Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, Easter music, Easter crafts…if you want chocolate and rabbits, or even chocolate rabbits, we’ve got plenty of places for you to find them this week. And if you’ve already had your fill of the sweet stuff (you can’t hide those wrappers from us…) there are lots of other events to keep you occupied, from special film events (animé, anyone? Pet Shop Boys Promo? Twin Peaks Weekender?) to canal cruises and rock & roll ping pong. So that’s the next seven days sorted. As always, please check details with organisers before setting out – and have a lovely week.
MONDAY 21ST MARCH 2016
Picturehouses Toddler Time: exclusive short screenings for pre-school children and their parents and carers. Today: Hey Dugee – March 2016 (U): a place for children (and their parents) to have fun, be energetic, and most of all to do things! At The Squirrel Club, a playgroup run by big dog Dugee, children have adventures and earn badges for their accomplishments. It’s all about doing things, and Dugee likes to do a lot, and go to lots of places; today’s episodes are The Egg Badge, The Puppy Badge, The Cardboard Box Badge, The Caterpillar Badge and The Sandcastle Badge. 11am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £3 per child, accompanying adult free.
The People’s Galleries: Art Museums and Exhibitions in Britain 1800-1914. The numerous galleries opened between 1860 and 1914 were aimed at a broad general audience, intended to entertain and instruct. They were immensely popular until around 1900, when they began gradually to fade. To coincide with his newly published book, writer Giles Waterfield considers the whole complex history of public art museums in Scotland and England, a history that is particularly interesting today when many of these galleries appear to be under threat. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre. Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
For Crying Out Loud: screenings for parents and carers and their babies under the age of 12 months. (Maximum of two adults per baby). Babychanging, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is Hitchcock/Truffaut (12A) (In English, French and Japanese with English subtitles). In 1962 two legendary directors met for eight days to discuss the fundamental building blocks of cinema. One, Alfred Hitchcock, was a household name who had just created three masterpieces in a row: Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho. The other, François Truffaut, was a young but influential film critic who had become a leader of the French New Wave with his first three films: The 400 Blows, Shoot the Pianist and Jules et Jim. Based on the original recordings of their meetings, Kent Jones’ documentary brings to life the greatest cinema lesson of all time, and features a wealth of today’s leading filmmakers discussing the significance of Hitchcock’s work and these interviews on their own careers. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 per adult.
The Iolaire. It is 1918, the Great War is over. The men from Lewis and Harris are coming home on His Majesty’s Yacht but the horror is not over for the islands. The loss of the ship on New Year’s Day 1919 is one of the most tragic events to befall the Western Isles, as over 200 Lewis and Harris men are drowned in sight of Stornoway harbour lights. Through drama, Gaelic poetry and song the pupils of Stenhouse Primary and Tynecastle High School will take us back to that black time in our history. For ages 10+. 7.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £6/£4 and may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579 or online here. Performed in partnership with Iomairt Ghàidhlig Dhùn Èideann. Funded by Bòrd na Gàidhlig.
Grassmarket Picture House: Lars and The Real Girl (12A). Lars and the Real Girl may not be the most elaborate of fantasies, or the strangest, but it relies on such suspension of disbelief from the audience that it’s almost a miracle it succeeds. An able and warm-hearted cast, led by an astonishing Ryan Gosling, pulls off the feat of not only making you believe in a romance between a man and a life-size doll, but rooting for it. An uplifting fantasy with dark roots, Lars is the kind of movie that not only makes you love its unique and wonderful characters, but inspires faith in moviemaking in general. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome, free admission: donations very welcome! The Grassmarket Community Project is a charity providing mentoring, training and education to participants, many of whom are amongst the most vulnerable of Edinburgh’s citizens, in a nurturing environment. It operates a community cafe, woodwork and tartan social enterprises, and a range of social integration and educational activities for members, aimed at enhancing life skills and developing confidence. To read about The Edinburgh Reporter’s afternoon at the Project click here.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Book Group: join the Blackwell’s Book Group for lively, friendly book chatter. No previous experience required! The group meets monthly to discuss a wide range of books – fiction and non-fiction, classic and contemporary, prizewinners and cult heroes – in short, whatever you fancy! Currently reading To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf; April’s book will be The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, May’s Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson. 6pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. To join just email your details to events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.
LGBT Spiritual Space: Maxwell Reay, NHS Mental Health Community Chaplain, offers a supportive space for people to discuss and develop ideas of spirituality and identity. Suitable for people of all faiths or no faith at all. Tonight: opportunities for individual conversations and information regarding spiritual needs. 6.30-7.30pm (within weekly Drop-In, which runs 5.30-8pm), LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or email alison@lgbthealth.org.uk.
The Propaganda Game (15): entering North Korea as a visitor, Spanish filmmaker Álvaro Longoria seeks to reveal the competing and contrasting forces at work in the country’s internal and external propaganda machines. Granted unprecedented official access for a Westerner, he is assisted by a curious and unlikely figure – the Special Delegate on North Korea’s Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (and fellow Spaniard), Alejandro Cao. The result is a fascinating documentary – shot on-the-fly and cleverly edited – that blends very serious issues surrounding North Korea’s foreign policy with the often surreal sociological quirks that abound in and amongst its citizens. 3.30pm and 6.10pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online; prices vary. Also screening on Tuesday 22nd March and Wednesday 23rd March; times vary – please check with the Box Office.
Filmhouse Special Event: The Man Who Mends Women: The Wrath of Hippocrates (In French and English with English subtitles). Thierry Michel & Colette Braeckman’s documentary about Doctor Mukwege, winner of the Sakharov Prize 2014. The doctor is internationally known as the man who mends thousands of women who have been raped during the 20 years of conflicts in the East of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the poorest countries on the planet . His endless struggle to put an end to these atrocities and denounce the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators is not welcomed by all. At the end of 2012, the Doctor was the target of another attempt on his life, which he miraculously survived; he now lives cloistered in his hospital in Bukavu under the protection of UN peacekeepers. 
But he is no longer alone in his struggle; the women whom he has helped to regain physical integrity and dignity stand beside him, true activists for peace and hungry for justice. The screening will be introduced by co-director Colette Braeckman, who will also take part in a post-film Q&A. 8.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online; prices vary.
City of Edinburgh Council and The Queen’s Hall Present Resonate 2016: Rock & Pop Night. Edinburgh Schools Rock Ensemble (ESRE) is made up of pupils from across Edinburgh Secondary Schools. These fantastic young musicians will celebrate their 15th birthday at The Queens Hall by performing a fabulous programme of music. The evening will also include performances from a variety of talented rock and pop bands from Edinburgh Schools…..a night not to be missed! 7pm (doors 6.30pm), The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street. Tickets cost £10/£5 and may be purchased from The Queen’s Hall Box Office in person, by calling 0131 668 2019 or online here.
TUESDAY 22ND MARCH 2016
Bookbug: stories, songs and rhymes for young children aged 0-4 years and their parents and carers. 2.15-2.45pm today and every Tuesday, Colinton Library, Thorburn Road. Free. Also at 10.30am each Friday and Saturday morning.
Lunchtime Concert: Alex McCartney (lute) plays Weiss Suite in F major and Suite in D minor. 1.10pm, City of Edinburgh Methodist Church, Nicolson Square. Free. Part of the Concerts at the University Spring-Summer 2016 series.
Screening Europe: a new season curated by Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh, introducing a varied selection of past and contemporary European films to celebrate and interrogate the history and aesthetics of cinema in Europe. Both members of the public and students are invited to an exciting series of introduced screenings that will chart the development of film across Europe. Tonight’s film is Young Soul Rebels (18): Isaac Julien’s evocation of black pirate radio Soul Patrol returns to the time of Derek Jarman’s own Jubilee. 
Julien presents a portrait of London where the racists of the National Front are in pitched battle with almost everyone else and soul funk provides the soundtrack for a murder mystery of political engagement. Young Soul Rebels is Dick Hebdidge’s Subculture: The Meaning of Style on screen. The film will be introduced by Dr David Sorfa, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies (University of Edinburgh). 6pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. The final film in the series will be Northern Soul (15) showing on Tuesday 29th March.
Cameo Silver Screen: if you are 60+ join the Silver Screen club and qualify for discounted tickets costing just £5.50 – plus free tea, coffee & biscuits – at these special weekly screenings. Today’s films are High Rise (15) at 1.10pm and 3.50pm, Anomalisa (15) at 1.40pm and 3.50pm, and Hail, Caesar! (12A) at 1.20pm and 3.40pm. Cameo, Home Street. Non-members are welcome but pay standard ticket prices.
SPL Poetry Workshop: JL Williams, poet (and SPL Programme Manager), facilitates this writing workshop, in which participants read, discuss and write poems. All levels of experience welcome. Please bring paper and a pen or pencil, or laptop/tablet of choice. 6-8pm, The Space, Scottish Poetry Library, Crichton’s Close. Tickets cost £5/£4 and may be booked via eventbrite here. For more information please call 0131 557 2876 or email reception@spl.org.uk.
Picturehouse Discover Tuesdays: Attacking the Devil: Harry Evans & the Last Nazi War Crime (12A). Few documentaries amaze, enrage and sadden simultaneously, but Attacking The Devil by siblings Jacqui and David Morris does just that. Initially charting the career of legendary newspaper editor Harold Evans – which included outing Kim Philby as a Russian spy – it soon becomes a gripping account of how, under Evans’s tenacious leadership, The Sunday Times fought to secure proper compensation for hundreds of children disabled by their mothers’ use of Thalidomide during pregnancy. 
This involved extended battles with the drug’s manufacturers, uncaring politicians and the judiciary, in the course of which shocking revelations emerged about Thalidomide’s origins. 6pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets are available from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Edinburgh College of Art Chancellor’s Fellows’ Talks: Maria Fusco – Excavating Site: How to Write a Repertoire for a Mountain. Maria Fusco is a writer; her research is concerned with fiction as critical practice, working across the registers of fictive, critical & theoretical writing, editing and independent publishing. Maria’s first piece of work for radio, Master Rock, was commissioned by Artangel and BBC Radio 4 and is a repertoire for a mountain, taking place inside Ben Cruachan, the highest peak on the west coast of Scotland. Maria is based in the School of Art. The talk will be followed by a drinks reception at which it will be possible to discuss the issues raised. 5.20pm, Evolution House (Boardroom, 5th floor), Edinburgh College of Art, 78 West Port, Edinburgh. Free and open to the public: no booking necessary.
City of Edinburgh Council and The Queen’s Hall Present Resonate 2016: Strings & Guitars Night. Featuring Edinburgh Schools Classical Guitar Ensemble (ESCGE), Edinburgh Primary Seven’s String Orchestra (EPSSO), The City of Edinburgh Music School and various ensembles from Edinburgh Schools – budding Benedetti’s and hopeful Hendrix’s will perform an array of spectacular music. 7pm (doors 6.30pm), The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street. Tickets cost £10/£5 and may be purchased from The Queen’s Hall Box Office in person, by calling 0131 668 2019 or online here.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Michael J Malone Bad Samaritan. The Edinburgh launch of Michael J Malone’s latest crime thriller, featuring Glasgow DI Ray McBain. 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. A Glasgow student is found dead in a city centre alley, kickstarting a trail of brutality that drives McBain to the very edge. The victim’s family and friends are all under suspicion, McBain has to untangle a sordid web of lies, deceit, blackmail, infidelity and cyberstalking – and when Stigmata, a deranged serial killer from McBain’s past, starts taking out new victims – with the suspects and McBain himself in his sights – the case gets even more treacherous. The pressure intensifies until McBain calls on Kenny O’Neill, his old underworld crony, to help watch his back – but will that be enough to stop the killing? 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8222 or by emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.
Elevant: post punk/heavy/psych/rock three-piece band from Liverpool, with ‘a strong DIY ethic and LOUD live…’ whose new album There is a Tide was released on 4th March. ‘A storming blend of incredible verve and enthusiasm…..raw, relentless, and riotous live. (Michael) Edward is a terrific front man – disarming and irreverent, driving the Elevant sound with powerful guitar work. (Hannah) Lodge and (Tom) Shand are a potent rhythm section. There’s a real tightness about the band’s work, but on top of that there’s a massive sense of three mates having a brilliant time playing together’. (Subba-Cultcha.com). With support Frantic Chant and Britney. 7.30pm (doors open 7pm), Sneaky Pete’s, Cowgate. Tickets cost £3 and are available from See™ Tickets here (booking fee applies) or on the door, sta.
KEYWORDS: CRITICAL. Fiona Anderson (Newcastle University) and Tahl Kaminer (University of Edinburgh) will offer their perspectives on the meaning of ‘critical’, looking at the word, its history and its contemporary usage in order to establish just what it means for an artistic, curatorial or writing practice to be ‘critical’. The event will be chaired by Siobhan Carroll (Collective Gallery). Part of the KEYWORDS series on language and contemporary art. 6-8pm, Collective, City Observatory & Dome, 38 Calton Hill. Free, all welcome, but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
Leith Folk Club: Tom Clelland & Friends. The return of the Robert Louis Stevenson-obsessed singer/songwriter from Lanarkshire, ‘Tom Clelland played a great show here last year and we’re delighted to be able to welcome him back, bringing some friends with him; you may be sure there’ll be lots of Stevenson poems-turned-songs mixed in with a wealth of his own wonderful material’. With support from Liz Jones. 7.30pm, Victoria Park House Hotel, 221 Ferry Road. Tickets cost £8 and may be reserved by completing the online form here or texting the club’s dedicated booking line on 07502 024 852. Reserved tickets must be collected by 7.30pm on the night.
Saskia Goldschmidt: The Hormone Factory. Dutch author Saskia Goldschmidt (Compulsory Happiness) reads from her riveting thriller about greed, power, hormones, illicit sex, and the battle for women’s bodies…..and a monstrous megalomaniac who believes he can have it all. Vainglorious Mordechai de Paauw is ruthless: in the years before World War II, the Dutch pharmaceutical entrepreneur is on the cutting edge of science and determined to develop the contraceptive pill…..no matter what the cost. Testing hormonal treatments on his female workers – and sexually exploiting them – Mordechai’s secret immoral life and his successful company are threatened by the rise of Hitler and, years later, a shocking scandal involving his brash son. Will Mordechai ever find redemption, and will the women he manipulates regain control over their own bodies? 5pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome; free – donations also welcome!
WEDNESDAY 23RD MARCH 2016
Dads Rock: Sing-a-long rocking out fun specifically for Dads, Grandads and their children and grandchildren aged 0-5. 2.15-2.45pm, Colinton Library, Thorburn Road. Free.
Children’s Knitting Group: come and learn knitting skills with the library staff. 3.30-4.30pm today and every Wednesday, Colinton Library, Thorburn Road. Free.
Bookbug: stories, songs and rhymes for young children aged 0-4 years and their parents and carers. 1.30-2pm today and every Wednesday, Balerno Library, 1 Main Street. Free.
Edinburgh Napier University Campus Tours: come and see the university in action. Student Ambassadors will guide you around your chosen campus, show you the facilities on offer and give you an insight into life as an Edinburgh Napier student. Napier has six academic schools across three main campuses, so when selecting which campus you’d like to visit please make sure you select the correct one for your chosen course – the open days will take place simultaneously at all three sites. 2pm (tours take approximately one hour), Merchiston Campus, 10 Colinton Road, Craiglockhart Campus, 219 Colinton Road and Sighthill Campus, 9 Sighthill Court. Tours are free but registration is required and may be made here.
Morningside Justice & Peace Group: Reflections on Elections – Scotland, UK and elsewhere. A talk by amateur psephologist and group member Alan McKinney. The Morningside Justice & Peace Group exists to promote informed opinion on matters of concern to the community at large. Meetings are held every Wednesday during the autumn and spring months; they are open to all and provide a view on a topic of national, international or local concern, followed by questions and discussion. 10.30-11.30am, The Open Door, 420 Morningside Road. A contribution of £1 per meeting is requested to cover costs. For more information please contact the Co-ordinator at b.darcy20@gmail.com.
Zoo Arts: We Call Ourselves The Weirdos – a new exhibition. Zoo Arts is a series of visual art sessions for young people aged 9 – 14 years. Activities are usually project-based, lasting 2 to 4 weeks, with each session involving some reflection and discussion and the sharing of a healthy snack. Exhibition opening today, 4-5.30pm, North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. All welcome – refreshments provided!
St Mary’s Music School Spring Concert: the school choir and orchestra, with the choristers of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, will perform Haydn Seven last words of Christ on the cross and Howells Requiem. Conductor: Paul Stubbings. 7.30pm, St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place. All welcome; free.
Living and Learning with ME: Stories of Self Management (1): ME-CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is a neurological disease affecting 21,000 people in Scotland. The physical symptoms of ME can be as disabling as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and congestive heart failure. Sadly, treatment options are limited, meaning most sufferers have to self-manage their illness. So, what’s it like to live with a poorly understood illness of uncertain duration? What can we learn from those who suffer with ME? Michael Williams, storyteller and project facilitator with Action for ME, invites anyone with experience of ME-CFS and/or anyone wanting to know more about this illness to attend and share their stories. 
For over 18s only. 2pm, The Library, 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. Places are limited, so book early.
Living and Learning with ME (2): this event features voices from Action for ME‘s Living and Learning with ME project (see above). Come and listen to the stories and take part in the conversation. Followed by a Reception. For ages 16+. 7pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. This event is free but ticketed: tickets are available here.
City of Edinburgh Council and The Queen’s Hall Present Resonate 2016: Traditional Night. As Scottish as haggis, neeps and tatties!! Come along and treat yourself to a feast…featuring the Edinburgh Schools Clarsach Ensemble (ESCE), Piping Hot! (Youth Music Initiative) and a variety of other traditional ensembles and choirs from across Edinburgh Schools, who will perform an array of beautiful pieces. 7pm (doors 6.30pm), The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street. Tickets cost £10/£5 and may be purchased from The Queen’s Hall Box Office in person, by calling 0131 668 2019 or online here.
Girnins frae Blethertoun: an appraisal of Scots, written and spoken. With readings from anarchic children’s rhymes in Blethertoun Braes, meeting with teenage angst in The Girnin Gates, to the hard-hitting play Factor 9, NLS Scots Scriever Hamish MacDonald explores what it means to write in Scots for stage and publication, gives some insight into his recent research in the Library collections and discusses the condition of the Scots language, past and present. 2pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but booking is required and may be made by calling 0131 623 3734 or via eventbrite here.
Somewhereto_Hatch A Plan: an event for all 16-25 year olds looking for ideas and inspiration on what’s next in life. Get some quality industry help to kickstart your future, whatever stage you’re at, and take part in skills and knowledge sharing with others at a similar point. Featuring a panel discussion from creative and industry professionals (including Rhubaba, graphic designer David MacKenzie and artist Topaz Pauls) this event is the perfect opportunity for you to see how your talents, passions and interests could be turned into a business. 
There will be informal skills audit drop-ins with Bridge 2 Business Local Heroes, and Cassandra Barron from Voluntary Arts Scotland will be there to share ideas and tips for running an event in your community. Fiona May – an enterprising Australian with a passion for publishing, design and all things exchange – will also be running two open source bases throughout the event,; you are encouraged to bring along ideas, experiences, artworks, logos, graphic design or anything to do with your startup that you would like to get feedback on. There will be two workshops (Franzines and Print/Promo) on offer in Out of the Blueprint, #artcore’s riso print studio, and in the Drill Hall Arts Café, 
which will be open throughout the event, you can sit back and indulge in some motivational podcasts and interesting articles or watch video shorts on inspirational start ups and micro-funding tip offs, all over a nice brew! 5.30-9pm, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Free but registration is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
Edinburgh Gay Men’s Book Group: an inclusive group where you can meet new people and read/discuss interesting books. 7-9pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact the group at info@gaybookgroup.co.uk.
David Munro: The Time Jigsaw; the Edinburgh-born author introduces his time-travel thriller. James Carsell-Brown’s life begins to change when, living in Nice, he meets pretty Michelle Duvallier, whom he believes to be the woman of his dreams. But appearances can be deceptive… 6.30pm, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan.
LGBT Exchange: Meet Up. A new monthly meet up for those looking to connect with a like-minded community and meet new people. Whether you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, pan, poly or none or several of the above, the organisers would love to see you there. Exchange is a space where people are encouraged to share their thoughts, suggestions for things to do and ideas for how to get involved in other relevant projects or groups. ‘We strive to make the evening a safe space where we do not make assumptions about others and everyone has the opportunity to contribute’. For over 18s only. 7.30-9.30pm, The Regent Bar, 2 Montrose Terrace. Free. For more information please contact admin@lgbthealth.org.uk or visit www.meetup.com/exchangelgbt.
Fergus Linehan: Creativity and Community – Edinburgh Napier University and the Department of Festival and Events Management are delighted to host an evening with the Director of Edinburgh International Festival. Increasingly, people from all walks of life aspire to be creative in their work, driven by concerns for the physical and virtual communities they inhabit. In his lecture, Fergus Linehan will look at how this shift has impacted on arts festivals and events worldwide; how it has opened up extraordinary opportunities while at the same time changing expectations and altering the ways in which festivals are perceived and supported. 6pm (doors open 5.30pm), Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh Napier University, 219 Colinton Road. A drinks reception will follow the lecture at 7pm. Free but please register your intention to attend by emailing lectures@napier.ac.uk.
Soul Space: a special Soul Space for Holy Week, with short led reflections on the theme of Psalm 22 ‘Struggling with God’. Please feel free to drop in when you can, stay for as long as you want, and enjoy some peace, space, and an opportunity to pause the hectic pace of life for a little while in this inspirational building. Everyone is very welcome. Soul Space seeks to provide a ‘sacred space’ in the heart of the city; a space to explore, to reflect, to pray; a space to find peace, stillness and refreshment. 12.30-2pm and 5-7.30pm, St Cuthbert’s Parish Church, 5 Lothian Road.
Redesigning South Queensferry Library. Staff at the University of Dundee recently put their architecture students to the test by asking them to design improvements to the context and fabric of the South Queensferry Library. The students got to work designing a complex building in a challenging urban site; from a pool of 64 entries five of the best have been selected for display at the library at this open event. It’s hoped that these (theoretical) schemes demonstrate the ability of modern architectural design to make a positive contribution to an existing community through the creation of an environment that people will find stimulating and enduring. Come along to hear more about each winning entry and what inspired these designs. All ages are welcome; refreshments will be provided. 6.30-8pm, South Queensferry Library, Shore Road.
The Fruitmarket Gallery Creative Writing Workshop: make new connections between language and visual art in this workshop led by PublishED, The University of Edinburgh’s creative writing society. Using The Fruitmarket Gallery’s exhibition of Sara Barker’s work, ‘CHANGE-THE-SETTING’, as a visual prompt, PublishED will lead creative writing exercises inspired by the artwork on display. 7-9pm, Fruitmarket Gallery, Market Street. Free but registration is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
Brunton Big Screen: Carol (15). Todd Haynes’ sensuous and intelligent film places us in the pre-Christmas rush at a New York department store. Therèse (Rooney Mara) is a store clerk dreaming of a better life, who finds herself enchanted by an elegant older woman – Carol (Cate Blanchett). As their tender yet intoxicating romance forms, the result becomes something both emotionally honest and achingly beautiful. 7.30pm, The Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh. Tickets cost £7.50/£6.50; to book please contact The Brunton Box Office on 0131 665 2240 or visit Hub Tickets here (transaction fees apply).
Lure of the Lost: Anthony Schrag with Stuart Armitt. Lure of the Lost was commissioned by Deveron Arts in 2015 and was a long-distance walk by Anthony Schrag from Huntly in Aberdeenshire to the Venice Biennale. The 2500 km walk was framed as a ‘pilgrimage’ to this sacred site of many artists: by walking there, Schrag hoped to problematise the place of his social and ephemeral practice within major art events like the Biennale, but also question the desire to be part of such art-world contexts. Edinburgh-based Armitt was commissioned to develop a filmic response to this walk that could act both as a documentation of the process and also an external insight to the project that stands as a self-contained narrative. Schrag spent 111 days walking, much of it alone, accompanied only by an tiny oak sapling grown from a Joseph Beuys Kassel acorn. He will present a short talk about his experience as well as introduce the short documentary by Stuart Armitt. 6-7.30pm, Stills, Cockburn Street. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
Body Eclectic: exciting performances from talented PASS students in this annual choreographic showcase of work by Edinburgh College HND 2 Dance Artists. 7pm, PASS Theatre, Edinburgh College Granton Campus, 350 West Granton Road. Tickets cost £6/£4 and are available from Body Eclectic company members or by emailing jo.turbitt@edinburghcollege.ac.uk. Also at same time on Thursday 24th March.
CRIME: Hong Kong Style – an explosive new season of crime films. From noir-tinged thrillers, to tales of hardnosed gangsters, to entertainingly comic capers, CRIME: Hong Kong Style offers stone cold classics, cult movies, forgotten gems and the latest releases from some of the world’s most revered and stylish directors. Today’s film is The Pilferer’s Progress/Fa qian han (12A). (In Cantonese with English subtitles): Ricky Hui and Richard Ng star as a pair of criminals who join forces to help a young woman retrieve her family’s jewels from Rich Chen. A broad slapstick comedy, here director John Woo is venturing into territory that will be distinctly unfamiliar to his many UK fans. The Pilferers’ Progress is an example of Hong Kong comedy at its frenetic and crazy best and proves that John Woo is more than simply a master of cinematic mayhem. 
8.50pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. The next film in this series will be Election (18), showing at 8.35pm on 27th March.
Public Information: cool/hot funky/electric modern jazz from an Edinburgh 4-piece of great players. Originals and rearranged standards, plus some lesser-heard material by Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis et al, from Don Kelman (sax/flute), Iain Carleton (guitar), Ron Ballin (electric bass) and Desmond Travis (drums). 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
THURSDAY 24TH MARCH 2016
The Botanics Bunny and the Hunt for the Golden Egg: This Easter the Botanics Bunny is on the hunt for a golden egg – can you help find it? Hop along the new trail, find out about some feathered friends in the Garden, and complete the quest! Pick up a trail map from the John Hope Gateway reception desk or the East Gate entrance. 10am-5.45pm today and every day until Sunday 3rd April, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. £1 per trail.
Reading Together: join the Botanics’ weekly shared reading session. Poems, short stories and novels read aloud, with a chance to share your thoughts. For ages 14+. 10.30am-12 noon today and every Thursday, meet at John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. No booking required, just come along. Led by Open Book.
Outdoor Toddle: Scottish National Galleries are working with Starcatchers to pilot some new programmes for toddlers and their parents and carers this spring, and they’d love to know what you think. They’ll be offering toddle tours around the galleries with practical activities; today’s Outdoor Toddle will be a messy session! For ages 2-5. 10am-12 noon, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE (outside), Belford Road. Free but places are limited so please book by calling Jeni Allison on 0131 624 6428 or emailing jallison@nationalgalleries.org.
Picturehouses Big Scream: exclusively for babies under the age of twelve months and their parents and carers. Today’s film is the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar! (12A). Set in the glamorous world of 1950s Hollywood, it follows a single day in the life of studio ‘fixer’ Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin). Eddie is tasked with retrieving movie star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), who has been kidnapped from the set of a sword ’n’ sandals epic by a shadowy group calling themselves The Future. Eddie’s other challenges include an uptight British film director (Ralph Fiennes) and an indiscreet starlet (Scarlett Johanssen). 10.30am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets are at usual matinée prices: babies admitted free.
Bookmarks: Artists’ Book & Zine Fair: a platform for visitors to explore artists’ books and zines made by practitioners from across Scotland. Bookmarks focuses on academic study, exploring how artists’ books are used, promoted and created in educational settings; featured artists and designers will include students, staff and alumni from Edinburgh College of Art alongside those from other educational institutions in Scotland, including Glasgow School of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art. Representations will also be made from the National Library of Scotland, the University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections and Edinburgh College of Art Library collection of artists’ books. This year Bookmarks starts with a symposium open to all participants and visitors,, at which a wide range of speakers will make presentations detailing different aspects of the book through featured projects. Following this the fair will offer visitors the chance to see and handle the work, meet the artists and designers and purchase an exciting array of artists’ books and zines. 1-3pm (talks), 4-8pm (fair), Main Building, Edinburgh College of Art, 74 Lauriston Place.
Easter Afternoon Tea and Children’s Craft Session. 1-2.30pm, St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. £5 for a (full!) cake stand, tea or coffee. To book please call the centre on 0131 346 1405.
E4 Slackers’ Club: free screenings exclusively for students. Today: Eddie the Eagle (PG). Director Dexter Fletcher (Sunshine On Leith) tells the literally uplifting story of have-a-go ski jumper Eddie Edwards, one of Britain’s best-known sporting figures – as famous for losing as he was for winning, but dearly loved for his tireless enthusiasm and eccentricities. An inspiring comedy drama reminiscent of Billy Elliot and Slumdog Millionaire, Eddie The Eagle isn’t about being the best; 
it’s about overcoming adversity, having your moment in the spotlight and enjoying every minute of it. 8.45pm, Cameo, Home Street. To sign up for a free E4 Slackers’ Club membership, pop into the cinema with valid student ID or call 0871 902 5747. You can then collect your free ticket from the Box Office, or book online here.
LGBT Language Cafe: a safe, sociable and supportive space for LGBT people whose first language is not English. Improve your spoken English and your confidence and socialise with other LGBT people; facilitators Sophie and Clare will provide fun and inclusive ways to help you practice speaking English, build your vocabulary and find out more about the LGBT community in Edinburgh. 6.30-8.30pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact Jules Stapleton Barnes on 0131 523 1104 or email jules@lgbthealth.org.uk.
City of Edinburgh Council and The Queen’s Hall Present Resonate 2016: Bands & Orchestras Evening. If you love the big orchestra sound, this concert is for you. Come and listen to the extraordinary sounds created by massed musicians, with The Edinburgh Secondary Schools Orchestra (ESSO), Edinburgh Schools Wind Ensemble (ESWE), Edinburgh Schools String Training Orchestra (ESSTO) and other Edinburgh schools’ bands, orchestras and ensembles. 7pm (doors 6.30pm), The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street. Tickets cost £10/£5 and may be purchased from The Queen’s Hall Box Office in person, by calling 0131 668 2019 or online here.
Moving Identities: Poetry and Place with Flytte. The Flytte Project has been exploring links between creativity, language and place. Does our identity change when we move to a different place? How is our creativity influenced by new surroundings? When we are forced to rethink who we are, how does it affect what we produce? In a time when moving to a new country – whether by choice or necessity – is more common than ever, we seek answers during an evening of poetry, multiple languages, translation and discussion with the Flytte Poetry Project team. Featuring Rachel McCrum, Jessica Johannesson Gaitán, Agnes Torok and Daragh Quinn, with a live video performance from Bashabi Fraser. 6.30pm, The Mezzanine, Scottish Poetry Library, Crichton’s Close. Tickets cost £5/£4 and may be booked via eventbrite here. For more information please call 0131 557 2876 or email reception@spl.org.uk.
Village Pub Theatre Newbies Night: Sara Shaawari, Julie Tsang, Calum Fleming, Kevin P Gilday, Kay Singh and Rosanna Hall, six fresh faced writers who have never before written for VPT, have each written a play for the pub. Hop on down to see their mini-masterpieces! 8pm, The Village, South Fort Street, Leith. All welcome! £3 per person on the door.
Filmhouse Special Event: Pet Shop Boys: Promo. 24 March 2016 marks the 30th anniversary, to the day, of the release of Please, the debut album by the Pet Shop Boys. To celebrate this milestone, as well as the contributions of the band to the fields of music, theatre, film and design, join Filmhouse for an evening of screenings of promos by the band. The videos shown will include the duo’s collaborations with Derek Jarman, Bruce Weber, Wolfgang Tillmans and Martin Parr, plus a selection of greatest hits. The screening will be introduced by Dr Jonny Murray (School of Design, Edinburgh College of Art), and will include time for discussion. This event is part of Pet Shop Boys: Symposium, a two day event hosted by the School of Design at Edinburgh College of Art: it is open to all. 8.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online; prices vary.
Science Festival Lates: if you want to build and program a LEGO® brick goalkeeper or remove a blood clot from a brain in A&E, Science Festival Lates is the event for you, as the City Art Centre is turned over to adults for one very special night. Test your taste uds in the festival’s beer tasting experiment, get hands-on decorating an edible chocolate planet, strike a pose with your favourite planet in the festival photobooth, or just dance the night away to a DJ set from The Pictish Trail. There’ll be brains, bees, circuits and slime mixed in with music, drinks and fun – don’t miss this chance to get your geek on; come join the party! For over 18s only. 7.30pm, City Art Centre, Market Street. Tickets cost £11/£9 and may be booked via the Edinburgh International Science Festival website here.
Edinburgh University Jazz Orchestra Big Band: BIG SOUNDS from the fab 17-piece EUJO student band, with four trumpets, four trombones, five saxes, four rhythm and guest vocalists. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £4/£3 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
FRIDAY 25TH MARCH 2016
Bookbug: stories, songs and rhymes for young children aged 0-4 years and their parents and carers. 10.30am today and every Friday, Colinton Library, Thorburn Road. Free. Also at 10.30am every Saturday morning and 2.15pm every Tuesday afternoon.
Gallery Social: Scottish Collection Highlights. A relaxed and informal guided tour with refreshments for anyone affected by dementia and their relatives, friends and supporters. 10.30am-12 noon, Scottish National Gallery (meet at Gardens Entrance), The Mound. Free. To book a place, please contact the Information Desk on 0131 624 6560.
Neil Barr: Scotland’s Landscape. Scottish photographer Neil Barr first picked up a digital camera in September 2014; with no prior training or experience in photography he quickly started to win awards. This exhibition is the culmination of over 30,000 miles of travel around Scotland, and the distillation of over 60,000 shots. Opens 12 noon today, with special preview 6-9pm, then 11am-5pm daily, The Gallery, Coburg House, 15 Coburg Street. Ends 31st March.
Collective Hush: Keep meaning to put some time aside for reading and writing poetry each week? Bring your lunch if you like and join this silent drop-in group, reading/writing/making time every Friday in The Space. Sharing the silence, everyone can work together to achieve their artistic and poetic goals. 12 noon-2pm, Scottish Poetry Library, Crichton’s Close. No booking required, just drop in. Free: donations welcome.
Children’s Knitting Group: come and learn knitting skills with the library staff. 2.30-3.30pm today and every Friday, Balerno Library, 1 Main Street. Free.
Edinburgh College of Art Friday Lecture Series: Cally Spooner. Working through film, broadcasting, writing and live events, Cally Spooner considers the dissolving boundaries between personal expression and market agendas. Using theory, philosophers, current affairs and pop cultural figures as alibis to help her write, and casts of arguing characters to help her perform, she produces plotless novellas, disjunctive theatre plays, looping monologues and musical arrangements to stage the movement and behaviour of speech. Spooner is currently exhibiting at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art as part of British Art Show 8. 11.30am, Main Lecture Theatre (E22), ECA, Lauriston Place. Free; no booking required.
Guid Crack: Stories to Lift the Spirit and Gladden the Heart. At this time of renewal and returning light, come out for an evening of tales that will send you home with a spring in your step! Join guest storyteller Mary Kenny at Edinburgh’s monthly storytelling night. 7.30pm, upstairs at The Waverley Bar, 3-5 St Mary’s Street. Suggested donation £5/£3. Accompanied young adults welcome.
West Lothian Write: enjoy an evening of poetry, reading and storytelling in the company of local writers. Guest host Dennis O’Donnell is a writer, columnist and former teacher who is probably best known for his 2012 memoir The Locked Ward. This session is an opportunity to present a short piece of writing (up to six minutes) in a supportive environment. It is recommended that you practice and time your reading, as the event is very popular and reading places are limited. For ages 16+. 7pm, Howden Park Centre, Howden Park, Livingston. Tickets cost £3.50 (performers free) and may be obtained from the Box Office in person or by calling 01506 777 666. Please book in advance to guarantee a performance slot and inform the box office if you intend to read.
No Spoon Needed: the launch of a small showcase of artwork from the artists of Edinburgh. ‘Bringing access to what’s being made in this city, right now. These are the artists of today’. Come along and see variations of disciplines, approaches and techniques in a selection that will tailor to all tastes. 6pm, Sketchy Beats Café, 208 Great Junction Street. Admission £2 per person, which will go to the café.
British Art Show 8 Discussion-led Tours: join Inverleith House staff for discussion-led tours of British Art Show 8, encompassing Inverleith House and the display in the Royal Botanic Garden’s Victorian Palm House. 2-3pm Inverleith House Gallery (meet at Inverleith House reception), Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free but registration is required and may be made via eventbrite here. The next tour will be on 29th April.
Serenity Café Club: Chilled – Syrian Special. Over the years Serenity has had volunteers recovering from losing their homes and families, fleeing from torture and devastation. They became friends and found support in the Serenity community. To continue the tradition, half the proceeds from this night of Syrian food and relaxed vibes will go to help others starting on a different kind of recovery journey. 6.30pm, Serenity Café, 9 Jackson’s Entry, The Tun, 111 Holyrood Road. £4 per person: all welcome. Serenity is Scotland’s first recovery café, run by people in recovery for people in recovery, and for public customers who want good quality, good value food in a relaxed space. All events are drink and drugs-free.
Scotland Loves Animé March 2016: a mini-programme of animé films. Scotland Loves Animé runs annually in October across Glasgow, Edinburgh and now Aberdeen – this is a pre-festival mix of classics, films that sold out during Scotland Loves Animé 2015 and a new film. Today’s film is Psycho-Pass: The Movi/Gekijouban Psycho-Pass (15) (In Japanese with English subtitles). 
6.10pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. The next film in this series will be A Letter to Momo/Momo e no tegami (PG), showing at 3.45pm on 26th March.
N.O.W.H.E.R.E: a collection of contemporary artists’ video work from Northern Ireland. The exhibition is a continuation of the gallery exchange with Catalyst Arts, an established artist-run art project based in Belfast. Two of the IR11 gallery artists showed their work in Belfast in autumn 2015 and IR11 will in response install the work of four video artists – Colin Martin, Ian Griffin, Laura Smith and David Fagan – in Ocean Terminal. The theme of the exhibition is informed by the gallery’s ongoing interest in conceptions of space; the various video approaches installed in the gallery space present juxtaposing narratives of alternate spaces and locations, inviting the viewer to reconsider the material context of the gallery itself – a retail complex – and the dynamics and expectations such a space sets into action. 10am-4pm Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-Friday, 10am-7.30pm Wednesdays, 12 noon-4pm Saturdays, Interview Room 11, Ocean Terminal Level One, Ocean Drive. Ends 16th April 2016. Founded in 2013, Interview Room 11 is an artist run gallery and project space now located in Leith.
Put a Bop in Your Spring: the Jazz Romantics’ monthly evening at the Village. Standards from across the many styles of jazz: swing, bepop, hard bop, bossa nova, cool jazz, jazz ballads and waltzes. More than two hours of entertainment with Bev Wright (vocals), Tony Irvine (drums), Gugi Slawomir (bass), Les Reid (saxophone) and Brian McGrail (guitar) (whose 50th birthday it is today!). 8-10.30pm, The Village, South Fort Street, Leith. All welcome!
King Louis and The Primas: madcap, non-stop party frontman Dave Batchelor (trombone/vocals) brings in his hugely entertaining band playing the music of jump/jive 50s Vegas king Louis Prima (‘Jungle Book’ theme!). The 8-piece of top players includes Fat Sam’s Band leader Hamish McGregor (sax/clarinet), top trumpeter Colin Steele, harmonica wiz Fraser Spiers, the bluesy guitar of Ross Milligan, swinging pianist Campbell Normand, Ed Kelly (bass) and Stu Brown (drums). 9pm (entry from 8pm)- 12 midnight, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £6/£5 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
DIIV (live): after a successful 2015, which saw them not only finish up work on their highly anticipated second album but also complete a mammoth stateside tour alongside No Joy and Sunflower Bean, Brooklyn-based DIIV are set to make a triumphant live return to the UK and Europe this spring. Recorded and mixed in various locations around Brooklyn throughout much of 2015, Is the Is Are is a 17-song double-album, intended to work with the moods and themes first explored by vocalist/songwriter Zachary Cole Smith on 2012’s critically acclaimed Oshin, but this time with an added nuance and depth. Dark and honest to a fault, recent singles lifted from Is the Is Are such as Dopamine and Bent (Roi’s Song) have only added to the band’s blistering set and Cole Smith’s distinct on-stage performance. 7-11pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Tickets cost £11.50 and may be purchased here (transaction fee applies) or on the door, sta. The Bongo Club is a nightclub, live venue and all-round artistic hub owned by local arts charity Out of the Blue, which has an established track record as a catalyst for creativity in Edinburgh. ‘Putting the sounds of the underground and imaginative aspirations before the mighty dollar’.
SATURDAY 26TH MARCH 2016
Craigmillar Library Breakfast Club: come along to share some breakfast and listen to audiobooks with us in the Library. 11am today and every second Saturday, Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road. All welcome!
Bookbug: stories, songs and rhymes for young children aged 0-4 years and their parents and carers. 10.30am today and every Saturday, Colinton Library, Thorburn Road. Free. Also at 10.30am every Friday morning and 2.15pm every Tuesday afternoon.
Ipdip Theatre Presents Anonymous. On the edge of a wood, in a hole in the wall of a timber house, there lives a very tiny and very shy white mouse. As we experience the unfolding of the seasons through a cycle of beautiful and delicate sensory poems we also meet a writer who has come to the woods for inspiration and who finds the greatest things in the smallest of spaces. Musical, tactile, curious and sweet, this play is a lyrical love letter to living from moment to moment. For ages 0-5. 11am, North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. Tickets cost £5/£3/£2 (family £8); to book please contact NEA on 0131 315 2151. Part of Puppet Animation Festival 2016.
Juniper Green Farmers’ Market: stalls with an extensive range of products, including breads, cakes, pies, fruit, vegetables, preserves, coffee, handicrafts, Fair Trade goods, hot snacks and drinks – and now with the facility to place your orders in advance; see the market’s Facebook page here for details.The market also offers local residents the chance to meet with their local councillors, community councillors, MP and MSP. 9am-1pm, Juniper Green Village Hall, 1A Juniper Park Road. Organised by Juniper Green Community Council.
British Art Shows: free discussion-led tours of the British Art Show. Focus and content will change weekly. 2-2.30pm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art ONE (meet at the main entrance), Belford Road. No booking required.
Charlotte Hastings and Co Present Sir Moustache Bristleby and the Ed-Splorers: Sir Moustache Bristleby and the Ed-Splorers are experts in all things natural, cultural, historical and fanciful. 
Though they arrived here quite by accident, there’s nothing these three intrepid explorers love more than a captive audience and each Ed-Splorer has a tale to tell, each more adventurous and thrilling than the last! An intriguing blend of visual, verbal, multi-sensory and interactive storytelling with original rhymes, shadow theatre, puppetry and musical interludes. 10.30am, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. Tickets cost £5/concessions £2/children £2.50; to book please call WHALE Arts on 0131 458 3267 – cash payments only please. Part of Puppet Animation Festival 2016.
Zoo Arts Extra Beach Day: food, fire, sea, sky, sand and art! 12 noon-4.30pm (approx return), meet at North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. Booking is required and may be made in person at NEA, by calling 0131 315 2151 or e-mailing garden@northedinburgharts.co.uk. Children under 9 must be accompanied, and permission slips must also be completed – available from NEA, local schools and Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. All welcome, free, donations very welcome.
Picturehouse Culture Shock and the Twin Peaks UK Festival: Twin Peaks Weekender (18). The whole of David Lynch’s landmark murder mystery series on the big screen in one awesome viewing weekend! A rare opportunity to see all 29 episodes and discover why David Lynch and Mark Frost’s creation is often referred to as the best TV show ever made. Twin Peaks (population 51,201) – a sleepy everytown USA where everyone’s lives intersect with everyone else’s – lies just five miles from the Canadian border. The town wakes up one morning to find one of its brightest young inhabitants, Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), murdered and wrapped in plastic down by the river. Local Sheriff Harry S Truman (Michael Ontkean) and tearful Deputy Andy (Harry Goaz) are out of their depth with such a murder case, and an FBI agent is assigned to investigate. Youthful, charismatic and somewhat otherworldly in his approach to policing, 
Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) arrives to try to solve the case. His appearance causes ripples in the community, and in turn he discovers that Twin Peaks is a small town full of secrets. Starts at 10.15am today, ends at 5.40pm on Sunday, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £40/£37 (members £35) and include free doughnuts and coffee. Book by contacting the Box Office on 0871 902 5723 or online here.
Polwarth Parish Church Guild Coffee Morning. All proceeds will go to Prospects, a charity for people with learning disabilities. 10am-12 noon, Polwarth Parish Church, Polwarth Terrace. All very welcome; admission £2.50.
Scotland Loves Animé March 2016: a mini-programme of animé films. Scotland Loves Animé runs annually in October across Glasgow, Edinburgh and now Aberdeen – this is a pre-festival mix of classics, films that sold out during Scotland Loves Animé 2015 and a new film. Today’s films are A Letter to Momo/Momo e no tegami (PG) showing at 3.45pm and Anthem of the Heart/Kokoro ga sakebitagatterunda (12A) showing at 6.10pm (both in Japanese with English subtitles). Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. The final film in this mini-series will be Miss Hokusai/Sarusuberi: Miss Hokisai showing at 6.30pm on 27th March.
Linlithgow Canal Centre opens for the season this weekend! You can take a cruise aboard St Magdalene to the Avon Aqueduct at 2pm or a short town trip aboard Victoria, departing every half hour between 2pm and 4.30pm. Cruises take place on Saturdays and Sundays only, with additional town cruises also being offered on weekdays 4th July-12th August only. Aquaduct cruises cost £8/£7/£5 and town cruises £4/£3. The Canal Museum – in a former canal stable – and the Tearoom, sited in former canal workers’ cottages, will also be open each weekend throughout the season. Linlithgow Canal Centre, Manse Road Basin, Linlithgow. Linlithgow Union Canal Trust is run by volunteers – and they would welcome more! If you are interested, call in at the canal basin any Saturday morning; read more here.
Waterstones Easter Activities Fun: come and join in this fun-filled Easter themed weekend, with colouring-in, balloons, free raffle and an Easter Egg Hunt. 10am-3pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. Also at same times on Sunday 27th March.
Out of the Blue Flea Market: over 45 stalls full to bursting with clothes, jewellery, small furniture, music, books, bric-a-brac and so much more, with delicious coffee and cake available from the Drill Hall Arts Café. 10am-3pm, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street.
Discover the Art of Parliament: the collection on display throughout the award-winning Parliament building includes artworks from over 40 Scottish contemporary artists, showcasing a variety of types of work and media – from oil paintings to sculptures, photography, textiles and installations. In this one-hour guided tour you will discover a selection from the Scottish Parliament Art Collection. No prior knowledge or expertise is required to join the tour. Recommended for visitors aged 14+. 12 noon, Scottish Parliament, Holyrood. Free but advance booking is essential; please call 0131 348 5200 or email visit@scottish.parliament.co.uk.
Scotland’s Stories at the Scottish Parliament: travel through the award-winning Parliament building and along a time line from the 9th to the 21st century! Your guide will tell legends, stories and facts specially selected from 1100 years of Scotland’s fascinating history. Inspired by the Parliament building, its location and objects on display, learn about the legend of the Saltire, the lives of kings and queens, the outcome of battles and more, all woven together on this one-hour tour. No prior knowledge of Scottish history is required to join. Recommended for visitors aged 10+. 2.30pm, Scottish Parliament, Holyrood. Free but advance booking is essential; please call 0131 348 5200 or email visit@scottish.parliament.co.uk. Image: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament.
Picturehouses After Dark: A Field in England (15). In 1648, during the Civil War, a group of deserters flee a bloody battle. They stumble into a field, where an alchemist tricks them into eating hallucinogenic mushrooms before forcing them to look for ‘treasure’. What follows is both eerily beautiful and deeply unsettling. Director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Sightseers) proves once again that he’s one of the most exciting and unpredictable talents in film today with this nightmarish black comedy. 10pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online here.
Modern Scottish Women Drop-in 3: inspired by an artwork from the exhibition, and led by artist Katharine Aarrestad, enjoy drawing in the gallery space. 2-4pm, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art TWO, Belford Road. No booking required; exhibition tickets purchased from 1st March will allow re-entry to this session if shown to staff.
National Gallery Highlight Tours – March: An introduction to and tour of the National Gallery’s permanent collection, focusing on key paintings. 2-2.45pm or 3-3.45pm, Scottish National Gallery (meet at Main Entrance), The Mound. Free; no booking required.
Jambouree: an impressive 5 piece of young multi-instrumentalists, Jambouree melds instrumental Jazz Fusion and fresh Funk with Hip-Hop and World Music inflections. Dynamic improvisation and infectious polyrhythms from horn section Matt Harrold (trumpet) and Callum Mason (alto sax, clarinet), with Joe Nichols (keys, piano, harmonica), Mischa Stevens (bass) and Alex Palmer (drums). 
‘Very, very groovy’ (Stephen Duffy, Jazz House, BBC Radio Scotland). Plus DJ Calum. 12 midnight (entry from 11.30pm, band 12.45am)-3am, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £6/£5 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Miracle Glass Company + Black Cat Bone. Having honed their live show to within an inch of its life with gigs up and down the country over the summer, Miracle Glass Company are thrilled to return with a headline show in their home city. Expect visual enthralment, aural inducement and sonic delight as the dynamic trio blend their soaring three-part harmonies with foot-stomping rock’n’roll, beautifully crafted songs and the odd psychedelic freak-out! Black Cat Bone is a British Blues Rock band; the four piece comes equipped with a pounding rhythm section, layered vocals, catchy guitar riffs, heavy distortion and hollering harmonica. The band has just released its debut album Growl. For over 18s only, 7.30pm, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Advance tickets cost £6 (transaction fee applies) and are available from Ripping Records and Skiddle.
SUNDAY 27TH MARCH 2016
Filmhouse Junior: films for a younger audience. This week’s film is Ponyo (U) (English language version): in Hayao Miyazaki’s beautiful animated feature, five-year-old Sosuke lives with his mum in a house on a cliff overlooking the sea. One day Sosuke finds a strange-looking goldfish with a human face; he rescues her and calls her Ponyo. Ponyo is so enamoured with Sosuke that she decides she wants to become human, but her father, Fujimoto, is determined that won’t happen… 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small.
Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is Day for Night (12A): François Truffaut’s enjoyable comedy about the everday crises – emotional and practical – as director, cast and crew set about the filming of a soapy love story in the Victorine Studios in Nice. Rampant and unstable egos, unco-operative animals and an early appearance by Nathalie Baye, in an homage to cinema and all its works that leans more to Hollywood than the methods or spirit of the nouvelle vague. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Me & T Monthly: a supportive space for people who have friends, family or partners who are trans*, non-binary or exploring their gender. An opportunity to discuss experiences, questions or concerns. 2-4pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. Please feel free to contact the group at me.and.t.edinburgh@gmail.com at any time for further information, or visit www.meandtscotland@wordpress.com.
Signed Up: in 2015, Scotland passed a pioneering law committing the country to ‘promoting’ the use of British Sign Language (BSL). In partnership with Heriot-Watt University’s BSL experts, Filmhouse offers a season of films highlighting Deaf experiences. How does signing come to be at the heart of a hidden community, and why does it need to be ‘promoted’? Through new and classic films, each followed by a panel session with Deaf and hearing guests, Filmhouse invites signers and non-signers alike to explore how sign language comes to be the most powerful form of human expression you’ve never heard. Today’s film is Power in Our Hands (PG): a ground-breaking documentary on the Deaf community’s fight for civil rights and principally, the right to be heard. 
Combining social history and archive film with contemporary interviews, and released in the 125th anniversary year of the British Deaf Association, Power in Our Hands explores the secret history and heritage of the Deaf community in the UK. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Dr Terry Riley OBE, Chair of the British Deaf Association. 3pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be booked in person, by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688 or online; prices vary.
Scotland Loves Animé March 2016: a mini-programme of animé films. Scotland Loves Animé runs annually in October across Glasgow, Edinburgh and now Aberdeen – this is a pre-festival mix of classics, films that sold out during Scotland Loves Animé 2015 and a new film. 
Today’s closing film is Miss Hokusai/Sarusuberi: Miss Hokisai (12A) in Japanese with English subtitles). 6.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
Easter Explorers: come along to the Botanic Garden for a fun family day out this Easter Sunday. Get cracking at being creative in hands-on activities as you decorate a botanical Easter egg – and don’t forget to follow the top tips trail to discover the best that nature has to offer for all ages this Easter. 1-4pm, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free, no booking required; ask at reception for venue.
Singers’ Night with Lorna Reid and her Quartet. The acclaimed Edinburgh jazz vocalist makes a welcome return, tonight with a great band: sax star Konrad Wisznewski, Campbell Normand (piano), John Allan (bass) and Jim Drummond (drums). 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £6/£5 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Rock N Roll Ping Pong – with DJ Ding and DJ Dong. A free monthly Sunday-night social, with fine beers and fine company, free-play, silly ping pong games, and music from every genre to play along to courtesy of in-house soundtrackmeisters DJs Ding & Dong. Also, for those with a wee bit of a competitive instinct, there’s an optional, strictly amateur tournament [£1 to enter, winner takes all!] 7-11pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Free admission.
CRIME: Hong Kong Style – an explosive new season of crime films. From noir-tinged thrillers, to tales of hardnosed gangsters, to entertainingly comic capers, CRIME: Hong Kong Style offers stone cold classics, cult movies, forgotten gems and the latest releases from some of the world’s most revered and stylish directors. Today’s film is Election/Hak se wui (18). (In Cantonese, Mandarin and English with English subtitles): Johnnie To is one of Hong Kong’s most important contemporary filmmakers and this one of his greatest works. Starring Hong Kong acting heavyweights Simon Yam and Tony Leung Ka Fai, Election focuses on the selection of a new triad leader and explores a string of issues from generational conflict to tradition and loyalty. At the same time Election is a pointed reflection on the politics of post-1997 Hong Kong. 8.35pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. The next film in this series will be Police Story (15), showing at 8.30pm on 31st March.
St Giles At Six: Lieder and Song. Carine Tinney (soprano) and Chris Harding (piano). 6pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free; retiring collection.
