Wee Treasures: a brand new regular storytelling programme especially for early years children and their families. Inspired by a different portrait each month, delve into the magic treasure chest to find out what the story will be! Fun rhymes and songs, puppet characters and lots of opportunities to join in. For ages 2-4. 10.30 or 11.30am (30 minute sessions), Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free but limited places, please sign up on the day. Free and unticketed.
Bruncheon Artcore Special + Print Fair. Out of the Blue’s #artcore team are the special guest curators for this month’s Bruncheon, featuring live music from up-and-coming acts Sight of Mind, Emma Milligan and The Factory, with more acts to be announced shortly. #artcore will also be launching its brand new print studio Out of the Blueprint with a print fair and exhibition featuring stalls from local artists, illustrators, designers and self-publishers. Expect a range of goodies on sale, from limited edition prints, drawings and paintings to self-published zines and artist books. Out of the Blueprint is a social enterprise providing affordable, eco-friendly print services; set up as part of the #artcore youth arts project, it aims to provide employment and training for young people, as well as supporting them with their creative projects. This Bruncheon also signals the official launch of the #artcore youth arts programme, a full calendar of events, workshops and activities for young people aged 13-25. 11am-4pm, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street.
Storybook Session! Storybook whiz Brett Housego uses exaggerated voices and facial expressions to cause children’s brains to explode with curiosity and connection. In this fun session, parents and children will be treated to stories from some of the very best books around for helping children to know what they are feeling, thinking and hoping. For ages 3-5. 10.30am, Storytelling Bothy, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £5 per child (accompanying adult free) and may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. Please remember also to select a free ticket for yourself when purchasing your child’s ticket.
The Wonderful World of Lapin: Le Petit Monde warmly invites you to a special preview of its new production starring Lapin and his French talking chums. Tania (Tania Czajka, co-creator of the show) is a French lady who has just arrived from Paris for a very special occasion and in her trunk she carries her very own garden! When she opens it, a whole world is revealed……a world of Tania’s animal friends, the unique world of Lapin! For children aged 3-5. 12 noon-1pm, Institut francais d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. Free and unticketed.
Morningside School of Music: Singing For All: a free workshop with Linda Boyd. Learn how the voice works and which body parts are involved, and find out about breathing in singing. Take part in some vocal warm-ups, trying some scales, tongue twisters, and quick songs, then learn how to sing a couple of songs working on different parts. No previous experience or knowledge of sight reading necessary. 10.30am-12 noon, George Washington Browne Room, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
St Cuthbert’s Autumn Fair: cake & candy, jams, books, CDs and DVDs, café, Christmas puddings. crafts, hampers, jewellery, plants, Christmas cards & decorations, tombola, toys and more! 11am-3pm, Lammermuir Hall, St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road. All welcome.
Far From The Madding Crowd Party Time! Stories, Cool Creatures, music, face-painting and cake. All day in the shop, Far From The Madding Crowd, 20 High Street, Linlithgow, and from 12 noon at the Canal Tea Rooms, Manse Road Basin, Linlithgow. Activities at the shop are free; tickets for the events at the Tea Rooms cost £3 (£5 family ticket) and are available in advance from the shop or by calling 01506 845509 or emailing sally@maddincrowdlinlithgow.co.uk.
SMHAFF 2015: Life With Art Is Good For You. Space Artworks celebrates a special exhibition of artwork. Space provides a creative hub where artists with disabilities and carers can come together to produce and sell their art and designs. 11am-5pm Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 1-5pm Thursdays, Space Artworks Gallery, 410 Morningside Road. Ends 31st October 2015.
Balerno Music Festival: the eighth Balerno Music Festival has a packed programme of concerts, films, cabaret, workshops, children’s events, folk music sessions, the Festival Busk and a jazz party. Today’s events include the 2015 Festival Busk, an Open Folk Music Session, a Hot Fork Supper and the Gala Concert – A Night At The Opera, followed by a reception. All tickets may be purchased from Balerno Parish Church Office (9am-12 noon, Monday to Friday), Balerno Farmers’ Market, or by post or online; for full booking information click here. The festival ends tomorrow, 11th October 2015.
St Bride’s Family Cinema: see your favourite films for free! Juice and choc ices available in the interval for 50p. Today’s film is The Smurfs (U). Please note: all children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Subtitles are available on request. 10.30am-12.30pm, St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Next week’s film will be The Black Cauldron (U). All welcome.
