Friday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

One World Peace Ceilidh:  a fun night of dancing, entertainment, food and drink to raise funds for the One World Shop and Edinburgh Peace & Justice Centre, both of which need to relocate while St John’s Church is redeveloped. With Clapshot Ceilidh Band, Protest in Harmony Choir and Voice Box Theatre; poetry, raffle with fabulous prizes, tombola and a bar. Delicious vegetarian and vegan food available to purchase until 9.30pm. All ages welcome! 7.30pm-12 midnight, Edinburgh Steiner School, 60 Spylaw Road. Tickets cost £10/£7 (children 0-5 years free) and are available online here or from Edinburgh Peace and Justice Centre, Terrace (underneath the church), St John’s Church, Princes Street. Last year’s ceilidh was sold out, so get your tickets early!

Fresh Start Sponsored Walk: a fun and social walk from Jubilee Gardens, Stockbridge, along the Water of Leith to Colinton Dell and back to Polwarth, where lunch will be served at Fresh Start’s Food Station. The walk is about 8 miles long and takes 2-3 hours at a leisurely pace, with a refreshment and toilet stop available at the Water of Leith Visitor Centre. Please wear appropriate footwear and carry water. Begins 10am, Jubilee Gardens, Stockbridge. All welcome: if you would like to take part, please email admin@freshstartweb.org.uk or call 0131 476 7741 to register. There is no registration fee but you are asked to raise a minimum of £25 per person. Fresh Start is an Edinburgh-based charity that helps people who have been homeless get established in their new home.

Lunchtime Concert: Selkorinn Choir, Seltjarnarnes, Iceland. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Edinburgh Palette – New Exhibitions, all on Third Floor, St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road:

(1) Mad World: On Sane People in Insane Situations. From individuals interred for their homosexuality to women who wanted divorces, teenagers who wanted to write for a living, and malnutrition – discover the history and see if you can logically spot madness. This collaborative exhibition offers everyone the chance to contribute their own definitions of insanity, to come and see what is on view and decide who is ‘sane’ and who is ‘crazy’. Mad World is inspired by the emerging academic field of Mad Matters, the work of Mad People’s History, Oor Mad History, Asylum Magazine, Advocard and many other organisations. Preview from 6pm tonight, then 10am-6pm daily. Ends 21st June 2015.

(2) Memory and Imagination: An Unfolding Visual Process. An exhibition of painted works by Vittoria Grant and Jacqui Higgs, delving into memories of places of origin and places lived, including Italy, Africa and Scotland. Preview from 6.30pm tonight, then 10am-6pm daily. Ends 14th June 2015.

(3) The Curves on a Straight Line: an exhibition of drawings and life studies by local artist Amanda Atkinson. Private view from 6.30pm tonight, then 10am-6pm daily. Ends 21st June 2015.

Ratho Library Adult Colouring Group: come and try this new de-stresser! 11am-12.30pm, Ratho Library, School Wynd.

Interim: a two-day exhibition featuring work by first year students from the MFA/MA Contemporary Art Practice course at Edinburgh College of Art. Preview 7-9pm tonight, then 12 noon-5pm Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st May, Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge.

Showcase 25: in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support this production celebrates 25 years of Showcase and features a cast of over one hundred, backed by a fourteen-piece orchestra. Songs from the great musicals – including Les Miserables, Wicked and Hairspray – along with some of the greatest songs of the last fifty years by Queen, Adele, Elbow, Oasis, the Beatles and many more, all performed with Showcase’s signature huge choral sound. 7.30pm, King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street. Tickets may be purchased online here, by calling the Box Office on 0131 529 6000 or in person at the King’s or Festival Theatre Box Offices: prices vary. Also at 2.30pm and 7.30pm on Saturday 30th May 2015. To read The Edinburgh Reporter’s review of February’s  Amateur Showcase, at which Showcase 25 and other amateur companies previewed their productions, click here.

Nicolas Party: Boys and Pastel – Curator’s Tour. Curator Paul Nesbitt and Exhibitions Officer Chloe Reith lead an in-depth discussion on the work of Nicolas Party and his current exhibition. 2-3pm, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. Free: all welcome. Also at same time on 12th June 2015.

Guid Crack: Fifty Glorious Years of ‘Listen to This’. Scotland’s famed storyteller Michael Kerins entertains with hilarious tales from fifty years of storytelling. Edinburgh’s monthly storytelling night: accompanied young adults welcome. 7.30-10pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Entry by suggested donation of £3.

Marathon Weekend at Joseph Pearce’s: lots of pasta on the menu – and just show your medal from any of the Edinburgh Marathon races to get a free starter or dessert with your meal. From 11am today until 9pm on Sunday 31st May. Joseph Pearce, Elm Row.

Invisible Lines: a new exhibition combining sculpture, paintings, installation and video performance. Cantabrian artists Ricardo Cavada, Jose Cobo, Ana Diez, Juan Carlos Fernandez, Daniel Gutierriez and Eloy Velazquez ‘delve into the meanings that affect our relationship with the body and its fractures, with the back of image, with the transient and perishable, with the flow of life and its disappearance’. Opening event tonight 6-8pm, then 2-7pm Wednesday to Friday, 11am-2pm Saturdays, Interview Room 11, 38 Castle Terrace. Ends 27th June 2015.

Four Corners: DJ Smoove. The Four Corners crew welcome Newcastle soul, jazz and funk renegade DJ Smoove – ‘another rapturous blend of soulful dancefloor music, new and old, from right across the map’. 11pm-3am, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Tickets cost £4 before midnight, £6 after midnight, and are available online here.

The Border Gaitherin: here’s this week’s first getaway opportunity – a traditional music festival weekend in the border town of Coldstream. Line-up includes Shetland superstar fiddler Ross Couper, flute and whistle player Tom Oakes, Scots singer Christine Kydd and the Kirsty Law Band. Concerts, workshops, masterclasses and a ceilidh. Bookings may be made online here or by calling 01835 862423. The Gaitherin continues until Sunday 31st May 2015: for full programme and more information (including advice re accommodation) see the Gaitherin’s website here.