This week has a very European flavour, with films from Italy, France and Spain, books set in Berlin and Parma, the third Syn (Hellenic) Festival and Edinburgh’s Festival of Ireland all jostling for your attention. The Institut francais d’Ecosse is throwing open its Gallic doors too, inviting you to sign up for some of its many great activities.
And if you fancy going a little further afield, what about a concert of music inspired by Ugandan drum-makers, or a trip to the South Sea Islands with Thor Heyerdhal? Even further? Anna Temps has visited people working in one of the most remote areas in the world – you can hear about her Arctic research in a special PhD in an Hour at Summerhall. Wherever you go this week, make the most of our amazing city – and as always, don’t forget to check details of all events with the organisers before you set out.
MONDAY 7TH MARCH 2016
Picturehouses Toddler Time: exclusive short screenings for pre-school children and their parents and carers. Today: Hopster Showtime Moon Adventures (U): a magical half an hour of favourite episodes perfect for the youngest cinema fans. Join Pingu, Rupert Bear,Wanda and the Alien and friends on their adventures, find out what the moon is really made of and watch a special eclipse. 11am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £3 per child, accompanying adult free.
Beyond The Beans: as part of Fairtrade Fortnight, One World Shop is hosting a special guest from Colombia, Luz Marina Garcia Ruiz, a coffee certification manager at Asprocafe Coffee Co-operative. Come and hear her speak about her work and the real story of how Fairtrade works on the ground – Asprocafe works with 1500 coffee farmers, 25% of whom are women. Enjoy a hot cup of coffee and refreshments! 6pm, One World Shop, 25 Nicolson Square.
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 Hail, Caesar! (12A), starring Tilda Swinton, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson & Ralph Fiennes. Joel and Ethan Coen’s 17th feature returns to the Hollywood-inspired period homages of Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, but with the added touch of Altman-inspired ensemblism, promising much mirth and mayhem amidst the trials and tribulations of Tinseltown. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50.
Broughton History Society: Ian Wotherspoon will talk on Three Centuries of the Scots and China. 7pm (refreshments), 7.30pm (talk begins), Drummond Community High School, Bellevue Place. 
Founded in 1996 to promote an interest in the history of Broughton and in local history generally, the Society holds a wide-ranging programme of monthly lectures on Monday evenings from September to May, and throughout the year organises a number of visits to places of historical interest within the locality. Visitors and members are welcome at the evening meetings; membership is open to everyone and the annual subscription is £12, payable in September each year or on joining. For further information and/or to join the Society please contact the Chair, Richard Love atwordsandwalls@blueyonder.co.uk/tel. 0131 556 1488 or the Membership Secretary, Helen Rorrison at hec@st-andrews.ac.uk/tel. 0131 557 5973.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents The Monthly Book Quiz: if you know your Waugh from your Peace, or your Meyer from your Heye, try the Blackwell’s monthly Book Quiz, with questions on anything from classics to current bestsellers, Booker Prize winners to celebrity biographies. Teams of up to five people can take part. 6pm, Caffè Nero, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free entry – but seats are limited so please come early to secure your place.
LGBT Police Surgery: seek advice, raise concerns around safety issues, report incidents or discuss policing in your area with an officer from Police Scotland. No appointment needed for this informal setting. 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.
Love Music Community Choir Spring Concert: the UK’s largest community choir celebrates embarking on its 4th year with a concert in its home, the magnificent Usher Hall. Join the Choir and some very special guests for an uplifting and entertaining evening filled with music, including special arrangements of songs by David Bowie and The Beatles, the première of a new song inspired by Colonel Chris Hadfield’s Astronaut’s Guide To Optimism, written by, and performed with, The BIG Project Youth Choir and a massed orchestra of young guitarists from across Edinburgh, led by Mike McGeary. Pianist: Dave Milligan; director; Stephen Deazley. 7.30pm, Usher Hall, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £5/£3 and may be purchased from the Usher Hall Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here (transaction fee applies to phone and online bookings).
Grassmarket Picture House: The Salt of the Earth (12A). Legendary German director Wim Wenders examines the life and work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, whose long and illustrious career has seen him cover a wide range of humanity’s toils and exploits, from the effects of warfare and entire communities forced into exile through to starvation and impoverishment as a consequence of the ever-changing geopolitical landscape. As Salgado moves towards capturing natural landscapes in all their glory, he reflects upon a career in which his art strives to reconcile struggle with hope. 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.
