What’s On in Edinburgh this week

MONDAY 27TH JULY 2015

Dr Book at the Urban Garden: storytimes and reading prescriptions from Dr Book all this week at the new George Street ‘parklet’. Come and see the new book benches! Storytime: 11am or 12 noon today, Thursday and Friday, Dr Book: 11am, Tuesday and Wednesday, George Street Urban Garden (near the Assembly Rooms). Read The Edinburgh Reporter’s article about the launch of the new book benches here.

Grassmarket Free Cinema: Dirty Pretty Things (15). An illuminating and nuanced film about the exploitation of illegal immigrants, Dirty Pretty Things tells the story of Okwe, a kind-hearted Nigerian doctor, and Senay, a Turkish chambermaid, who both work at the same London hotel. A thriller steeped in social commentary with powerful, evocative performances that picked up multiple awards. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome; free – donations to the Project also very welcome. The cafe will be open – please use it!

Caroline Dunford: Playing For Love. The acclaimed author launches her new warm-hearted novel, set against the backdrop of the Edinburgh Festival. 6.30-8pm, Portobello Library, Rosefield Avenue. Free but please book via eventbrite here.

Record Breakers Nature Hunt. Make your own journal, then go outside to see how many birds, bugs and plants everyone can spot. For ages 5+. 2.30pm, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan.

For Crying Out Loud: screenings for carers and their babies under the age of 12 months (maximum of 2 adults per baby). Babychanging, bottle warming and buggy parking facilities are available. This week’s film is The Salt of the Earth (12A) (In French, Portugese and English with English subtitles). Photographer Sebastiao Salgardoa embarks on the discovery of pristine territories, of world fauna and flora and of grandiose landscapes, as part of a huge photographic project in tribute to the planet’s beauty. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 per adult and may be purchased from the Box Office in person or by calling 0131 228 2688.

Bailey On… Warhol: a screening of the 1973 documentary, introduced by Dr Glyn Davis (University of Edinburgh). David Bailey, self-taught photographer and one of the prime architects of the Swinging Sixties, broadened his horizons in the late 1960s and early 70s, making three high-profile documentaries for Lew Grade’s ATV channel. Bailey was given unprecedented access to his subjects, including Andy Warhol. The documentary was infamously banned on the grounds that it was offensive and indecent, the verdict later overturned and the programme finally transmitted. 6-7.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Picturehouses Culture Shock: the best in cult and genre films. This week: The Terminator (18) – from the wasteland of 2029 Earth, two survivors are sent back in time to 1984 Los Angeles to influence the outcome of a conflict that has yet to take place. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here: prices vary.

Arctic Convoys: Men and Ice. In November 2014 St Mary’s Cathedral hosted the award ceremony of the Ushakov medals, presented by the Russian government to local British sailors and marines who had served on the Russian Convoys in World War II; thirty five veterans came from Edinburgh and the Lothians to receive their medals from the Russian Consul General. This festival exhibition aims to show how war totally changes people’s lives, taking them out of familiar surroundings and leading them to endure the most appalling hardships and dangers in unknown and hostile situations; it will consist of tapestries by weaver Katie Russell, interviews with and photographic portraits of sixteen veterans by Sandra Marwick and Colin Dickson, and fourteen beautifully embroidered banners linked to the veterans’ backgrounds, loaned by the Trades Maiden Hospital. 9am-1pm and 2-5pm Monday to Saturday, 12 noon-3pm Sundays (except Wednesday 19th August: 9am-12.15pm only), St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free: collection for Legion Scotland (formerly Royal British Legion Scotland) throughout the exhibition. Closes 31st August 2015.

Consider the Flowers of the Field: an exhibition of paintings by Janet Dyer, botanical artist and priest. 9am-1pm and 2-5pm Monday to Saturday, 12 noon-3pm Sundays (except Wednesday 19th August: 9am-12.15pm only), Resurrection Chapel, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Free.

TUESDAY 28TH JULY 2015

River Dipping: get into the river for this favourite activity! 2-3.30pm, Water of Leith Visitor Centre, 24 Lanark Road. £4 per child, accompanying adult free. Booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 455 7367 or emailing admin@waterofleith.org.uk.

Peter Rabbit Picnic at the Baby Cafe. Summer songs, craft and snack. 10.30-11.30am, Stockbridge Library, Hamilton Place. Free.

WHALE Arts Summer Festival: fun activities for children and families. Today: Build A Band – form a band, write lyrics and perform live! For ages 10+. Please bring a packed lunch. 10am-3pm, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. Free but please book by calling 0131 458 3267 or emailing info@whalearts.co.uk – or ask in the Centre.

Leith Folk Club: Gavin Pennycook. Fiddle, whistle and nyckelharpa player Gavin began his career playing mostly Irish music, but has gone on to include Scottish, Scandinavian, Breton, Asturian and other European and North American music in his repertoire. Support: Kenny Butterill. 7.30pm, Victoria Park House Hotel, 221 Ferry Road. Tickets cost £7 and may be booked online here or by texting the club’s dedicated booking line on 07502 024 852. Pre-reserved tickets must be collected by 7.30pm on the night.

Word Power Books Presents The Raven’s Song: Nalini Paul and Catherine Hiley launch their new collection of poetry and art. Drawing on raven and crow myths from Orkney, Shetland and Canada, the work charts the trickster’s wicked and knowing ways through changing landscapes of memory, revenge, punishment and redemption. This is Nalini Paul and Catherine Hiley’s second collaboration; their first, the limited edition Artist’s Book of Hrafn Floki (a joint project with Edinburgh Printmakers and the Scottish Poetry Library), was purchased by the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and Edinburgh University Library. 6.30pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. Free: all welcome – donations also welcome!

LGBT Language Cafe: a groundbreaking new project, beginning with four facilitated sessions for LGBT people whose first language is not English. The opportunity to meet others in a safe and supportive environment, with games and activities to help you improve your spoken English. For ages 16+. 6.30-8pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information and to book your free place, please contact Jules Stapleton Barnes on 0131 523 1104 or email jules@lgbthealth.org.uk. Booking is preferred, but you are also welcome just to turn up.

