Sunday in Edinburgh – What’s On Today

Dads Rock Fathers’ Day Family Takeover! Bring the whole family for an afternoon of time travel, with lots of free activities from the past, present – and future! Music, dance, science, storytelling, sketching, crafts, costumed characters and more. Dads Rock, The Edinburgh Sketcher, Macastory, the Scottish Book Trust and Whale Arts are just some of the organisations who will be at the museum to entertain you – for full programme see the NMS website. Please note that some of the activities have limited places, for which you should sign up in the Grand Gallery on the day. 10am-5pm, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free.

The Great Scottish Walk and Run Festival: run, walk or toddle and raise money for charity (or just do it for fun!) in your choice of six different events, from 20k walks to 1 mile strolls and a special toddle for children under the age of 6. Entertainment; refreshments for sale. First event starts 9.30am, Holyrood Park, Queen’s Drive. For more information and to register see website here.

Hearing Impaired Tour – Artist Rooms: Roy Lichtenstein. A free tour of the exhibition with portable loops, led by Tessa Asquith-Lamb. 11am-12 noon, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Booking is required and may be made by calling the Information Desk on 0131 624 6560.

Leith Festival 2015: Hibs Historical Tours. Open gallery displays and tours of the West Stand including dressing rooms, press room, Boardroom, Directors’ Room and pitchside.Visitors will also be able to access the South Stand where the Hibernian Community Foundation has its base, East Stand concourse, Memorial Wall and the club shop in the Famous Five Stand. 12-4pm, Hibernian Football Club, Albion Place. Free. Please note that all children under 12 years must be accompanied by an adult.

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 In Person: Ewan McGregor – a rare on stage interview with the Creiff boy (and global superstar), Inside Out, the latest animation from Pixar, and The Night Stalker (1972), John Llewellyn Moxey’s cult classic – a stylish, atmospheric horror in which a down-at-heel journalist doggedly tracks a vampire through the neon-lit streets of late-night Los Angeles. 

Fathers’ Day at Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway: steam trains, vintage carriages, classic cars and a special afternoon tea aboard the train. A special timetable and standard fares will apply. Please note that the afternoon tea must be pre-booked. Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway, Bo’ness Station, Union Street, EH51 9AQ.

Edinburgh Festival of Cycling concludes today! The final events are Women, Read & Ride on Tour – a literary tour of Edinburgh by bike with readings, conversation and cake, Learn, then Ride – a workshop for female novice or non-cyclists to build confidence and skill levels (bikes provided if required) and two Audax Rides – the Honest Toun Dander (100km) and the Honest Toun Dawdle (50km). 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.

Bags of Art – June: cool and creative fun with artists Tessa Asquith-Lamb and Louise Fraser. For ages 4-12 years. 2-4pm (drop-in), Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. Free: no booking required. Supported by the Friends of NGS.

Behind the Frame…. Members of the acclaimed Lyceum Youth Theatre invite audiences to join them in a site-specific performance that will explore spaces within the Portrait Gallery, where they will share creative responses to the works on show. The performances will consist of self-guided ‘happenings’ around the building. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free: no booking required.

Botanics Midsummer Cake Fest: the traditional late opening for the summer solstice. 50 teams of amateur and professional bakers will each have produced a cake version of Edinburgh landmarks. Today they will be put together to create a cake map of the city – which will then be eaten (at approx 5pm)! Come along to view the cake map as it takes shape, and help create additional items – buses, trams, cars, boats and more – for the map at free drop-in workshops. Live entertainment throughout the day and into the evening, plus lots of tasty treats from some of Scotland’s leading food and drink producers. 10am-10.30pm, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row (see Cakefest’s own website here for full programme). Free, no booking required. Supported by EventScotland as part of Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink.

Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is The Long Good Friday (18): a prosperous gangster is about to close a lucrative deal when bombs start showing up in very inconvenient places. Starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, who won an Academy Award for her role as gangster’s moll Victoria. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here.

Scotland’s Open Gardens: 61 Fountainhall Road. A large walled town garden in which trees and shrubs form an architectural backdrop to a wide variety of flowering plants. Three ponds, with and without fish, have attracted a lively population of frogs. Refreshments available. 2-5pm, 61 Fountainhall Road, EH9 2LH. £4 per person, of which 40% goes to Froglife and the net remainder to SG beneficiaries.

Leith Festival 2015: Kailyard in Concert. Celebrate the longest night of the year with a great selection of music from the past 60 years – from Abba to Ash and many more! 7.30pm, Queen Charlotte Rooms, 56a Queen Charlotte Street, Leith. Tickets cost £5 and are available from South Leith Church Halls, Henderson Street or by emailing Marion Stout at developing@dial.pipex.com.

Scotland’s Open Gardens: Merchiston Cottage. Small walled, urban, wildlife friendly and organic bee-keeper’s garden. This eco-friendly tapestry of wildlife habitats encourages birds, insects and frogs as pest control. Talk on beekeeping by Brian Poole, plant stall by Binny Plants, refreshments available. 2-5pm, 16 Colinton Road, EH10 5EL. £4 per person, of which 40% goes to Alyn Children’s Hospital and the net remainder to SG beneficiaries.

Leith Festival Tattoo 2015. The closing event of this year’s festival is an evening full of dance and music, with Siamsoir Irish dancers, Mary Phelan Dance Academy, The Polish Scottish Heritage Group, Ernie Reynolds singing Italian arias, plus the traditional Pipes and Drums. Organiser: Bob Lawson, compere: Tim Bell. 7pm, Tower Street. Free.

Father’s Day Special: Jazz with George Howden and friends. 4-7pm, Old Chain Pier, Trinity Crescent, Newhaven.

Sofi’s Nocturnes: a special open mic session to mark the end of Sofi’s Midsummer Fruit Festival, featuring an appearance by recently formed 20-piece Edinburgh choral group Castle Chorus. 8pm, Sofi’s Bar, Henderson Street.

St Giles’ At Six: St Mary’s Music School String Quintet plays Schubert String Quintet in C D956. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free, retiring collection.