Saturday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

PRIDE Edinburgh! The 2015 Pride march starts from the Scottish Parliament at 12 noon – prior to this there will be a special Pride Breakfast at Serenity Cafe, just a few minutes walk away; music, delicious food, feel-good community vibes, face-painting, and live entertainment from Courtney Lynn, Charly Houston, Katherine McMahon, Jo McFarlane, Jules & Pawel and Karen Flynn. This is also the chance to meet up with friends before the march and to make sure that everyone feels welcome and included. 9.30am-12 noon, Serenity Cafe, The Tun, 8 Jackson’s Entry. £5 (£2.50 unwaged): please book in advance to help the organisers plan the catering – click here or go to the LGBT Health & Wellbeing website. For more information please contact Jules Stapleton Barnes on 0131 523 1104 or email jules@lgbthealth.org.uk.

West Lothian Cats Protection League Rehoming Family Day: come and meet the cats and kittens! Stalls, tombola, Cat Cafe. If you’re not able to rehome one of the many cats in CPL’s care, you might want to find out more about short-term fostering (they are currently desperate for fosterers), or volunteering in another capacity such as fundraising or home checking – or you could just go along to see the cats, have fun and support the branch in its excellent work. 1-3pm, Newyearfield Farm Community Centre,  Hawk Brae, Livingston, EH54 6AB. All welcome!

Edinburgh Power of Food Festival: a celebration of fabulous community garden initiatives across Edinburgh. Community gardens come in many shapes and sizes, but all have the common goal of bringing people together to grow food. Gardens from Wester Hailes to Portobello, Drylaw to Leith and the City Centre to Craigmillar will all be open, with lots of activities including theatre performances, a cycle ride, children’s workshops, Q & A sessions, cooking demonstrations, garden tours, music, the chance to visit an Iron Age roundhouse and a yurt, insect safari, planting workshops, bouncy castle, facepainting, storytelling, foraging and a printmaking session – for full details and a downloadable map see the festival’s website here. Events continue on Sunday 21st June.

French Family Saturdays: Voyage, voyage! Introduce your children to a popular piece of French culture at these all-in-French Saturday sessions. If you could choose only one thing, what would you put into your suitcase before going on holiday? Today the children will each choose their item to put into the bag – then the story can begin. ‘A great introduction to narration in French’. For children aged 3-10 years. 12 noon-2pm, Institut francais d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. £5 (members £3) per child: advance booking is recommended – please email info@ifecosse.org.uk.

Tiger Tales: stories and crafts for children aged 4-8 years. 3-4pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. Free.

Morningside Farmers’ Market: fresh, local, seasonal goods direct from the producers, plus preserves, crafts, and refreshments on sale throughout the market and at The Merlin. 9.30am-3.30pm, The Merlin (rear car park), 168 Morningside Road.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s big event is Pentlands Pursuit – MTB Treasure Hunt; Scottish Mountain Bike Orienteering brings you an event for solo riders, pairs and families – ‘a challenge of strategy, fitness, navigation and luck’. For more information please see the festival’s website here or its Facebook page here, or pick up a programme from many venues across the city and beyond, including libraries, leisure centres and many shops. Ends 21st June 2015.

St Bride’s Family Cinema: see your favourite films for free! Juice and choc ices are available for 50p each during the interval. Today’s film is Peter Pan (U) (1953). 10.30am-12.30pm (includes interval), St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Please note that all children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Lunchtime Concert: Faith Builders Chorale. From the Faith Builders Training Institute, Pennsylvania. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Leith Festival 2015: Trinity House – Maritime Leith. Visit Trinity House and take a self-led tour of Leith’s maritime history, using the latest technologies to uncover the local stories behind the collections. Meet the conservators to learn about the work they carry out on the vast painting collections, and watch digital recordings of Leithers talking about their memories. 10am-4pm, Trinity House, 99 Kirkgate. Free. On Thursday 18th June there will be object handling sessions (11am-2pm) and tours of Trinity House led by Junior Guides Tours (11am-1.30pm). For more information please contact adam.gorysz@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or call 0131 554 3289.

Krazy Kat Theatre Company Presents Mattress! Mattress! The Story of the Princess and the Pea. Set in an ‘awfy drafty’ castle in the remote Highlands, this classic tale is retold by two bemused actors, some tartan ‘troos’ and an extravaganza of exquisite puppet figures. This fast and funny family show features sign language, ‘dancing aboot’ and big laughs. Suitable for deaf and hearing children aged 3-8 years. 11am or 2pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£6 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here (transaction fee applies to phone and online bookings).

Balerno Village Screen: Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief (PG). A teenager discovers he is the descendant of a Greek god and sets out on an adventure to settle an ongoing battle. 2.30pm (doors open 2pm), St Joseph’s Hall, 2 Main Street, Balerno. Free; all welcome – but please reserve your place via eventbrite here to enable the organisers to manage numbers (and please also remember to cancel your booking if you can no longer attend). Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema funded by donations.

Dad’s Day: join storytellers and musicians for a positive celebration of fatherhood on the day before Fathers’ Day. A great opportunity for dads to enjoy time with their children, tell stories and listen to tales that promote the importance and joys of active fatherhood. 11am-2pm, Storytelling Court, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street. Free and unticketed.