Stalkers and Divas: ten well-established artists offer a brief look into their amazing and weird worlds. This exhibition is the brainchild of artists Gosia Walton and Freddie Thomas, who believe that art is about freedom of expression. 10am-5pm, Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 36 Dalmeny Street. Closes 31st July 2015 (with a closing event 6-9pm).

WEDNESDAY 29TH JULY 2015

Edinburgh’s Playday: lots of free activities for children and families! 12.30-4.30pm, Grassmarket. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Record Breakers Record Smashers: will you be able to set a library record? Lots of fun and sporty activities. 2-3pm, Drumbrae Library Hub, 81 Drum Brae Drive. Free.

Summer Fun In The Courtyard: free family activities every week in July. Today Angela Grant brings a favourite Bible story to life, exploring Noah’s Ark through Godly Play. 11.30am, Courtyard, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Free: participants will also receive a voucher for use in the Undercroft Cafe.

Meet the Author: Jenny Harper. Jenny will read from her new book, People We Love, the fourth in the popular Heartland series of romantic novels set in the fictional Scottish town of Hailesbank. 2.30-3.30pm, Morningside Library, Morningside Road. Free but please book via eventbrite here or call the library on 0131 529 5654.

A Tale of Two Canals: explore the history of the Union and the Forth & Clyde Canals and the building of the Falkirk Wheel with the Scottish Waterways Trust – free walking tours packed with quirky facts and fascinating stories! Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult; please wear sturdy boots or shoes and waterproof clothing. 1-3pm, The Falkirk Wheel, Lime Road, Tamfourhill. Book your free place via eventbrite here. Also at same time on 5th August 2015.

The International Chorale: popular and sacred tunes. The International Chorale is based in Dunedin, Florida. Director/organist/pianist: JoAnn Metropoulos. 10am, Sanctuary, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street.

Dr Book’s Surgery. Stuck for something to read? Looking for new and exciting authors to explore? Dr Book will dispense reading advice and suggestions to cure all of your reading ailments. For ages 7+. 2.30pm, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan.

New Pattern and Possibility: Eastern Influence in 18th Century Western European Dress. Georgina Ripley, Curator of Fashion and Textiles at the National Museum of Scotland, explores some of the garments represented in Jean-Etienne Liotard’s portraits and considers the seductive charms of the East and its impact on European style. Liotard’s work documents the increasing cultural interchange between the Near East and Western Europe and the consequent influence on informal fashionable clothing. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Lunchtime Concert: Piano Speak with Will Pickvance. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Go Set A Watchman: if you are bursting to share what you think of Harper Lee’s newly published work, Waterstones are hosting various get-togethers tonight –  discuss the book and enjoy nibbles, treats and games! 6pm, Waterstones Cameron Toll, Cameron Toll Centre, 6 Lady Road, 6.30pm, Waterstones Fort Kinnaird, 26 Kinnaird Park, 6.30pm, Waterstones George Street, 83 George Street (please note that booking is required for this event – call the store on 0131 229 3436 or call in) and 6pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street.

The Campbell Normand Trio: the swinging pianist promises a hugely enjoyable set, with backing from bassist Ed Kelly and drummer Bill Kyle. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is cash only.

WHALE Arts Summer Festival: fun activities for children and families. Today: Mini Band – form a band, write lyrics and perform live! For ages 5+. Please bring a packed lunch. 10am-3pm, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. Free but please book by calling 0131 458 3267 or emailing info@whalearts.co.uk – or ask in the Centre.

Mary Queen of Scots Afternoon: on this day 450 years ago, Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots were married in the Chapel-Royal of Holyroodhouse. Come along to this family-friendly event to discover how they danced, what food they ate and what clothes they wore. Original Mary Queen of Scots documents will be on display. 2-4pm (drop-in), National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free

Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Douglas Watt: Pilgrim of Slaughter. The Edinburgh author launches his much awaited new novel, which continues the adventures of Gaelic speaking lawyer John MacKenzie, and his sidekick Davie Scougall. On the eve of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, John and Davie discover a series of gory murders; drawn into a world of papist plots, Presbyterian secret societies and religious and political upheaval, the pair follow a trail of clues left by a self-proclaimed ‘Messenger of God’. 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Tickets are free and may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8218 or emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.

Celebrity Organ Recital: Daniel Cook (Westminster Abbey) plays Bruhns Praeludium in E Minor, Whitlock Sonata in C Minor (ii) Canzona (iii) Scherzetto, Alain Suite pour orgue, Anton Heiller Tanz-Tocata and Schumann Six Fugues on the name B-A-C-H. 8pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Tickets cost £8/£5 (students), accompanied children free, and may be purchased from the Cathedral shop (0131 226 0673) or on the door (sta).

Beatrice Gibson: taking American author William Gaddis’ epic modernist masterpiece JR (1975) as its departure point, Crippled Symmetries is a new film by Beatrice Gibson. An eerily prescient, biting social satire that turns the American Dream on its head, JR tells the story of a precocious 11 year old capitalist who inadvertently creates the single greatest financial empire the decade has seen, spun largely from the invisible confines of the school payphone. Using the novel as a score for its production, and orientated around an experimental workshop for children, the film also draws on the work of radical educators and composers Brian Dennis and John Paynter, who infamously took the work of Cornelius Cardew, John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen into primary and secondary schools and were at the forefront of radical post-war utopian shifts towards child-centered pedagogy. Preview tonight 5-7pm, then 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday (10am-6pm Monday to Sunday in August only), City Dome, Collective Gallery, 38 Calton Hill, Ends 4th October 2015. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

David Sinclair Four with Lorna Reid: London rock & roll group David Sinclair Four join forces with jazz singer Lorna Reid for a special show to launch their new single Coming Out of the Rain, ‘a bittersweet harmony duet located at the emotional crossroads between love and loss and the cultural intersection between rock and country – a London barroom ballad transported to a windswept stretch of the Scottish Borders’. The song is the standout track on the David Sinclair Four’s acclaimed new album 4, which was launched earlier this year. For over 18s only. 7.30pm, The Speakeasy, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets cost £6 and may be purchased online here (transaction fee applies).