Turntable: connecting individuals and communities through music and story, Turntable Cover Versions – a pop-up music installation – invites you to select and play a record of your choice and share your story in a one to one conversation. Watch how your music choice connects with and affects other people and the energy in the space. 12.30-4pm, Storytelling Court, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Free and unticketed. This event is part of SMHAFF (Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival) 2015.
Gallery of Modern Art Highlight Tours: monthly tours of the Gallery of Modern Art’s permanent collection, focusing on key works. 2-2.45pm or 3-3.45pm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE, Belford Road. No booking required: free, unticketed.
Dark Age Potter: visit the new exhibition about Cramond during the Dark Ages and then have fun creating art works inspired by the period at this family workshop. Shed some light on the Dark Ages by making your own clay lamp and pot using air drying clay and exploring two simple clay techniques. With Margaret Lowrey. 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, Lothian Road, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Please note that these sessions are intended for families working together: at least one paying adult must accompany your child, and no child should be booked into a session alone.
National Fungus Day: Fungus Fun: discover the amazing world of Scottish fungi with Plantlife Scotland at this drop-in event. Fungi are neither plants nor animals, but these often strange looking living things play a vital role in keeping plants healthy and recycling nutrients by decomposing the dead. Come along to discover the mysterious world of fungi and lichens – activities for all ages! 1-4pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. Free and unticketed. Also at same times on Sunday 11th October.
Nothing But The Poem: Rita Dove. Join poet Kate Hendry for one of two Nothing But the Poem sessions discussing the work of the poet Rita Dove. Read and talk about a selection of poems by the poet – but please note: the poet being discussed will be there in print only! 11am-12.30pm or 2-3.30pm, Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close. Tickets cost £5/£4 and may be booked via eventbrite here.
Plants From The Woods and Forests of Chile: a new exhibition featuring a selection of unique watercolour paintings commissioned for the RBGE’s upcoming limited-edition publication Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile. 
Showing the remarkable diversity of plants associated with this beautiful part of the world, the paintings attest to the skill of three award-winning artists Gülnur Ekşi, Işık Güner and Hülya Korkmaz, and highlight the important research and conservation work undertaken by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 10am-4.45pm (closing 3.45pm November-January and 5.45pm in March), John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. Free and unticketed. Ends 6th March 2016.
Balerno Farmers’ Market: fresh and locally produced meats, cheeses, vegetables, award winning breads and fresh fish. The Balerno Music Festival Busk will take place during today’s market – a stream of talent will occupy the Main Street and you can help select the winning act! Free entry for performers and audience; if you’d like to perform at the Festival Busk then either contact the festival organisers via their website here, or simply turn up on the day. Market: 9am-1pm, Festival Busk: 10am-12.30pm, Main Street, Balerno.
Find Your Voice and Feel Good! Join singer/songwriter and choir leader Kim Edgar for an energising, feelgood group singing workshop. Participate in hilarious warm-ups, learn pop, folk and world songs, experience a sense of belonging and get a real buzz. 2pm, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£6 and may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. Everyone welcome. This event is part of SMHAFF (Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival) 2015.
Balerno Village Screen – there are two screenings today, each shown as part of the 2015 Balerno Music Festival:
(1) At 2pm, Into The Woods (PG), a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales in a musical format that follows the classic tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel – all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife, their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch who has put a curse on them;
(2) At 7.30pm, Northern Soul (PG), a surprise top 10 hit at the box office and winner of the NME Award for Best Film, the film tells the story of a youth culture in the 1970s which changed a generation – a nightclub-based movement which developed in Northern England. Edinburgh Northern Soul DJ Rich Shearer will be playing from 7pm, so please come early if you would like to listen to some music before the film.
Both films will be shown at Ogston Hall, Balerno Parish Church, Main Street, Balerno. Free tickets are available from the Mill Cafe and Balerno Post Office or via eventbrite. Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema, free to attend and funded by donations. If you can no longer attend after booking, please cancel your ticket to allow someone else to see the film.
James Hugonin – Binary Rhythm: Paintings 2010-2015. An exhibition celebrating the completion of the Binary Rhythm sequence; seven of the nine large paintings that Hugonin has made over the past six years will be shown, all identically sized and each continuing the artist’s unique exploration of the dualities of order and chance within a very personal approach to abstract painting. Hugonin has been working in this way for the last thirty years and each new painting employs his now familiar language of tiny rectangular marks, applied in their thousands, colour by colour, within a grid onto a gessoed ground. Each work is painted over many months and evolves gradually from the last with increasingly complex and surprising results. 10am-6pm, Monday to Saturday, Ingleby Gallery, 15 Calton Road. Ends 21st November 2015. The continuing importance of music to Hugonin’s practice will be celebrated in a concert on Friday 30 October; for further details please contact the gallery on 0131 556 4441.
