2015 Just Festival Launch! The Just Festival will return to Edinburgh for its 15th year in August; it has been called the ‘compassionate heart of the Edinburgh festival scene’. Events will include music, theatre, comedy, dance, conversations shining a light on social issues, talks that inform and educate, workshops to learn and develop skills, striking films, food, exhibitions and a family programme bursting with fun. All are welcome to come along to tonight’s launch and enjoy showcase tasters of what the festival has to offer – Voice Box Theatre, Monica Salvi and, all the way from Soweto, After Freedom will perform. 6-8pm, St John’s Episcopal Church, Princes Street. Free but please register via eventbrite here.
The Grassmarket Community Project Presents Peter Wright: Ribbon of Wildness – Scotland’s Watershed. Peter will give a lively talk about the 64 day walk he took – largely alone – along this fascinating natural feature running from North to South through Scotland. ‘No other journey through Scotland gives so sublime a sense of unity – a feeling of how the nation’s various different landscapes link together to form a coherent whole’ (The Scotsman). 4.15pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome: free – donations also welcome!
Spliced: Edinburgh College Showcase Event (cert 15). The cream of Edinburgh College student filmmakers vie for the prestigious ‘Best Factual’ and ‘Best Non-Factual;’ Awards, voted for by a selected panel of industry judges, and the much-coveted ‘Audience Award’, the winner of which will be chosen on the night. This screening of shorts includes animations, music videos, comedies, documentaries and dramas, ‘…a wonderful opportunity to see the fresh and emerging talent of the next generation of filmmakers’. 6pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £3 and may be purchased via eventbrite here.
Community Chat Cafe: a chance to practice your spoken English and share food, languages and culture. 12.30-2pm today and every Wednesday until 24th June 2015, Pilton Community Health Project, 73 Boswall Parkway. For more information, or if you wish to book a creche place, please call Rachel on 07891 525663 or Julie on 07958 540 438. Free.
Nepal Earthquake Benefit: music and song from Scots Music Group’s Mixed Instrument 3 Class and members of Edinburgh’s Nepali community. Fair trade crafts and goods, raffle and fair trade refreshments. 7pm, Cluny Church Centre, Morningside Parish Church, 1 Cluny Drive, Morningside. Entry by donation.
Lunchtime Concert: Will Pickvance – Piano Speak. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
Harper Theatre Production Presents Clouds: the first production of a new play by Alisha Harper. Highlighting the struggles of depression in young people, Clouds follows the story of student Nick, whose symptoms are covered up by the tragic death of his sister. For ages 12+. 7.30pm, Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £10/£8 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 560 1581 or online here. Also at same time on Thursday 11th and Friday 12th June 2015.
Meet Huey Morgan: the host of BBC Radio 6 Music and frontman of Fun Lovin’ Criminals signs copies of his new book Huey Morgan’s Rebel Heroes, looking at the music influences of his favourite revolutionary artists across the decades, from Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin to Joe Strummer and beyond. 12.30pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street.
Grassmarket Residents’ Association (GRASS) Annual Meeting. See the progress with the Community Garden over the last year and find out how you can join the gardening group. 7pm, Kick Ass Hostel Cafe, 2 West Port (AGM) and afterwards in the West Port Community Garden for refreshments. All welcome!
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents The Shed That Fed A Million Children: Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and CEO of the charity Mary’s Meals, introduces his new book. After watching a 1992 news bulletin about war-torn Bosnia, Magnus and his brother decided to take a week off work to help; neither of them anticipated that their one-off road trip in an old Landrover would grow to becoming Magnus’s life work, leading him to leave his job, sell his house, and direct all his efforts to feeding thousands of the world’s poorest children. Magnus explains how a series of miraculous circumstances and an overwhelming display of love from those around him led to the creation of Mary’s Meals, an organisation that could hold the key to eradicating child hunger forever. When it started in 2002 the charity provided meals to just 200 children in Malawi – now over one million children in twelve countries benefit from its work. 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets are available from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8218, emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or via eventbrite here.
Summerhall Singers Summer Concert: a wonderful hour of song and merriment from the Summerhall community choir – something for all ages and musical tastes. 7.30pm, Library Cafe, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £4 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 560 1581 or online here. The choir rehearses weekly and welcomes new members; there are no auditions and no experience is necessary – so if you are interested in getting involved, email summerhallsingers@gmail.com.
LGBT Just for Men: a relaxed social opportunity for men who want to meet other gay, bisexual or transgender men in one of Edinburgh’s LGBT-friendly bars. For over-18s only. 6.30-8.30pm, Woodland Creatures, 260 Leith Walk. For more information please call Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or email alison@lgbthealth.org.uk.
Pushing Your Limits: an evening with ultra-marathon runner Andrew Murray. Andrew will talk about his recent (successful) attempt to run the ten highest mountains in Scotland in one day, his first-ever run across the Namib desert – and what motivates him to do these things! 7pm, Palmerston Place Church, 10 Palmerston Place. Tickets cost £5 and are available from the church or online here: all proceeds will go to the Friends of Chogoria Hospital.
University of Edinburgh College of Science and Engineering: Science on a Summer’s Evening. The closing event in the Evenings of Enlightenment series will celebrate two distinctive research areas, with public lectures, displays, interactive activities and music from the Science Ceilidh Band. In Saving Tomorrow’s Memories Dr Olof Johansson will describe his work, in which lasers control individual molecules and events happen in the millionth of a nanosecond, whilst in The Data Revolution in Science Professor Dave Robertson will explain how the field of Big Data is opening up exciting new areas of research and presenting novel challenges. 6-8.30pm (doors open 5.30pm), Swann Lecture Theatre, Michael Swann Building, University of Edinburgh, Max Born Crescent, The King’s Buildings, EH9 3BF. Free and open to all but please register via eventbrite here or call 0131 650 5753
Let’s Glow: Edinburgh College Popular Music Showcase. The best performances from students of all levels, with a variety of genres to suit all tastes. For over 18s only. 7-10pm, The Liquid Room, Victoria Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be purchased from Annette.Chapman@edinburghcollege.ac.uk.