Girls’ Night In: gossip, mags, quizzes, snacks and wi-fi. For ages 12-14 (P7+), 5-7pm, Granton Library, Wardieburn Terrace. Free: all welcome!

THURSDAY 30TH JULY 2015

Super Sedan Chairs. Sedan chairs carried people through the streets of Edinburgh, particularly in the Old Town. Take inspiration from the museum’s sedan chair to make and decorate your own miniature one, with Lauren Wayland. 2.30-4pm, Museum of Edinburgh, Huntly House, 142 Canongate. Tickets cost £4 and must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note that these workshops are intended for children and adults to experience together; children must be accompanied by at least one paying adult, and no child should be booked into a workshop alone.

Festival Exhibition: Gordon Mitchell RSA. The acclaimed and prolific Edinburgh artist describes himself as an ‘abstract expressionist’, and intends his work to be thought-provoking. 11am-5pm, Tuesday to Saturday, Scottish Arts Club, 24 Rutland Square. Ends 30th August 2015.

Hanne Darbovan: accepting anything among everything. German artist Darbovan (1941-2009) created a vast body of idiosyncratic works, documenting her attempt to index life as it is lived; amongst the weight of world history and culture. accepting anything among everything is centred on the work Life/Living (1997-98), a monumental installation of hundreds of framed works that form a systematic representation of the years 1900-1999. Darbovan was one of the last century’s most important conceptual artists; this exhibition will create a spectacular monument to an extraordinary individual. Preview tonight 6-8pm, then 10am-5pm Monday to Friday, 12 noon-5pm Saturday & Sunday in August only, then 10am-5pm Tuesday to Friday, 12 noon-5pm Saturdays (closed Sundays and Mondays) in September and October, Talbot Rice Gallery, Old College, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge. Ends 3rd October 2015. There will be a curator’s talk about Hanne Darbovan at 4pm on Friday 31st July: booking is required – see listing. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Meet the Glasshouse Staff: find out more about this stunning collection of plants from the people who care for them. Every month meet a different member of the indoor horticulture team, each with different specialist knowledge. 1-2pm, Glasshouses, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free with Glasshouse entry (£5/£4, children under 5 and essential carers free).

Nordic House: an exhibition of art work from the five Nordic nations, featuring Arctic seascapes, Icelandic lava fields, Denmark’s oldest allotment gardens, women fishing on the Baltic and a subsidence-threatened Swedish mining town. For five weeks the Scottish Storytelling Centre will become a visible symbol of Nordic/Scottish cooperation,with all national flags flying together outside, and a model of the North Atlantic linking Scotland with all the regions depicted on the floor inside. Curated by Graham Hogg of Lateral North. Throughout the exhibition there will also be a children’s trail with Nordic soft toys, and the centre’s cafe will feature Nordic dishes. 10am-6pm Monday to Saturday, 12 noon-6pm Sundays, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Ends 5th September 2015.

WHALE Arts Summer Festival: fun activities for children and families. Today: Street Arts Drums – fun rhythms and drumming! 10am-12 noon for ages 5+, 1-3pm for ages 8+, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. Free – just drop in.

Edinburgh Art Festival starts today! Founded in 2004, this is the UK’s largest annual festival of visual art, bringing together the capital’s leading galleries, museums and artist-run spaces, alongside new public art commissions by established and emerging artists, with an innovative programme of special events. Artists’ talks, theatre, children’s activities, music, guided tours, film screenings, plus Art Late – a special programme of late openings and live events. Featured artists include Charles Avery, Derek Michael Besant, Toby Patterson, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd and Beatrice Gibson. There will be free guided tours of the venues at 2pm Saturday-Thursday, leaving from the Festival Kiosk, 9-11 Blair Street (no booking required, just turn up). The festival takes place throughout the city and also at Jupiter Artland in West Lothian; most events are free. Please see the festival’s website here for further information and to book for ticketed events. Ends 30th August 2015.

Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Ron Butlin: The Magicians of Scotland.  The themes of this new collection from Edinburgh’s former makar include Scotland’s past, present and future, its landscapes and people, its myths and politics, from Bannockburn to Donald Trump. 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Tickets are free and may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8218, emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or via eventbrite here.

Scrapheap Art: get creative with rubbish – including the scrapheap boat race! 2-3.30pm, Water of Leith Visitor Centre, 24 Lanark Road. £4 per child, accompanying adult free. Booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 455 7367 or emailing admin@waterofleith.org.uk.

Fabienne Hess: Hits and Misses (from the archive). Swiss-born Hess explores the disorientation and bewilderment we feel in the face of the vast quantities of digital information surrounding us, questioning how we begin to navigate this maelstrom of images we produce, consume and distribute in everyday life. Preview tonight 6-8pm, then 10am-5pm Monday to Friday, 12 noon-5pm Saturday & Sunday in August only, then 10am-5pm Tuesday to Friday, 12 noon-5pm Saturdays (closed Sundays and Mondays) in September and October, Talbot Rice Gallery, Old College, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge. Ends 3rd October 2015. The artist will be in conversation with University of Edinburgh Art Collections Curator Neil Lebeter at 6.30pm on Saturday 1st August: booking is required – see listing. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

An Evening with Gavin Francis: having won Scottish Book of the Year in 2013 with his outstanding travel narrative Empire Antarctica, Gavin Francis is back with Adventures in Human Being, a very different book – a cultural map of the human body. 6pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. Please call 0131 226 2666 for further information.

Cafe Voices: Norse Myths & Legends. Join storyteller Calum Lykan, in full Viking dress, to be transported to the Norse lands in an evening of sagas surrounded by the dramatic Nordic House exhibition in the Storytelling Court. Plus an open-floor section for people to tell their own tales. 7pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £5 and are available in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here.

