Bee Scene in Edinburgh: if you get a buzz out of bumblebees, join this volunteer survey along the Union Canal and learn more about these fascinating creatures and the vital role they play in the environment. Using resources provided by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, surveys are carried out monthly between March and October. No experience necessary. 1-3.30pm, Water of Leith Conservation Trust, 24 Lanark Road. For more information please contact the organiser, Alan Forrester, on 07768 951740.
Portrait Detectives – June: collect your kit, follow clues and solve a mystery from history! 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed. Supported by the Friends of NGS.
Edinburgh Festival of Cycling continues today! Rides, films, talks, drama, books, photos, workshops and lots more. Today’s events include MY Adventure (family guided cycle ride), a Laid Back Sunday Tour/Try Out (with the chance to try a variety of recumbent bikes, trikes, tandems and loadbikes/bakfiets), and an Edinburgh Belles on Bikes/Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Operative ride. 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.
Pentland Hills Regional Park Service: Get Hooked! A fun-filled day for children, learning about what’s involved in fishing and how they can play their part. Learn how to tie a fly and cast a rod – and enjoy the freshly caught fished cooked on the barbeque. For children aged 5+. 10.30am-3pm, Harlaw House Visitor Centre, Harlaw Reservoir. Free. For more information please contact the Pentland Hills Regional Park HQ, Hermitage of Braid, 69a Braid Road on 0131 529 2401 or email pentlandhills@edinburgh.gov.uk.
Leith Festival 2015 Sunday Service: a service for the whole community of Leith – all very welcome. 11am, Pilrig St Paul’s Parish Church, 1b Pilrig Street.
Leith Custom House Open Day. Scottish Historic Buildings Preservation Trust (SHBT) is leasing the Custom House for an initial five-year period, during which time it will carry out a feasibility study (which will include a consultation process) into the use of the buildings as a cultural/heritage hub for Leith. SHBT is keen to give the public an opportunity to visit the building and to begin to bring the building back to life – all are very welcome to come along today. Any local Leith organisation that would like to take a table and promote its activities should also get in touch by contacting info@shbt.org.uk. 10am-4pm, Leith Custom House, Commercial Street.
Enchanting Mythical Creatures: let your imagination run riot and create some amazing mythical creatures-on-a-stick out of felt, then embellish them with magical things. With Margaret Findlay. 11am-3pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £6 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 must not be booked into workshops alone.
Leith Festival 2015: Citadel Arts Presents Witch Academy. Come to a new family show set in the heart of enchanted Leith! Colourful characters, magical spells – and at the end of the day, even witches have to get along. A play for children by children. Citadel Arts Youth Drama Team is a dynamic youth theatre with talented children from six local primary schools. Witch Academy was written by Laure C Paterson and is directed by Andrea McKenzie. 3pm, Leith Dockers Club, 17 Academy Street. Tickets cost £6/£3. For more information please email lizhare@blueyonder.co.uk or call 0131 337 8570 or 07770 623 924. Also at 6pm on Monday 15th June 2015.
Filmhouse Junior: screenings for a younger audience. Today’s film is A Letter to Momo/Momo e no tegami (PG), an animated fantasy in which an 11-year old girl moves to a tiny island in the Seto Inland Sea. She continues to cling to the memory of her late father, who left her an unfinished letter, and finds herself unable to adjust to her new life – until one day she is visited by three bizarre creatures. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small, and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online here.
Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is Playtime (U): 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here.
Filmhouse: The Who. (1) Showing at 6.15pm – Tommy (15): Ken Russell’s ‘wonderfully excessive’ version of The Who’s rock opera; (2) Showing at 8.45pm – Quadrophenia (15): in 1964 London Jimmy and his pals are Mods, dividing their time between dancing and brawling with Rockers. ‘…one of the best films about youth ever made, beautifully illustrating the frustrations of being young and bright but still having no future’. Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online: prices vary.
Filmhouse Quiz: the ‘phenomenally successful, rather tricky, but fun’ monthly quiz. Free to enter; teams of up to 8 welcome. 9pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road.
50th Anniversary SCIAF Mass: Archbishop Leo Cushley will be the celebrant at this special event to mark 50 years of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, which has touched the lives of millions of people around the world. The mass will be followed by a reception in St Mary’s Church Hall, where you can also see the SCIAF exhibition of stories and photos from the charity’s life-saving work. 3pm, St Mary’s RC Cathedral, York Place. All are welcome but please RSVP to Andrew Forsyth on 0141 354 5555 or email aforsyth@sciaf.org.uk.
Amy Hawthorn: the West Lothian funk/soul/jazz singer-songwriter makes her first, much anticipated, appearance at the OCP. 8pm, Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent, Newhaven.
St Giles’ At Six: Capital Concert Band – From Stage and Screen. A medley of numbers from West Side Story, Pirates of the Caribbean, Band of Brothers, Les Miserables and Frozen. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free: retiring collection.