LGBT Adoption Week Information Evening. Scottish Adoption has seen a steady increase in the numbers of LGBT people they’ve been approving as adoptive parents. This evening is an opportunity to hear from Scottish Adoption’s expert Senior Practitioners and also from LGBT adopters as they talk about their journey to parenthood. The highlight for those attending previous such events has always been the opportunity to hear directly from Lesbian, Gay and Transgender parents themselves. 6-8pm, Scottish Adoption, 161 Constitution Street, Leith. If you are interested in coming along, please email david@scottishadoption.org to reserve your space. For more information call Scottish Adoption on 0131 553 5060.
The Skylark Movie Night: Kon-Tiki (15). The true story of Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl (Pål Sverre Hagen), who suspects that the South Sea Islands were originally colonized by South Americans. In 1947, despite his fear of water and inability to swim, Heyerdahl decides to prove his theory. He and five companions set sail from Peru on a balsa-wood raft built from an ancient design; their only modern equipment is a radio, and they must navigate using the stars and ocean currents. After three exhausting months at sea, they achieve their goal. 7.30pm (film starts at 8pm), The Skylark, 241/243 Portobello High Street. Owing to the popularity of the Skylark film nights, booking a table in advance is recommended – call 0131 629 3037.
Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Winter Lecture Series: Anthony Lewis; The Builders of Edinburgh’s first New Town, 1767-1795. Dr Anthony Lewis is curator of Scottish History for Glasgow Life/Glasgow Museums; he began researching Edinburgh’s New Town in preparation for the exhibition about James Craig at the Edinburgh New Town in 1995. Dr Lewis’s book The Builders of Edinburgh New Town was published in 2014. 6.30pm, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Admission £5 (students £2.50). Non-members welcome. Members may attend six lectures for £25: membership details may be found here.
23rd Italian Film Festival: the Italian Film Festival in Scotland offers the best of il cinema Italiano, currently on a high with the global and awards success of Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth. It is curated and co-founded by directors Allan Hunter and Richard Mowe and partnered by principal funder the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Edimburgo, Filmhouse and Glasgow Film Theatre, plus supporters Valvona & Crolla Vin Caffé, Fratelli Sarti, Glasgow, and Menabrea beers. Tonight’s film is Latin Lover (12A), a delightful ensemble comedy that has become one of the biggest successes in the career of writer/director Cristina Comencini. A hot Southern town in Apulia is world famous as the birthplace of adored Italian movie idol Saverio Crispo. Ten years after his death, his first wife Rita is preparing for a memorial service that mushrooms into a vast family reunion involving Saverio’s Spanish wife Ramona and his neurotic French daughter Stephanie. A comic treat filled with nostalgic moments of spot-on pastiche celebrating the glories of Italian cinema. 8.40pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
TUESDAY 8TH MARCH 2016
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 Hail Caesar! (12A) at 1.30pm and 4pm, Hitchcock/Truffaut (12A) at 3.50pm, The Revenant (15) at 2.45pm and Rams (15) at 12.35pm. Cameo, Home Street. Non-members are welcome but pay standard ticket prices.
Plagues: the most evocative of pre-modern epidemic diseases, plague conjures images of rats scurrying along filthy streets littered with festering corpses and dwellings daubed with red crosses. But is this really an accurate picture? Karen Jillings, author of Scotland’s Black Death: the Foul Death of the English, sorts the myth from reality, discussing the plague between 1350 and 1650 and its impact on communities in Scotland and elsewhere. 6pm, 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.
Word Power Books Celebrates International Women’s Day! An evening at Spoon Restaurant (fully accessible), with a chance to meet other women, catch up and enjoy a meal with songs, poetry and performance. The Sister Acts is an open mic slot so come prepared! 7pm, Spoon Restaurant, 6a Nicolson Street. Tickets cost £15/£10, which includes a two-course vegetarian meal, and must be booked and paid for in advance – please call into Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street, phone 0131 662 9112 or email books@word-power.co.uk.
Alternative Urban Landscapes: a new exhibition by Musselburgh-based photographer Louise King, who aims to show familiar places in a new light. 10-8pm Monday to Wednesday, 10am-5pm Thursday to Saturday, Art & Design Library, Central Library, George IV Bridge. Ends 29th March 2016. Please note the library will be closed on Good Friday (25th March) and Easter Monday 28th March).