Maidan (12A): a special showing of Sergei Loznitsa’s film, which captures the trajectory of the Ukrainian civil uprising in 2013/2014, from peaceful rallies to bloody street battles. In a minimalist style and with still, long shots, the film depicts the point of view of the crowd, peeking into the organised chaos of a revolution. 6.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online here; prices vary.

A Potter, A Painter and A Poet. Potter Paul Tebble, artist Anne Gilchrist and poet Elizabeth Burns have worked together over several years, exploring their shared creative processes. In this exhibition they will focus on the natural world and make connections between their work, showing crystal-glazed stonewear, porcelain and multi-textured golded pots, paintings, drawings and installations growing from a deep relationship with pottery and an ancient Perthshire landscape, and poetry exhibited and read around the galleries. The artists will work alongside invited projection artist Sophia Lindsay Burns, and the exhibition will take place over the entire third floor of the building. Opening preview tonight 6-9pm, then 10am-6pm daily, Third Floor (galleries 1,2 & 3), St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road. Ends 30th August 2015.

In Other Words…Derek Michael Besant: the highly acclaimed Canadian multi-media artist presents a dynamic new exhibition. In Other Words… explores our means of visual perception and the scientific resolution that the eye is a faulty mechanism and the brain compensates for this by assembling data we observe to construct what we see. Besant has researched the idea that one part of our brain ‘sees’ while another part ‘reads’. ‘Everyone has two selves. This exhibition will reveal both…..one we wear outward…the other, we wear inside’. Talk and tour by the artist tonight 6-7pm, launch follows 7-9pm, Edinburgh Printmakers, Union Street. Free; all welcome to both events, but tickets are required for the artist’s talk and may be obtained via eventbrite here. Derek Michael Besant will also give a lecture on 1st August about his concept for the exhibition and for the public art facade integration at Castle Mill Works, Fountainbridge (which will be launched on 31st July), along with four other related projects that draw from public collaboration in other cities.

The Bonzai Quartet: groovy instrumental jazz-fusion from guitarist Dan Abrahams and his eclectic band, with Rob Harrison (keys), Charlie Nash (electric bass) and Italian drummer Davide Rinaldi, playing a varied range of originals and catchy jazzy/funky tunes, with influences from all over the world. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is cash only.

Charles Avery: The People and Things of Onomatopoeia. This exhibition will include new drawings and sculptural works, all of which stem from the fictional port of Onomatopoeia, the main town in Avery’s epic project, The Islanders. 10am-6pm Monday to Saturday, 12 noon-5pm Sundays in August only, Ingleby Gallery, 15 Calton Road. Ends 3rd October 2015. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2015.

Hanna Tuulikki: Sing Sign: A Close Duet. An intimate performance devised for the closes of the Old Town. Composed by Hanna Tuulikki and performed with Daniel Padden, the work combines music and gestures drawn from British Sign Language to reflect on how our experience of the city is inseparable from the languages that we speak. 5pm or 6.30pm, Fountain Close, 22 High Street. Free: please contact Edinburgh Art Festival for booking information. Also on various dates throughout August – see Edinburgh Art Festival programme for details.

Ragged University: Psychology of Obedience and Authority and An Ancient Syrian All-Girl Band. The first talk this evening, by Professor Ray Miller, will look at what we can really learn from psychology about the extent to which we are controlled or are in control – are we really open to manipulation against our better judgement? After a break for refreshments, in the second part of the evening, Warwick Ball will focus on the Maryamin Mosaic (from Maryamin, Near Hama in Syria), one of the most extraordinary works of art to have survived from the ancient world. The mosaic represents a snapshot of an actual event – a live musical performance – and is an important source of information on the development of music and musical instruments, their spread from the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean to Medieval Europe, and also on ancient costume. 7-10pm, The Counting House, West Nicolson Street. Free, no booking required, just drop in. Please bring an item of food to put on the table to share if you can.

Ariel Guzik: Holoturian. For the last ten years, Mexican artist, musician, illustrator and inventor Ariel Guzik has searched for a way to communicate with whales and dolphins. His new work, commissioned by The Arts Catalyst, brings him closer to this goal; for his first UK exhibition, Guzik is constructing a beautiful capsule, the Holoturian, designed to send a living plant and a string instrument into the depths of the sea for a period of time. Imagined and re-imagined by Guzik in a series of extraordinary drawings made over the past decade, this ship has instrumentation, which expresses life, space, harmony and brightness as primary messages, and is dedicated to sperm whales and other deep ocean creatures. 10am-6pm daily, Trinity Apse, Chalmers Close, High Street. Ends 30th August 2015. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Southern Fried: your first chance to get away this weekend isn’t too far from home – it’s Perth’s festival of American Roots music, featuring country, Americana, rockabilly, blues, soul, bluegrass, gospel, funk, cajun and folk. Acts include Punch Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, McCray Sisters, the Fairfield Four, and many more – there’s even an all-women celebration of the songs of Dolly Parton. There’ll also be a free daytime outdoor stage, open mic session, ‘country-oke’, free gigs, a cinema programme, a hot rod and custom cars meet, and plenty of Southern Fried soul food. Most events are held inside at various venues around Perth, so this is one where you don’t have to worry so much about the weather. Launch party tonight (sold out), then various acts and events throughout Friday 31st July, Saturday 1st August and Sunday 2nd August. For more information and tickets, see www.horsecross.co.uk here or the festival’s Facebook page here.

Man of Moon: the Edinburgh two-piece rock band have supported We Were Promised Jetpacks, Phantom Band and The Subways. 7pm, The Speakeasy, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. For over 18s only. Tickets cost £6 and may be purchased online here (transaction fee applies).

