Once Upon a Time: weekly storytelling in the Book Bothy with BB the Bookshop Bunny and Hardy the Guinea-Pig! 11am, Far From the Madding Crowd, 20 High Street, Linlithgow. For more information please ask in the shop, email sally@maddingcrowd.co.uk or call 01506 845321.
Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway: Mixed Traffic Gala. A special event featuring steam and heritage diesel-hauled trains. Special timetables and fares will apply. The Scottish Railway Preservation Society, Bo’ness Station, Union Street, Bo’ness. For more information please call 01506 822298 or email enquiries.railway@srps.co.uk. Also on Sunday 31st May 2015.
The Story Kist – Inclusive Storytelling with Ailie Finlay and Marie-Louise Cochrane. Summer is nearly here…pack up your backpacks and go over the hills and far away on some multi-sensory adventures! Sunny, fun stories and games, with props, tents and lots of joining in, in a session especially suitable for children with additional needs, their families, friends and carers. 11am, Storytelling Bothy, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £5 per child (transaction fee applies to online and telephone bookings) and may be purchased online here, by calling 0131 556 9579 or in person at the centre. Please remember to ask for a free adult’s ticket for yourself when you buy your child’s ticket.
Tiger Tales: stories and crafts for children aged 4-8 years. 3-4pm, 137 Fountainbridge Library, Dundee Street. All welcome!
Jubilo Lunchtime Concert: Midday Musical Cocktails. An hour of attractive light choral and instrumental music (Bernstein, Lennon and McCartney, Pietro Mascagni, Robert Schumann and Juan de Anchieta) performed in aid of Enable Scotland. John Willmett (piano); Lesley Bruce (soprano), conducted by Walter Thomson. 12 noon-1pm, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Tickets cost £8. Enable Scotland is a charity working for a better life for adults and children with learning disabilities.
St Bride’s Family Cinema – see your favourite films for free. Adventure, excitement, fun and laughs – they’re all here! Choc ices and juice for sale in the interval at 50p each. Please note that all children under the age of 16 years must be accompanied by an adult. This week’s film is Postman Pat – The Movie (U). 10.30am-12.30pm (includes interval), St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace. Next week’s film is Rio 2 (U).
Bob Dylan Tribute Night: an annual celebration of classic Dylan tunes. Dalriada, 77 Promenade, Portobello.
Canongate Concerts: Open Orchestra. Dvorak Carneval Overture, Crisp Trumpet Concerto (soloist Jasper Taylor) and Schubert Rosamunde Overture. Conductor: Andrew Lees. 7.30pm, Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate. Free: retiring collection.
Sofi’s Saturday Session feat. Pilgrims We, Small Feet Little Toes, Faith Elliot and Grayson King. 2pm, Sofi’s Bar, Henderson Street.
Stills Taster: Cyanotypes. A hands-on taster session for young people aged 10-16, inspired by the current Anna Atkins exhibition. Using one of the first photographic techniques still widely practised today, the session will include an inspiring tour of the exhibition, and will guide you through the steps to making cyanotype prints. You will then be able to make your own prints to take away, and will also be given comprehensive instructions to make more prints at home. 2-4pm, Stills, Cockburn Street. £10 per person; booking is essential and may be made online here.
Victoria Bar Singles Night: a fun night with speed dating and postman game. 8pm, Victoria Bar, 265 Leith Walk.
National Gallery Highlights Tours: an introduction to and tour of the gallery’s permanent collection, focusing on key paintings. 2-2.45pm or 3-3.45pm, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
Bookbug: songs and rhymes for pre-school children and their parents and carers. 11-11.30am, Newington Library, Fountainhall Road.
Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show: a public showcase of the work of over four hundred graduating students from the Schools of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Art and Design. From Animation to Textiles, thirty-eight programmes will be exhibiting, all displaying the achievements of the College’s emerging creative talents. 11am-5pm today and every day until 7th June (late opening to 8pm on 3rd and 4th June), Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, Lauriston Place. Free and open to all.
Out of the Blue Flea Market: over 45 stalls full to bursting with clothes, jewellery, small furniture, music, books, bric a brac and more. Delicious refreshments available to purchase from the Drill Hall Arts Cafe. 10am-3pm, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street.
Lunchtime Concert: Lydian Singers, Dundee. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
French Family Saturdays: Je dessine au fusain. Introduce your children to a popular piece of French culture at these all-in-French Saturday sessions. Today the children will discover Akiko Miyakoshi’s beautiful book ‘Un gouter en foret‘ before getting the chance to have a go at drawing in charcoal (fusain) – and as usual, a gouter will be offered. For ages 3-10 years. 12 noon-2pm, Institut francais d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. Tickets cost £5 per child (£3 for Institute members) and advance booking is highly recommended as places are limited; please email accueil@ifecosse.org.uk or call 0131 225 5366.
