and DJ Dong: a free, monthly, Sunday night social. Fine beers, fine company, free-play, silly ping pong games, and music from every genre to play along to, plus an optional, strictly amateur, tournament (£1 entry, winner takes all). 7-11pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Free entry.
St Giles At Six: Edinburgh Academy Musicians. A programme including SS Wesley Blessed be the God and Father, Lauridsen O Magnum Mysterium and Franz Beibl Ave Maria. 6pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.