FRIDAY 31ST JULY 2015

Miskantti Ladies Choir Concert: Songs from Finland to Scotland. Miskantti Ladies Choir was founded in 1910 – originally as part of a workers’ association – and is one of the oldest choirs in Finland. The choir is based in Tampere, the birthplace of Finnish industry; Scottish factory owner James Finlayson was an important person in the making of Tampere’s industrial history. The choir’s programme today will include Motet, Sibelius’s Finlandia Hymn (a protest song composed at a time when Finland was still under Russian rule), Summer Song, Adiemus, Oh Danny Boy, and lots more. Conductors: Tarja Rantala and Denise Ward. 1pm, Polwarth Parish Church, Polwarth Terrace. Free: all welcome!

WHALE Arts Summer Festival: fun activities for children and families. Today: Gallery Trip – a visit to the National Gallery of Modern Art. For ages 7+. 12 noon-3pm, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. Free but booking is essential; call 0131 458 3267 or email info@whalearts.co.uk – or ask in the Centre. Next week will be Art Week.

eee e o ee e i a ae e a : a group exhibition bringing together a range of new and existing work from artists Anne-Marie Copestake, Alexa Hare, Sophie Mackfall and John Robertson. Drawing, collage and other exploratory material-based investigations, with works highlighting visual, tactile and sensual experience. Preview tonight 7-9.30pm, then 12 noon-5pm Friday to Sunday (or by appointment), Rhubaba Gallery & Studios, 25 Arthur Street. Closed 31st August 2015.

Summer Yoga: 10.30am-12 noon today and every Friday until 14th August, Eric Liddell Centre, 15 Morningside Road. £6/£5 (mats provided). For more information please contact fiona@ericliddell.org or call 0131 446 3321.

Record Breakers – Knitted Scoobies! Come and join in the library’s attempt to make the longest scooby ever. For all ages. 2.30-3.30pm, Stockbridge Library, Hamilton Place. Free.

Record Breakers Record Breaking Quiz! 2pm, Blackhall Library, Hillhouse Road.

In Focus: Titian’s The Three Ages of Man (c.1512-1514). Art historian Andrew Paterson explores the Venetian context of this perennially popular early work by Titian, a tender meditation on the great themes of sexual love and mortality, and its allusions to classical literature. 12.45-1.15pm, Ground Floor, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Edinburgh Art Festival: Friday Walking Lunch Tour. Armed with a brown-bag lunch, this tour is designed to give you a snapshot of the festival during your break. 1pm today and each Friday in the festival, starts from Festival Kiosk, 9-11 Blair Street. Tickets cost £4 and must be purchased from the Kiosk at least 24 hours in advance.

The Guid Crack Club: Stories of Second Sight and the Ceilidh Quilt. Join Lizzie McDougall and her fantastic ceilidh quilt for a colourful celebration of songs and stories of second sight that have a key role in keeping Highland traditions alive. Edinburgh’s monthly storytelling night: accompanied young adults welcome. 7.30pm, The Waverley Bar, St Mary’s Street. Entry by suggested donation of £3.

Hanne Darbovan: und und und – Curators’ Talk: curators from Talbot Rice Gallery and the Hanne Darbovan Foundation, Hamburg, will discuss the remarkable life and work of the artist. 4pm, Talbot Rice Gallery, Old College, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here. The new exhibition of Hanne Darbovan’s work, accepting anything among everything is open at Talbot Rice Gallery until 3rd October 2015.

The Macular Society: a talk by artist Juliana Capes, who leads descriptive tours of the National Galleries and others. 10.30am, Church Hall, London Road Church, corner of London Road and Easter Road. All very welcome; feel free to bring a friend. The Macular Society was formed to help those with macular degeneration to understand their situation and find resources of help and support; through the society, people can receive information about research, discover their capabilities and discuss problems and solutions with others who have macular problems. The main Edinburgh branch meets on the last Friday of every month except December, and there are also local support groups meeting regularly in Morningside, Stockbridge and Portobello. For more information contact the group leader on 0131 449 7716 or deputy leader on 0131 667 3598. Further information may also be found on the Macular Society’s website here.

Thresholds: Toby Paterson. An exhibition bringing together the series of constructed relief works that Toby Paterson has made specifically for the seven Maggie’s Centres across Scotland. The works are presented alongside memory drawings and models, giving the audience an insight into the inspiration, contexts, and the process of creation and production involved in their development. After the exhibition, each work will be relocated, one in each of the Maggie’s Centres. The exhibition is curated by Judith Winter. Opens tonight 6-8pm, with an introduction from the artist and the curator 6-6.30pm, then 11am-5pm Monday to Saturday, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, Hawthornvale. Ends 30th August 2015. Toby Paterson and Judith Winter will also be in conversation at ESW 3-4pm on Saturday 8th August.

Braw Gigs and Nothing Ever Happens Here Present Summerhall Foodbank Night! A fundraiser for Edinburgh’s local foodbanks, with live music and DJ Sets. For over-18s only. 7pm-3am, The Dissection Room, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets cost £7 till 11pm (for the live bands), £3 11pm-3am (for the club only), or £10 for the whole session, and are available from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 560 1580 or online here. Further donations of money or non-perishable food items for the Food Banks are welcome on the night.

Reforging The Sampo: ‘a multi-voiced musical mash-up of mythological and contemporary social commentary across a landscape of love, loss and endless questioning for the Shamanic holy grail of Finnish legend’. A spoken word performance with improvised music and sound effects, unique in contemporary poetry. Bob Beagrie and Andy Willoughby, supported by a ‘raggle-taggle’ band of folk and jazz musicians, take their cue from the national Finnish epic Kalevala to weave travelogue with love lyrics, folk song and a witty graveyard humour typical of their Teeside roots. 7.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £10/£8 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here.

Derek Michael Besant: Edinburgh Printmakers Temporary Artworks Programme. Launch event and artist’s talk. 6-8pm tonight, Castle Mill Works, Gilmore Place, Fountainbridge. All welcome.