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 Jamón Jamón (18) (In Spanish with English subtitles): an allegory for Spain’s transition from the old to the new via bullfighting, 
legs of cured pork and a masculinity so deeply in crisis that even Javier Bardem struggles to be man enough for the film’s pseudo-psychoanalytical conceits. The screening 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 next film in the series will be Bastards/Les salauds (12A) showing on Tuesday 15th March.
PhD in An Hour – From the Edge: to mark the unveiling of Just Festival’s theme for 2016 From the Edge, a special PhD in an Hour to shed light on research involving individuals at the very edge of society. Isolated and trapped in a darkness which lasts for months, amid an unceasingly cold environment, the well-being and cognitive changes undergone by scientists during a year in an isolated research station near the North Pole are the topic of Anna Temps’ PhD studies. Hear about Anna’s extraordinary findings and her unique experiences of visiting people working in one of the most remote areas on earth. 6pm, The Royal Dick, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Free but booking is strongly advised as space is limited and can be made via eventbrite here. Organised in partnership with the Beltane Public Engagement Network.
Brunstane Masterplan Event: developers EDI are holding a community consultation about their proposed development at Brunstane. This event, which is part of the Pre-Application Consultation required for major developments, will give attendees an opportunity to meet the project team and share views on the emerging ‘New Brunstane’ masterplan. 3-8pm (drop-in), Best Western King’s Manor Hotel, 100 Milton Road East. All welcome: free.
Picturehouses Discover Tuesdays: a chance to see something different and brilliant in this weekly slot. Today’s film is The Forbidden Room (12A): venerated Canadian art-house director Guy Maddin takes further his stylistic affinity for the look and feel of silent and early-sound-era films with this wonderfully absurd, phantasmagoric and enthralling homage to one of the golden ages of cinema. A submarine crew, a feared pack of forest bandits, a famous surgeon and a battalion of child soldiers all get more than they bargained for as they wend their way towards progressive ideas on life and love. Some of the stories are linked, others not, some shot in black and white, others in early two-strip Technicolor. 6pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Jenny Nex: Women Pulling The Strings. To celebrate International Women’s Day Blackwell’s has teamed up with the Musical Instruments Museum at St. Cecilia’s Hall. Musical instrument historians have only recently begun to investigate the involvement of women in this area, mostly because very few instruments signed by women survive, giving the impression that they were often absent from the trade. 
Evidence shows, however, that some women were active as makers themselves or owned and ran their own businesses, while others worked in supporting roles such as managing the accounts and running the household. This presentation explores the surviving evidence concerning women working in musical instrument building firms in London in the 18th and 19th centuries. 
Edinburgh Music graduate Jenny Nex is a curator at St Cecilia’s Hall and has a PhD from Goldsmith’s College in The Businesses of Musical Instrument Making in Early Industrial London (c1760–1820). 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8222, emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or via eventbrite here.
French Cinema: Suzanne (12). (In French with English subtitles). A single mother since her adolescence, Suzanne (Sara Forestier) lives with her lorry driver father and her beloved sister. But her life takes the wrong turn when she falls deeply in love with Julien – this young criminal leads Suzanne in a downward spiral and she will choose to go away with him, abandoning everything behind her… Tuesday’s screening will be introduced by Martine Pierquin and followed by a discussion. 1pm, Institut français d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. Free but booking is required and may be made by calling 0131 225 5366 or emailing info@ifecosse.org.uk. Also showing at 1pm on Wednesday 10th March.
Leith Folk Club: Rod Sinclair. Originally from St Andrews but now living in Denmark, singer, guitarist and banjo player Rod Sinclair has worked with some of the best that Scotland has to offer, including Dick Gaughan and Ben Miller. For his first time at the Club he brings a huge cornucopia of music from all over the world. Support: Tomfoolery. 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. Image © Greg Owen Photography.