Ragged University: IT and Biscuits. If you have something you want to learn on your computer – or maybe you need basic instruction, want to access free (legal!) software, find out about computer security, learn about social media and WordPress or ask others about IT, come to this workshop for tutorials and person-to-person guidance. Relax in a social setting, enjoy a cup of tea and have your questions answered. You will need a laptop (but if you haven’t got one you can arrange to borrow one) and current membership of Edinburgh City libraries. People who already have computer skills are also very welcome to come along and share their knowledge. 1-4pm, George Washington Browne Room, Central Library, George IV Bridge. All welcome: free. If you have any questions please contact Ragged University via their enquiry form here.
Ingleby Gallery: New Exhibitions. (1) Craig Murray-Orr: Thirty Small Paintings. Craig’s fifty year career, as a sculptor of meticulously carved wooden forms and as a painter of intensely concentrated landscapes, has been shaped by a mix of childhood memories of New Zealand and more recent travels in Asia and North Africa. For the past three years he has worked exclusively on a series of small oil paintings, thirty of which will be the subject of this presentation. (2) Ben Cauchi: Echo Chamber. A solo presentation of new and recent work by the photographer, who uses long outmoded techniques to make unique photographs with a strange and spectral beauty. 10am-6pm Monday to Saturday, Ingleby Gallery, Calton Road. Both exhibitions end 4th July 2015.
LGBT Rainbow Families at Dynamic Earth: a day of fun and exploration! The group will take part in an exclusive interactive workshop for all ages, followed by a tour of Dynamic Earth and an opportunity to watch a film in the Show Dome. 10.45am-3pm, Our Dynamic Earth, 112-116 Holyrood Gait. Booking is preferred and the event will cost £2.95 per person: for more information and to book, please contact Jules Stapleton Barnes on 0131 523 1104 or jules@lgbthealth.org.uk. Rainbow Families offer LGBT parents the chance to meet other parents, enjoy family activities, share experiences and socialise in a family setting. If you would like to find out more or join the mailing list, please contact Jules.
#everyafternooninjune: artist Margaret Gilbertson drew every afternoon in June 2014. She found a new direction in her work and her drawing became a vital part of her day. Although the works in this exhibition are end products, she has strived to keep a sense of the uncontrolled freedom that sketchbooks offer. Preview today 3pm, then 11am-5pm, Coburg House Studios, 15 Coburg Street, until 11th June 2015.
A National Anthem for Scotland: join musician Bob Murray, who has been considering the topic of possible Scottish national anthems for 25 years – hear Bob’s observations, and at least eight of the songs which are seen as potential candidates. Do we need to make a choice? – and if so, how? 7.30pm, Storytelling Court, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£6 (transaction fee applies to online and telephone bookings) and may be purchased online here, by calling 0131 556 9579 or in person at the centre.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians: Steven Armstrong and Avril Evans Piano Duo play Beethoven, Schubert, Rachmaninov and Ravel. 7.30pm (prompt), Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road. The Edinburgh Society of Musicians was founded in 1887; it promotes practical music-making in the city and arranges chamber music recitals every Saturday from October to June. Admission is free.
Scots Music Group Ceilidh with the Portobello Ceilidh Band. Licensed bar – no BYOB but water freely available. 7.30pm (dancing from 8pm)-12 midnight, St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace. Tickets cost £8/£6 in advance and may be purchased from SMG on 0131 555 7668 or online here, or from the St Bride’s Box Office on 0131 346 1405. Tickets on the door will cost £10/£8 (sta).
3 Harbours Festival: your second chance to get out of the city this weekend is much closer to home, as the three East Lothian coastal communities of Prestonpans, Port Seton and Cockenzie host their annual festival. Art, music, workshops, tours, trails, literature, film, photography and drama in venues varying from tiny cottages to the soon-to-disappear Cockenzie Power Station. Exhibitors include Emma Mackenzie, Andrew Crummy, Sandy Moffat, Sheena Phillips, Karen Rogers, Liz Neilson, Esther Cohen, Janet McCrorie, Rona MacLean, Aileen Grant, Karen Shewan, Mel Shewan, Julie Galante and many more. The full programme can be viewed here, and paper copies are available at many Edinburgh outlets. The festival continues until 7th June, but please check the programme as not all venues are open every day.