Edinburgh International Film Festival continues today! For details of all films and other events see the programme here or pick up a paper copy at EIFF venues and many other locations throughout the city. Tickets are available in person from the Filmhouse, Lothian Road, Cineworld, Fountain Park, Odeon, Lothian Road and the Festival Theatre, by calling 0131 623 8030 or online here. Today’s highlights include Amy, Asif Kapadia’s ‘absorbing, moving, insightful and powerful’ documentary charting the amazing highs and terrible lows in the life of Amy Winehouse, and Paper Planes; 12-year old Dylan is aiming for a place in the world junior paper plane championship. He may not have the latest phone, and he may have some problems at home, but when a teacher shows him how to make the perfect paper plane, his imagination and enthusiasm know no limits. On his journey from his home in rural Australia to the bright lights of Tokyo, he makes new friends and learns how he can make his family heal. Paper Planes is shown as part of the Filmfest Junior strand and is suitable for everyone aged 6 or over.

Ahoy Me Hearties! Use a secret pirate map to navigate the grounds of Lauriston and find ‘treasure’ to help transform yourself in to a pirate! Make your own crazy cutlass and pirate hat – and even your own parrot! With Mike Durnan. 11am-3pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £4 and must be purchased in advance from the Usher Hall Box Office, Lothian Road, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note: these are family workshops intended for parents and children to enjoy together. Children must be accompanied by a minimum of one paying adult and not be booked into workshops alone.

Bruntsfield Children’s Bookjam: a day of free children’s events to celebrate Independent Booksellers’ Week at various venues around The Edinburgh Bookshop. Authors, storytelling, singlaong, crafting and a Mad Hatters’ Tea Party! 10.30am onwards – please contact The Edinburgh Bookshop, 219 Bruntsfield Place (0131 447 1917) for more information, or see the shop’s Facebook page here.

Photosynthesis: Shedding New Light On Plants. The first exhibition in Scotland by artists from the Dutch art collective Tropism, featuring photographs of plants taken with unusual, often scientific, visualisation techniques – a surprising and spectacularly different view of plants. Botanical installations located around the Garden will fuse art, poetry and science and combine audio, video and classic museum displays. The Tropists are a group of artists who work with phenomena occurring at the edge of perception; events which are hardly noticed but which lead to a reaction similar to the manner in which a plant responds to light. 10am-6pm, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. Ends 27th September 2015. Free.

Unluck: Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau launches a podcast about chance, probability and luck. Through interviews, music and discussion he explores the contemporary meanings of luck and chance – as faith, myth, folklore, language and neuropsychological activity. 4pm, Rhubaba, 25 Arthur Street. After the launch the podcast will be available to download from the Rhubaba website.

Golden Hare Books and Bloomsbury Present Rebecca Dinerstein: The Sunlit Night. Golden Hare Books launches this year’s Independent Booksellers’ Week with the Scottish launch of ‘one of the most exciting debut novels of 2015’, the story of two people who have come to the Lofoten Islands, 95 miles north of the Arctic Circle, to learn to be alone, but who form a bond that fortifies them against the turmoil of their distant homes. Rebecca will read from her work and discuss it with Peggy Hughes. 7pm, Golden Hare Books, 68 St Stephen Street, Stockbridge. Tickets cost £3 (redeemable against the price of a signed copy of the book on the night) and may be purchased via the shop’s website here.

Balerno Village Screen: The Theory of Everything (12A). The award-winning biopic of Stephen Hawking, starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. 7pm, St Joseph’s Hall, 2 Main Street, Balerno. Free; all welcome – but please reserve your place via eventbrite here to enable the organisers to manage numbers (and please also remember to cancel your booking if you can no longer attend). Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema funded by donations.

Scots Music Group Ceilidh with The Occasionals. 7.30pm (dancing from 8pm) – 12 midnight, St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Tickets cost £8/£6 in advance, £10/£8 on the door (sta) and are available from the Scots Music Group on 0131 555 7668, the St Bride’s Box Office on 0131 346 1405 or online here. Please note that as there is a licensed bar, only alcohol from that bar may be consumed on the premises: water will be freely available.

The Domestics: eclectic alt. country music from the East Lothian band, with special guests Edinburgh a cappella folk trio The Silver Darlings. 9pm-12 midnight, Dalriada, 77 Promenade, Portobello.

Edinburgh Society of Musicians: Salvatore Tomasino (clarinet) and Elaine Gould (piano) play Poulenc, Debussy and Brahms. 7.30pm (prompt), Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road. Free admission; non-members welcome. The Edinburgh Society of Musicians was formed in 1887 to promote practical music-making in Edinburgh.

Mairi Orr: the Scottish singer-songwriter performs her debut album Jenny Does Burn ahead of its release on 29th June. ‘Untapped stories and contemporary themes, interweaving fact with fiction, often drawing on her West Highland connections…a refreshing and accessible perspective on this culturally celebrated area….(she) demonstrates the vibrant connection between Scottish and American folk traditions’. Over 18s only. 7.30pm, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets cost £8 in advance (transaction fee applies) and may be purchased online here, otherwise £10 on the door (sta).