Dimmi (Tell Me): a new group exhibition by recipients of the Royal Scottish Academy John Kinross Scholarship 2014, showing work made during or in response to the time the artists spent in Florence. A rich variety of drawing, printmaking, sculpture, film and photography. Open preview tonight 7-9pm, then 12 noon-6pm Tuesday to Sunday, Patriothall Gallery, 1D Patriothall (off Hamilton Place), Stockbridge.

Kwang Young Chun: Aggregations. The first solo exhibition in Scotland by the renowned Korean artist, who unites the traditions of making and Eastern philosophy with his interest in American Abstract Expressionism. 10.30am-5.30pm Monday to Saturday (closed Sundays), Dovecot Studios, Infirmary Street. There will be curator’s tours of the exhibition on 7th amd 13th August 2015: see website for details. Ends 26th September 2015.

Bernat Klein: A Life in Colour. A retrospective exhibition featuring tapestries by Serbian-born Bernat Klein (1922-2014) woven by Dovecot Studios, alongside other works by the designer, whose signature vibrant mohair and tweed textiles were produced in the Scottish Borders for fashion houses in Europe. The exhibition recognises the lasting contribution Klein (who studied textile technology in Leeds in the 1940s) made to Scotland’s international reputation for textile design and making. 10.30am-5.30pm Monday to Saturday (closed Sundays), Dovecot Studios, Infirmary Street. There will be a panel discussion about Klein’s work on 4th August and curator’s tours on 14th and 18th August – see website for details. Ends 26th September 2015.

kennardphillipps: Here Comes Everybody. An exhibition of work by the collaborative practice of London-based artists Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps, consisting of a large accumulation of photographic imagery, comprised of photo-montage, digital prints and found newspapers, as well as a major new installation exploring ideas around image consumption, production and camera surveillance. Here Comes Everybody represents a continuation in the artists’ interest in making work that is a critical tool connected to international movements for social and political change.’We see the work….as the visual arm of protest’. 11am-6pm daily, Stills, 23 Cockburn Street. Ends 25th October 2015.

Keith Edwards Quintet: ‘hard bop’ swinging arrangements by Keith Edwards (sax) with Donald Corbett (trumpet/flugelhorn), Robert Pettigrew (piano), Ed Kelly (bass) and Bill Kyle (drums). Sets include original compositions by trumpeter Corbett, some rarely heard jazz tunes, and pieces by multi-instrumentalist jazz hero Tubby Hayes and Scots trumpet legend Jimmy Deuchar. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is cash only.

Speyfest: your second opportunity to escape Edinburgh this weekend is a festival offering the best in traditional and contemporary Celtic music. Now in its 20th year, Speyfest is jam-packed with concerts, ceilidhs and stomps, plus a craft and food fair, yoga, workshops, children’s activities, arts and crafts, cooking challenges and whisky tastings. Acts include Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain, Sandi Thom, Seth Lakeman, Blazin Fiddles, and lots more. Opening concert tonight, 7-10pm, followed by a stomp till late, then the programme continues on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August, Fochabers, Moray. For more information, including tickets and travel and accommodation options (there is no designated festival camping), see the festival’s website here.

Lunchtime Concert: Symphonic Wind Orchestra United Winds, Soltau, Germany. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

SATURDAY 1ST AUGUST 2015

Farm Fest 2015: a one day, free entry, gala extravaganza celebrating the farm’s work – a fun day out for all ages. Arts and crafts workshops, bouncy castle, bucking bronco and from 1-4pm, a mini-festival with live music from local bands, performances from Elite Studio Centre Dancers, refreshments from local Edinburgh breweries, plus the farm’s very own barbecue. Castle FM will broadcast live from the event. 11am-4pm, Gorgie City Farm, 51 Gorgie Road. Free: donations welcome!

Tiger Tales: stories and craft for children aged 4-8 years. 3-4pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. All welcome! The next session will be on 22nd August 2015.

Artist’s Talk: Mexican artist Ariel Guzik will discuss his lifelong project to communicate with dolphins and whales with Nicola Tricsott, director of Arts Catalyst and marine biologist Mark Simmonds OBE. 11.30am, Trinity Apse, Chalmers Close, High Street. Free but booking is required and may be made by emailing rsvp@edinburghartfestival.com. Guzik’s exhibition Holoturian is at Trinity Apse until 30th August 2015 as part of Edinburgh Art Festival. 

Artist’s Perfromance: Ariel Guzik – Holoturian. A unique opportunity to hear the Mexican artist perform live in a specially devised set combining electronic music with field recordings of whales and dolphins. 7pm, Trinity Apse, Chalmers Close, High Street. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.

Janis MacKay: Wild Song. The award-winning author and storyteller presents her new novel, written while she was living on an island in Finland as a writer in residence. Through live storytelling, Janis will share how 13 year old Niilo overcomes his fears, learns about storytelling and surviving on a desert island, and discovers the ancient Saami custom of joiking – a form of singing to help us remember who we are. For ages 8-14. 2.30pm, Storytelling Court, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £5/£3 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here.

The Art of Giving: a mixed exhibition of work by local artists, including Tommy Fitchet, Ros Was-O’Donnell, Mary Tully, Anna Smith, Liz McHugh and Jamie Johnson. All art is for sale, and 40% of all sale proceeds will go to International Voluntary Service. 10am-4pm, Undercroft Cafe, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Ends 31st August 2015. There will be an opening gala, with an opportunity to meet the artists, on 8th August from 3pm to 7pm.

Celtic Summer School: Inventing Scotland. How did Scotland come to be? Who and what made it a geography, a nation and a society? And who are the Scots? A session led by Donald Smith. 11am, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £7/£5 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs from today until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

Birlinn – From the Page to the Wall; the art of Birlinn. A mixed exhibition of original illustrated and printed work. 10am-5pm Monday to Friday, 12 noon-5pm Saturdays, Doubtfire Gallery, South East Circus Place. Ends 29th August 2015.

Allan McNally: Festival Exhibition. Contemporary Scottish landscape and seascapes by the Scottish watercolour artist. Opens today, then 9am-10pm daily, Circus Bistro, 8 St Mary’s Street. Ends 31st August 2015.

