Portrait Detectives: collect your kit, follow clues and solve a mystery from history! For ages 4-12. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed. Supported by the Friends of NGS.
Turtles in Trouble: come and find out what you can do to help Scotland’s rare turtles – from satellite tagging programmes to reducing harmful marine litter. Say hello to Lola the life-sized Leatherback turtle model, or make your own turtle or jellyfish finger puppet! With the Marine Conservation Society. 1-4pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. For all ages: free, no booking required.
Filmhouse Junior: films for a younger audience. Today: Home (U) Tip must learn to fend for herself after her mother is abducted during the invasion of Earth by aliens calling themselves the Boov, but when she meets a Boov called Oh, they form an unlikely friendship. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small, and may be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688.
Pond Secrets with Mike Durnan. Come along to the pond in the beautiful Japanese garden at Lauriston and discover the creatures that live there; record your findings, then return to the Glasshouse to make your own wooden sailing boat to launch back in the pond. Please note that these workshops are designed for families – at least one paying adult should accompany a child; children must not be booked into workshops alone. 10.30am-12.30pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. £4 per person. Booking must be made in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office – in person, by phone (0131 228 1155) or online here.
Uptown Abbey: Lauriston above and below stairs: award-winning troupe Edinburgh Living History offers a unique chance to observe life in an Edwardian house. Meet the Reids, their staff and some of their guests as they go about their daily lives. 3pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. £5 (adults), £3 (children), £12.50 (family ticket) or £6.50/£4.50/£17 to include afternoon tea . Booking must be made in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office – in person, by phone (0131 228 1155) or online here.
Damian Callan Pop-Up Gallery: new drawings and paintings, framed and unframed work by the Edinburgh-based figurative artist and art teacher. Damian will give a demonstration of his drawing and painting techniques at 2pm, and his new book Paint Like Renoir will be available to purchase. There will also be a bargain box! 10am-6pm, The Art Club, Brandon Terrace (next to Coffee Angel), Canonmills. The exhibition will be available to view online here from 8th May.
Friends of the Botanics Plant Sale: your annual chance to purchase from an enviable collection of plants at wonderful prices, plus the Connoisseur’s Collection and Home Baking Stall. 2-4pm, RBGE Nursery, Inverleith Avenue South. Admission £3 (RBGE members free).
Scotland’s Gardens: Dean Gardens. Nine acres of semi-woodland garden with spring bulbs, on the steep banks of the Water of Leith in central Edinburgh. Founded in the 1860s by local residents and containing part of the great structure of the Dean Bridge, a Thomas Telford masterpiece. Lawns, paths, trees and shrubs, lovely views, children’s play area. 2-5pm, Dean Gardens (enter from Eton Terrace or Ann Street), Admission £3 (children free) for Scotland’s Gardens beneficiaries.
Cameo Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen where they belong. Today a celebration of the life of the late, great Robert Altman with a double bill: Altman (15) is a documentary about the director’s life and work, and The Long Goodbye (18) is his ‘brilliant post-hippy Raymond Chandler crime thriller’. 12 noon, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased online here or by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723.
Radical Voices: a monthly gathering to listen to singers of radical songs, and to share songs, stories and poems on a different theme each time. 6.30-9.30pm, The Constitution Bar, Constitution Street, Leith. All welcome; free entry, with a raffle and donations collected for a relevant cause. For more information please email radicalvoices@gmail.com.
Filmhouse Film Quiz: the ‘phenomenally successful (and rather tricky) monthly quiz’. Free to enter: teams of up to 8 people should be seated in the Cafe Bar by 9pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road.
Colinton Amateur Orchestral Society Concert: Around the World. Music by Arnold, Geddes, Borodin, Sibellius and Bizet. Conductor: Julian Appleyard. 7.30pm, Polwarth Parish Church, Polwarth Terrace. Tickets cost £6/£3 (students) on the door, children admitted free.
The Feast of Life: a Musical of Hope from Christian Aid. 7.30pm, Portobello & Joppa Parish Church, 1 Brunstane Road North. Tickets costs £5 (accompanied children free) and are available from Ian Warwick on 0131 669 4906. All proceeds will go to Christian Aid.
Nothing Ever Happens Here and Tradfest Present Khartoum Heroes + Adam Stafford + C Duncan. Khartoum Heroes are ‘an elusive, seldom seen, ramshackle band of saggy misshapen superheroes who’ve recently come out of retirement to no applause whatsoever’. They include King Creosote, ‘Uncle’ Vic Galloway, Captain Geeko the Dead Aviator, Uncle Beesly and Broken He-Rory; expect psychedelia, folk, punk, ska, indie, pop and bluegrass ‘played by paunchy men in tights and ill-fitting outfits’. 9pm-3am, Dissection Room, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £10 and may be booked here.
Strings, Wires, Threads and Guts: Emma Lloyd and Matthew Whiteside. An evening viewing of the current exhibition Possibilities of the Object, with music for viola d’amore, viola and electronics, including Prologue by Gerard Grisey and the premiere of Glasgow-based composer Matthew Whiteside’s new work. 7-8.30pm, Fruitmarket Gallery, 45 Market Street. Tickets cost £6 and may be booked via eventbrite here (transaction fee applies).
St Giles’ at Six: George Heriot’s School Chamber Choir, featuring the Brass Ensemble and others. Rutter This is the Day and What Sweeter Music, Poston Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, Finzi God is gone up, Parry I was Glad, Durufle Ubi Caritas, Tallis If ye love me and Whitacre Sleep. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free: retiring collection.