What’s The Noise: live local talent. ‘Adrenaline groove for the soul’ from Ayakara, indie rock & roll from Common Ground, plus Kapauldies Garage. For ages 14+. 7-10pm, Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street. Tickets cost £6 and are available from all performers or from Tickets Scotland (transaction fee applies) here.
Naked Aye Art: Shapes That Shift Desire: Wings of Desire (12) screening event. Damiel and Cassiel are angels who watch over the city of Berlin. They travel unseen – invisible – able to listen to people’s thoughts and watch their movements, but unable to interact with their world – and unable to feel what they feel. Damiel’s desire for a beautiful trapeze artist leads him to choose to be human, 
to sacrifice eternity for the ability to touch and be touched, and to feel pain and pleasure. Director: Wim Wenders. The screening will be followed by an opportunity to respond creatively through poetry, music, dance and discussion. 6.30pm, Third Floor, St Margaret’s House, 151 London Road. Free.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians: George Todica (piano) plays Ravel, Enescu and Beethoven Concerto No.4 with Daniel Rodriguez Hart (piano), 7.30pm, Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road. Free. The Edinburgh Society of Musicians has been promoting practical music-making in Edinburgh since 1887; chamber music recitals are given every Saturday evening from early October until the end of June. The Society attracts a variety of performers, from students in search of experience to accomplished amateurs and professionals, well known Scottish or international musicians; if you would like to perform, please contact John Bryden at jobryd2@aol.com and include your telephone number.
Luminate: Dance Base’s Prime and Scottish Elders’ Company: Tarn and Words Unspoken feat. The Gold Company: Air Kiss and Pop Art. There are over 1,800 years of life between these dance companies. A first tour by two remarkable new elder groups, PRIME from Dance Base and Scottish Ballet Elders’ Company, joined today by international guests from Australia The GOLD Company. Choreographers include Angus Balbernie and Winifred Jamieson. ‘Expect to be moved, exhilarated and entertained’. 8pm, Dance Base, 14-16 Grassmarket. Tickets cost £5. For more information and to book please call Dance Base on 0131 225 5525 or email dance@dancebase.co.uk.
Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival ends today, with three films, all showing at Filmhouse, Lothian;
(1) at 3.45pm: Map/Mapa (PG) (in Spanish with English subtitles) (see listing for Tuesday 6th October);
(2) at 5.45pm: Living is Easy with Eyes Closed/Vivir es facile con los ojos cerrados (15) (in Spanish and Basque with English subtitles) (see listing for Sunday 4th October);
(3) at 8.30pm: Sidetracked/Las ovejas no pierden el tren (12A). An optimistic comedy about how a group of friends in their forties face the challenges experienced by many in present-day society: the lack of jobs and opportunities, the search for a better life and love stories that are rarely ‘forever’.
Tickets may be purchased from the Filmhouse box office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online; prices vary.
Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival Closing Party: with live show by Spanish pop duo SINGLE (Elefant Records) ‘a musical project that has no boundaries other than curiosity, inquisitiveness, and the desire to find new paths. Sometimes they are intimate and beautiful; other times, danceable and fun’. 10.15-11.45pm, Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street. Free admission with festival cinema ticket.
Limbo: with special guests Dead Boy Robotics + Roy’s Iron DNA + Miracle Strip. Edinburgh’s Dead Boy Robotics mix the electronic/dance style of acts such as Nathan Fake and James Holden (Border Community) with the avant-punk aesthetic of Liars; Roy’s Iron DNA are an indie band based in the Scottish Borders, and Miracle Strip are ‘a fun new Glasgow duo doing the new wave thing with verve’. For over 18s only. 8pm, Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 in advance via eventbrite here, more on the door (sta).
Irie Yo-Yo + Screaming Target + Dr No’s Club: an evening of live ska and reggae followed by Dr No’s resident DJs and special guest Lloyd Miller. 7pm-3am, Henry’s Cellar Bar, 16a Morrison Street. £5 (or £4 for Dr No’s on its own before 12 midnight, £6 after midnight).
Faith, Hope & Charity: a concert by Vox Coelestis in aid of St Columba’s Hospice. Conducted by ex-King’s singer Nigel Short. Vox Coelestis performs purely to raise money for charities; its singers are drawn from the UK’s top cathedral and chamber choirs. The concert will also include performances by the internationally-