The Big LGBT Music Jam: a creative and supportive space for making music. Play, sing your own song or just be an appreciative listener; all music tastes welcome. Bring your own instrument, some percussion supplied. 1-4pm (doors open at 1), LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information contact biglgbtmusicjamedinburgh@gmail.com. No booking required; just come along!

Marvin Gaye Chetwynd: The King Must Die. Known for her deliberately shambolic and lo-fi performances, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd’s new work The King Must Die explores the Ancient Greek cult of the Mother Goddess; an intense and supremely pagan celebration of femininity and female power. The performance will require some audience participation. For ages 16+. 2pm, Old Royal High School, Regent Road. Free but booking is essential and may be made via eventbrite here. Further performances will take place on various dates throughout August. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Garage Presents Her Wilderness: a film by Frank Mosley. Her Wilderness weaves an elliptical, minimalist narrative of a lost, wandering child in the wake of an affair that may or may not have happened. 2.30pm or 4pm, GARAGE, Northumberland Street North West Lane. Free: part of Edinburgh Art Festival. GARAGE is a unique, DIY, not-for-profit art space. The film will also be shown at the same times on Sunday 2nd August.

Edinburgh Printmakers: Derek Michael Besant. A lecture on the Canadian artist’s concept for his new exhibition In Other Words…  and for the public art facade integration at Castle Mill Works, Fountainbridge, along with four other related projects that draw from public collaboration in other cities.  A fascinating insight into the artist’s response to the heritage of Castle Mill Works (formerly North British Rubber Co HQ) and how this shaped, informed and inspired the work, which was commissioned by Edinburgh Printmakers. 2-3pm, Edinburgh Printmakers, Union Street. Free, all welcome, but tickets are required and may be obtained via eventbrite here.

Celtic Summer School: Patrick Geddes. Geddes harnessed the idea of evolution to consciousness, culture and community; he is a 21st century inspirer, and the person who sparked Scotland’s modern renaissance. Learn more with Mairi McFadyen. 1pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs from today until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

Modern Art and Scotland’s Masterpieces: artist Lynda Frame invites you to explore abstract and modern works (still life, portraiture, sea, land and urban scapes) in the gallery’s vast collection, make your own sketches then create your own special masterpiece in colour. 10am-3pm (bring packed lunch), City Art Centre, 2 Market Street. Tickets cost £4 and must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note that this workshop is intended for children and adults to experience together; children must be accompanied by at least one paying adult, and no child should be booked into a workshop alone.

Back to Basics Jazz Quintet: ‘swing is king’ from this troupe of well-established jazzers; classic/modern/mainstream jazz, plus ‘Back To Where It All Came From’ New Orleans Roots and Dixieland sound. The 5-piece consists of Colin Steele (trumpet), John Burgess (sax), Brian Kellock (piano), Ed Kelly (bass) and Bill Kyle (drums). Swing dancers welcome! 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is cash only.

Lorna Fraser: The Herbarium, An Artist’s View. An exhibition of new ceramic and print work by Edinburgh based artist Lorna Fraser, inspired by the plant specimens from the RGBE Herbarium. 10am-5.45pm, Gateway Gallery, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free.

Organic Garden Open Day: Mike & Susan Burns invite you to visit their large, wildlife-friendly garden, which they have tended for 28 years and which includes a mini orchard, pond, kitchen garden, mixed borders, greenhouse, conservatory and secret garden. Refreshments available: teas 20p. 2-5pm, 39 Nantwich Drive, Edinburgh EH7 6RA. Entrance £1/50p: all proceeds will go to Garden Organic, a charity bringing together thousands of people who share a common belief – that organic growing is essential for a healthy and sustainable world. Also at same times on Sunday 2nd August. For further information please call Mike Burns on 0131 669 0335.

Summer Storytime: The Tiger Who Came To Tea. Come and listen to Judith Kerr’s wonderful book, then join in arts and activities related to the story. Waterstones Ocean Terminal, 98/99 Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive. Please call the store on 0131 554 7732 to check time.

Fabienne Hess: Hits and Misses (from the archive) – Artist’s Talk: the artist will discuss her work with University of Edinburgh Art Collections Curator Neil Lebeter. 6.30pm, Talbot Rice Gallery, Old College, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here. Hits and Misses (from the archive) is open at Talbot Rice Gallery until 3rd October 2015.

LGBT: Edinburgh Trans Women. Support group aimed at transsexual women at any stage of transition, women who are transgender and live as women full-time or part-time, or for those who are questioning their gender identity. 7.30-9.30pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. Please email the group before attending for the first time: info@edinburghtranswomen.org.uk.

100 Small Works for the Art of Music: small artworks inspired by songs, orchestras, venues, festivals, instruments, musicals, musicians, album artwork…. 10.30am-5pm today, 11am-5pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 1-5pm Thursdays, Space Artworks, 410 Morningside Road. Ends 31st August 2015. Space Artworks promotes artwork from adults with long-term health issues, including physical and learning disabilities and mental health challenges, and from carers.

Summer Storytime: Julia Donaldson. Come and listen to books by the wonderful children’s author, and join in arts and activities related to the story. 12 noon, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. Please call 0131 226 2666 for further information.

Celtic Summer School: Gaelic and Scots Song. Dip into the treasure stores of Scottish song with expert guide Patsy Seddon, and listen or sing along as you choose. 2.30pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £9/£7 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs from today until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

GARAGE Presents City Vegetables: a new solo project by cartoonist Malcy Duff. Using unrecyclable packaging, recordings and voice, sounds are created from reading drawn scores. 3pm, GARAGE, Northumberland Street North West Lane. Free: part of Edinburgh Art Festival. GARAGE is a unique, DIY, not-for-profit art space.

Lunchtime Concert: Ben Kearsley (classical guitar). 1.10pm, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place.