23rd Italian Film Festival: the Italian Film Festival in Scotland offers the best of il cinema Italiano. Today’s film is You Can’t Save Yourself Alone/Nessuno si salvo da solo (12A). The road to divorce and disillusion is paved with the best of intentions in the latest box-office hit from director Sergio Castellitto. Based on the novel by Margaret Mazzantini (Castellitto’s wife), You Can’t Save Yourself Alone is a ‘perceptive, bittersweet account of modern love’. 8.40pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
WEDNESDAY 9TH MARCH 2016
Oxfam Scotland Candidate Café: in the run-up to the Scottish parliamentary elections in May, Oxfam Scotland is giving you the chance to chat to local political candidates about the issues that matter to you. Candidate Café events will take place in each of Scotland’s eight electoral regions, with one candidate from each of the five parties currently represented at the Scottish Parliament available to chat to members of the public. The format is designed to encourage conversations between members of the public and the candidates; the candidates will not be debating their respective policy positions with each other. 5.30-7.30pm, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George St. If you would like to attend, please register here. Please note that, as a charity, Oxfam is strictly non-party political. By registering to attend this event, participants agree to act with respect towards all candidates and fellow members of the public.
The Edinburgh Bookshop Presents James MacManus: Midnight in Berlin. Inspired by true events, James MacManus’s new novel is set in the spring of 1939 as Hitler invades Czechoslovakia and prepares for a wider war. The West’s appeasement policies have failed, yet in London Neville Chamberlain’s government continues to try and placate the Nazi leader. Colonel Noel Macrae, a British military attaché based in Berlin, realises the futility of further diplomacy; he plans to defy his government and carry out the only alternative to a looming world war: the assassination of Hitler. James will be talking about his book and the true events that inspired his story. 6.30pm, The Edinburgh Bookshop, 219 Bruntsfield Place. Free but booking is required; please call the shop on 0131 447 1917 or email mail@edinburghbookshop.com.
Morningside Justice & Peace Group: The ageing brain. PhD student Angela De Bruin gives an insight into current research in The University of Edinburgh Psychology Department. 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.
Crime Prevention Roadshow – East Edinburgh: come along to chat to local officers about how you can better look after yourself and your property. 1-3pm, City of Edinburgh Council East Neighbourhood Office, 101 Niddrie Mains Road. This event is a joint initiative between Portobello Community Council and Edinburgh City Council.
Bodysnatchers to Lifesavers: Three Centuries of Medicine in Edinburgh. From dissecting bodies ‘donated’ by murderers to developing lifesaving treatments, the Edinburgh medical community has always been innovative and challenged entrenched medical ideas. Tara Womersley and Dorothy Crawford are in conversation about the new edition of their book Bodysnatchers to Lifesavers: Three Centuries of Medicine in Edinburgh. 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.
The Making of Comic Invention: ahead of the opening of Comic Invention – on 18 March 2016 at the Hunterian Gallery in Glasgow – co-curators Laurence Grove and Peter Black discuss the exhibition’s making. Looking at graphic narrative in its widest sense, Comic Invention showcases treasures from the ancient Egyptians onwards, alongside artists such as Hogarth, Rembrandt, Picasso, Lichtenstein, Télémaque, Hockney and Warhol, 
and also includes the first major display of original drawings by graphic artist Frank Quitely of DC Comics. This highly illustrated talk (in English) will guide you through the ups and downs of the curating of the exhibition, with particular emphasis on its numerous French connections. 6pm, Institut français d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent. Free but booking is required and may be made by calling 0131 225 5366 or emailing info@ifecosse.org.uk.
Wiff Waff Wednesday: a monthly ping pong night for all ages, with music; drink and great food available to purchase from the Drill Hall Arts Cafe. 6-10.30pm, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Free entry and all are welcome! ‘Friendship 1st, competition 2nd’.
Word Power Books Presents Christopher Silver – Demanding Democracy: The Case for a Scottish Media. Scotland is a place of diverse economies, varied landscapes, distinct cultures and big ideas. Its stories can grab the attention of global audiences and move millions. Yet all too often the output of Scotland’s media is narrow, clichéd and incapable of reflecting the realities of a complex society in a changing world. With the Scottish independence referendum causing the role of media to become the subject of fiercely contested debate, this new book takes a broader view of the issues in hand and calls for a wide-ranging discussion about the media Scotland wants and needs. Featuring interviews and insights from leading journalists, commentators, experts and thinkers, Demanding Democracy offers a compelling and intelligent case for the renewal of a vital component in Scotland’s public life. Writer, producer and documentarian Christopher Silver will be in conversation with playwright and translator David Greig. 6.30pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. Free, all welcome; donations also very welcome!
Beginners’ Chess: if you’d like to learn the game that made Garry Kasparov famous, or you haven’t played for a while and would like to brush up your skills, come along to this new group – members of the Corstorphine Chess Club will be on hand to help. All ages from teens upwards welcome. 6.30-8pm today and every Wednesday, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan. For more information please contact the library on 0131 529 5506.
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. 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.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents ES Thomson: Beloved Poison – the launch of a much awaited new novel. Ramshackle and crumbling, trapped in the past and resisting the future, St Saviour’s Infirmary awaits demolition. Within its stinking wards and cramped corridors the doctors bicker and fight. Ambition, jealousy and hatred seethe beneath the veneer of professional courtesy. Always an outsider, and with a secret of her own to hide, apothecary Jem Flockhart observes everything but says nothing. And then six tiny coffins are uncovered, inside each a handful of dried flowers and a bundle of mouldering rags…. 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8222, emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or via eventbrite here.
Trio HLK: ‘amazing dynamic, no-holds-barred modern music’ from ex-Manchester, now Edinburgh-based pianist/composer Rich Harrold, with superfunky drummer Richard Kass and London guitarist Ant Law (as featured with sax star Tim Garland and other notables). Their music is at once shocking, stimulating, surprising, enjoyable – and fun! They play ‘with ideas from Contemporary Classical and Jazz, while referencing idiomatic elements of Hip-Hop, Breakcore and Metal …. with musical ambiguities, particularly ‘perceived rhythm’, while experimenting with improvisation in new compositional frameworks’. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Golden Hare Books and Pan Macmillan Present The Other Mrs Walker: the launch of the new novel by Mary Paulson-Ellis. ‘At once a gripping and unique detective story and a moving and profound meditation on memory, identity and loss, The Other Mrs Walker promises to be one of the most talked-about novels of the year’. Margaret Penny arrives back at her old family home, escaping a life in London recently turned to ash. Faced with relying on a resentful mother she has never really known, Margaret soon finds herself employed by the Office for Lost People, tasked with finding the families of the dead: the neglected, the abandoned, the lost. Her instructions are to uncover paperwork, yet the only thing Mrs Walker, the old woman in her current case, left behind is a series of peculiar objects…. Mary Paulson-Ellis will be reading from the book in a venue with a strong thematic connection to the story, the Wohl Pathology Museum, and discussing it with Dundee’s number one literary dynamo Peggy Hughes. Refreshments will be provided. 6.30pm, Wohl Pathology Museum, Surgeons’ Hall, Nicolson Street. Free but tickets are essential and may be obtained via eventbrite here.
Edinburgh Napier University Inaugural Chancellor Talk Series Lecture: Milton Glaser. An evening (via Skype) with legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser, co-founder of New York Magazine and designer of many iconic images, including the I ♥ New York logo and the posters for Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (Columbia Records), Brooklyn Brewery and Mad Men (AMC). Milton Glaser rarely gives public talks and Edinburgh Napier University is extremely grateful and honoured to host such an event. 6.30pm (to be followed by a drinks reception at 7.45pm), Edinburgh Napier Craiglockhart Campus, 219 Colinton Road. Free but registration is essential and must be made by emailing lectures@napier.ac.uk. Please note that the lecture will be delivered from New York City via Skype.
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 Demon Within/Mo Jing (18). (In Cantonese with English subtitles): The new Hong Kong action maestro Dante Lam is behind this taut and ultimately unsettling psychological thriller, in which a quiet and distant cop is increasingly haunted by violent images of a criminal gang who use traditional demon masks when committing their crimes. Truth, reality and imagination begin to blur in this stylish film with which Lam once again brings a new energy to the Hong Kong crime film. 8.40pm, 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 Portland Street Blues/Goo waak chai ching yee pin ji hung hing sap, showing at 8.25pm on 20th March.
Grassmarket Picture House: Edinburgh Festival of Ireland Presents The Quiet Man (PG), John Ford’s epic romantic comedy – a loving, sentimental, nostalgic tribute to his Irish ancestry and homeland. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome, free admission: donations very welcome! Edinburgh’s Festival of Ireland is a celebration of the city’s Irish community, with films, dancing, theatre, a centrepiece concert and much more! For details of all events click here.
THURSDAY 10TH MARCH 2016
Syrian Refugee Awareness Event: have you ever wondered what is actually going on in Syria at the present moment? Does it puzzle you that millions of Syrians have opted to become refugees, trying to enter safe countries via the most unimaginable routes and modes? Or are you confused by the different views and visions our media provides us with? The aim of this event is to provide you with a factual overview of Syria’s past and present political environment and the current Syrian refugee situation. Speakers will include Councillor Alex Lunn, Amer Scott Masri from the Scottish Syrian Community, Akeel Umar of Edinburgh Cares and Gillian McArthur (REACT). 6-8pm, HRB Lecture Theatre (Robson Building) G.04, University of Edinburgh, George Square. Please register via Facebook here. This event is coordinated and managed by MBA candidates at the University of Edinburgh Business School.
Gaelic Rhymetime! annagan na chloinne: Seinn comhla rinn! Join in some Gaelic songs and rhymes at these special Seinn sessions. 10.30am, Blackhall Library, Hillhouse Road. All welcome! Also at 10.30am on Saturday 12th March at Leith Library.
Picturehouses Big Scream: exclusively for babies under the age of twelve months and their parents and carers. Today’s film is I’ll See You in My Dreams (12A). Widowed two decades earlier, sprightly Californian ex-teacher Carol becomes more acutely aware of her solitary, unvaried routine when her beloved labrador is put down. Encouraged to seek fresh challenges by her three best friends, Carol’s exploits, including experimenting with speed dating and marijuana, are played for both laughs and poignancy in director/co-writer Brett Haley’s touching but never mushy meditation on the realities of later life for the cautiously optimistic. 
The subtle relish that Carol brings to all her discoveries testifies to Danner’s consummate artistry. 10.30am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets are at usual matinee prices: babies admitted free.
Lunchtime Concert: Students from the Reid School of Music, University of Edinburgh. 12 noon, Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place.
Mayfield Salisbury Thursday Club: a weekly programme of music, visual presentations, films, talks and demonstrations. Although mainly for retired people, visitors of any age are always welcome. This week Jo Moulin speaks on the John Muir’s Birthplace Trust. 2-4pm, Upper Hall, Mayfield Salisbury Parish Church, 1a Mayfield Road. Annual membership costs £4 per year and 50p a week is charged for tea; new members are most welcome, 
but you don’t have to be a member to come along. For more information please contact Florence Smith on 0131 663 1234.
Adult Colouring Group – come along, have a chat and reduce your stress levels at this new group! Everything provided. 2.30-4pm today and every Thursday, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan. For more information please contact the library on 0131 529 5506.
Celts: a major exhibition, organised in partnership with the British Museum, unravelling the complex story of the different groups who have used or been given the name ‘Celts’, through the extraordinary art objects they made and used.
The idea of a shared Celtic heritage across ancient Europe retains a powerful hold over the popular imagination, but many common ideas about the people known as ‘Celts’ are in fact more recent re-imaginings, revived and reinvented over the centuries. Spanning more than 2,500 years, the exhibition explores history through these powerful decorated objects and examines how art styles have changed considerably over time, often flourishing during periods when different cultures came into contact. 
Featuring more than 300 treasured objects from across the UK and Europe, assembled together in Scotland for the first time, this is a unique opportunity to explore the idea of ‘Celts’ as one of the fundamental building blocks of European history. 10am-5pm daily, Exhibition Gallery 1, Level 3, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Tickets cost £10, concessions £8, children aged 12-15 £6.50. under 12s free; they may be purchased online here, in person at the Museum, or by calling 0300 123 6789. Ends 25th September 2016.
The Innovative Healthcare Delivery Programme (IHDP) Guest Lecture: Dr Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive, Health Foundation, discusses Reform Strategies for the NHS under challenge – how to get through the next five years. The financial squeeze in the NHS to 2020 is tighter than at any other time in its history – and tighter than almost every other EU country (except those subject to IMF intervention) – yet we want to preserve out universal access ‘free at the point of use’ model as well as make progress on the quality of care and improving health – how? In this talk Jennifer will outline the broad challenges and the strategies to address them, and identify what may be promising ways forward for the UK. 3.45-5.15pm (refreshments at 3.45, lecture will start at 4pm), Nine Edinburgh BioQuarter, University of Edinburgh, 9 Little France Road. Level 2 – Farr Institute Open Space, EH16 4UX . Free and open to all, but registration is required and may be made via eventbrite here.
Putting the Popular into Scottish History: What we should have learned from Prebble, Tranter and Dunnett. Historical novelists John Prebble, Nigel Tranter and Dorothy Dunnett are appreciated for fostering public historical sensitivity in Scotland. With the Prebble Archive now at the National Library, Dr Catriona Macdonald looks at the rise of scholarship beyond universities, and the development of history as central to the very life of the nation. 6pm, 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.
Grassmarket Picture House: Edinburgh Festival of Ireland Presents Once (15). Set on the streets of Dublin, this music-filled film tells the story of two kindred spirits during an eventful week as they write and record songs that reveal their unique love story. 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome, free admission: donations very welcome! Edinburgh’s Festival of Ireland is a celebration of the city’s 
Irish community, with films, dancing, theatre, a centrepiece concert and much more! For details of all events click 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 at these fun and inclusive sessions. Facilitators Sophie and Clare will provide fun and inclusive ways to 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: From Studio to Stage. Returning for a fifth year, From Studio To Stage 2016 celebrates the achievements of schools in Edinburgh in the Performing Arts. Prepare to be blown away by the creativity and variety of music, dance and drama performances! 6.30pm (doors 5.30pm), 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 Kevin MacNeil: The Brilliant and Forever. The launch of The Brilliant & Forever, the new novel by award-winning writer Kevin MacNeil (A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll and Hyde, The Stornoway Way and poetry collection Love and Zen in the Outer Hebrides). On an island like no other, populated by writers, the annual Brilliant & Forever Festival is a much anticipated event, its participants a story away from either glory or infamy. This year three best friends – two human, one alpaca – are chosen to compete, so victory is not only about reward – ‘a whip-cracking, energetic, laugh-out-loud satire on what we value in culture, and in our lives…and also a moving exploration of integrity, friendship and belonging’. 6.30pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. Free tickets may be obtained from the shop’s front desk, by calling 0131 622 8222, emailing events.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk or via eventbrite here.
James Richards and Isla Leaver-Yap: Screening & Discussion. James Richards and Isla Leaver-Yap (Director of Lux Scotland) present a screening programme of artists’ film, including Bonnie Camplin’s Terezzo, Sister City and Tin Pressed by Dani Leventhal, Steve Reinke’s After Baudelaire and Raking Light by James Richards. The screening will be followed by a conversation focusing on Richards’ work and influences. 6.30-9.30pm, RBGE Lecture Theatre, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row (NB not Inverleith House) Tickets cost £4.36/£3.30 and are available from eventbrite here. Part of British Art Show 8. Image: James Richards, Raking Light (still from digital video with sound), 2014. Courtesy the artist and Cabinet, London, © the artist.
Edinburgh University Renaissance Singers: Music from the time of Shakespeare.
‘Most heavenly music!
It nips me unto listening, and thick slumber
Hangs upon mine eyes’ (Pericles).
Join the singers as they capture the atmosphere of the period with music of the time and settings of the bard’s work., Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate. Tickets cost £8/£5 on the door.
Italian and Scottish Crime Fiction: The Giallo and The Tartan Noir. A discussion between internationally renowned Scottish author Denise Mina and celebrated Italian journalist (La Repubblica) and author Valerio Varesi, chaired by Joe Farrell. 6pm, Italian Cultural Institute, 82 Nicolson Street. Free but booking is required and may be made here.
Napier Music Course Singers’ Showcase: a kaleidoscope of musical talent on stage as singers from the Napier University Music Course show off their skills, backed by musicians from the same course and presented by vocals tutor Renee Stephanie. 9pm (entry from 8.30pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £4/£3 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
23rd Italian Film Festival: the Italian Film Festival in Scotland offers the best of il cinema Italiano. Today’s film is Beginners/Alaska (15): love changes everything in this sweeping, irresistible romantic epic from A Quiet Life director Claudio Cupellini. Nadine is on her first modelling audition at a plush hotel in Paris when she meets Italian-born waiter and inveterate charmer Fausto. An instant, impulsive attraction is the beginning of a beautiful relationship that unfolds in Paris and Milan, through triumph and tragedy as she becomes a successful model and he opens the chicest nightclub in town. 8.20pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
FRIDAY 11TH MARCH 2016
Sarah’s Charity Cabaret: a concert in honour of the late Mrs Sue Bain, fundraising for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Melanoma UK. Come and see talented young people from Edinburgh’s MGA Academy of Performing Arts demonstrate their skills! 7pm, St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George St. Tickets cost £5 and may be reserved via the event’s Facebook page here.
Lunchtime Concert: organist John Kitchen plays Marchand Dialogue sur les grands jeux, Clerambault Suite du deuxième ton, Alain Le Jardin suspendu and Cor Kee Variations on ