Portrait Detectives – September: collect your kit, follow clues, and solve a mystery from history! For ages 4-12. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free, drop-in: supoported by the Friends of NGS.
Plant Patterns in Porcelain: a clay workshop with artist Lorna Fraser, who will show you how to apply a range of different textures onto porcelain, using just leaves and plants gathered from the Garden. 1-4pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. £3 per person, payable on the door. This event coincides with the exhibition Lorna Fraser: The Herbarium, An Artist’s View.
Filmhouse Junior: screenings for a younger audience. Today’s film is Arrietty (U): beneath the floorboards of a sprawling mansion in a magical, overgrown Tokyo garden lives tiny Arrietty and her equally tiny parents. When Arrietty meets a 12 year old boy, the two begin to confide in one another and before long a friendship starts to blossom. 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.
Radical Voices: Justice for Indigenous People. Come and listen to singers of radical songs – share stories, songs and poems on a different theme each month. Free entry, with raffle and donations collected for a relevant cause. 6.30-9.30pm, Constitution Bar, Constitution Street. All welcome. For more information please contact radicalvoices@gmail.com.
WASPS Open Studios: a rare opportunity to see inside the artists’ working spaces, talk to them about their work and see the tools of their trade. Workshops, children’s treasure hunt and refreshments, plus a demonstration of the technique of Buon Fresco by fresco painter Julia Alexandra Mee (4-4.30pm, Studio 104, adults only). 12 noon-6pm, WASPS, 78 Albion Road, Leith. Part of LeithLate15.
Edinburgh Riding of the Marches: 250 horses and riders will complete the Riding by making their way up the Royal Mile to the Mercat Cross. For more information see the Edinburgh March Riding Association’s Facebook page here.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Teenage Book Group: if you love to read, or just want to read more, try the monthly book group to talk about the latest teenage fiction and your favourite books. Currently reading Rachel Caine’s Ink and Bone. 2-3pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free. If you would like to join, please email your details to schools.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.
Cameo Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today: The Misfits (PG) starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift, directed by John Huston and written by Arthur Miller. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online here.
Process Studios (formerly Edinburgh Contemporary Crafts) Open Studios: Process Studios’ resident designer-makers will be at work in their workshops, providing a fascinating insight into their unique and skilled practice. Demonstrations will include cast and wheel thrown ceramics, engraved and cast glass jewellery with precious metals, enamel and bone, woven textiles, printed textiles, upholstery, luthiery and fashion. 11am-5pm, Process Studios, Abbeymount Techbase, 2 Easter Road. Part of LeithLate15.
Scotland’s Gardens: 61 Fountainhall Road. A large walled town garden in which trees and shrubs form an architectural backdrop to a wide range of flowering plants. Hellebores, triliums and a large variety of late blooming flowers, plus several alpine beds and a large collection of Sempervivums. Three ponds, with and without fish, have attracted a lively population of frogs. Refreshments available; plant sales. 2-5pm, 61 Fountainhall Road, EH9 2LH. Admission £4, of which 40% will go to Froglife and the net remainder to SG beneficiaries. For more information please contact Mrs Annemarie Hammond on 0131 667 6146 or email froglady@blueyonder.co.uk.
Filmhouse Quiz: the ‘phenomenally successful (and rather tricky)’ monthly quiz. For teams of up to eight. 9pm, Filmhouse Cafe Bar, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Free to enter.
St Giles’ At Six: Schola Cantorum of Oxford. Director: Jamie Burton. 6pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free: retiring collection.