Portrait Gallery Thematic Tours: The 1715 Jacobite Rebellion. Susanna Kerr, former Senior Curator, Portrait Gallery, will lead a tour round the Gallery, examining the rebellion that almost ended the reign of George I. 2-2.45pm or 3-3.45pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed.

Sarah Hardie: songs for someone who isn’t there. An evening of ‘lullabies’, performances of song and poetry, through the streets of Edinburgh, featuring artists Ed Atkins, David Austen, Marco Godoy and Sarah Hardie, and poet Crispin Best. These city-wide ‘lullabies’ represent not the idealised togetherness of typical lullabies, but rather the pained isolation of our contemporary age of broken encounters, the lover’s hope, materialised in song, against the stony silence of public space today. 9-9.40pm, meet at corner of Chambers Street and West College Street, Old College, University of Edinburgh. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Summer Storytime: There Was A Wee Lassie Who Swallowed A Midgie. Come and listen to this tale by Rebecca Colby, and join in arts and activities related to the story. 3pm, Waterstones George Street, 83 George Street.

Spotlight Tours of Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas. A guided tour of the City Art Centre’s Scottish Art collection. 11am or 3pm, City Art Centre (meet at reception), 2 Market Street. Free: suggested donation £2. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Retrograde: ‘deep cosmic grooves with an old school flavour’. 9pm, Victoria Bar, 265 Leith Walk.

Vegas! Scotland’s award-winning retro club night – an evening of cocktails and cool, showgirls and swing, roulette and romance, with DJs Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Sam Jose and Nuno Endo, plus Nikki Nevada and The Vegas Showgirls, and The Fabulous Scott Brothers croupiers. Ballroom, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. For over 18s only. Tickets cost £6 in advance and may be purchased online here (transaction fee applies), or £7 on the door (sta).

Marion Drummond and Paul Kennedy: a new exhibition. 11am-5pm Tuesday to Saturday, The Leith Gallery, 65 The Shore. Ends 29th August 2015.

SUNDAY 2ND AUGUST 2015

Organic Garden Open Day: Mike & Susan Burns invite you to visit their large, wildlife-friendly garden, which they have tended for 28 years and which includes a mini orchard, pond, kitchen garden, mixed borders, greenhouse, conservatory and secret garden. Refreshments available: teas 20p. 2-5pm, 39 Nantwich Drive, Edinburgh EH7 6RA. Entrance £1/50p: all proceeds will go to Garden Organic, a charity bringing together thousands of people who share a common belief – that organic growing is essential for a healthy and sustainable world. For further information please call Mike Burns on 0131 669 0335.

Filmhouse Junior: screenings for a younger audience. This week’s film is Moomins on the Riviera (U). 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small, and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online here.

Edinburgh Art Festival: Julie Favreau, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd and Sorcha Carey – a Roundtable Discussion. The panel of participating commissioned artists and the festival director, chaired by Edward Hollis (author of The Memory Palace), will explore the theme of The Improbable City, a title taken from Italo Calvino’s collection of poems, Invisible Cities. 11.30am, Festival Kiosk, 9-11 Blair Street. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.

Celtic Summer School: Traditional Music of Scotland. Follow the streams that join to make Scotland’s rich music traditions. What are the key instruments and sources? And how are those traditions continuing today? A session led by David Francis. 11am, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £7/£5 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs from today until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. This week: Sunset Boulevard (PG) ‘the definitive statement on the dark and desperate side of Hollywood’, directed by Billy Wilder and starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here: prices vary.

Celtic Summer School: Scottish Gaelic Literature and Tradition. Gaelic language embodies a civilisation that is central to the making of Scotland. Learn more about the culture and why everyone should learn more Gaelic. A session led by Donald Smith. 1pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs from today until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

Edinburgh in the Shadows: stories the travel brochures will never reveal. ‘A spoken word journey of death, drugs and disaster exploring Edinburgh’s lesser-known miscreants, unfortunates and flawed geniuses…’ Beattie and Scratchman, Edinburgh’s popular spoken word artists, present a breathtaking preview performance of their Fringe show, telling it like it really is in this blackly funny show about the city’s sinister side, with tales and poems of murder, muck and mayhem that reveal the truth behind Edinburgh’s most celebrated sites and characters. 3-4pm, The Skylark, 245 Portobello High Street.

Celtic Summer School: Dance Traditions of Scotland. Mairi Campbell shares her expertise in the rich diversity of dance in Scotland, with some practice examples and gentle participation for those who choose. 2.30pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £9/£7 and may be purchased in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. The Celtic Summer School runs from today until 7th August 2015; you can buy tickets for individual events, or save money with a day or weekly pass – see the Centre’s website for details.

Garage Presents Her Wilderness: a film by Frank Mosley. Her Wilderness weaves an elliptical, minimalist narrative of a lost, wandering child in the wake of an affair that may or may not have happened. 2.30pm or 4pm, GARAGE, Northumberland Street North West Lane. Free: part of Edinburgh Art Festival. GARAGE is a unique, DIY, not-for-profit art space.

Simon Thacker’s Ritmata: the Edinburgh classical/flamenco/jazz acoustic guitarist with his pre-tour stellar line-up of some of Europe’s most gifted musicians – Paul Harrison (piano), Mario Caribe (bass) and Stu Brown (drums/percussion). ‘Stunning original patterns woven seamlessly into a new aural fabric, the delicious shock of the new alongside a further dismantling of musical boundaries, and total absorption in creative expression’. 3-5.30pm, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is cash only.

Nitekirk: a monthly, creative drop-in experience of church. A time of reflection, gentle music, candlelight and, throughout the sanctuary, places of optional activity such as poetry, art and prayers. Come and go as you like, join in as much or as little as you wish. The theme this month is Deepening. 5-7pm, Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place. All welcome. ‘A place of welcome, a space for stillness, a pause on your journey, an open door’.

William Young and his Trio: an evening of superb vocals from the ex-Cincinnati Soul/Blues/Jazz vocalist, backed by a top-drawer jazz trio, featuring swinging pianist Peter Johnstone. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is cash only.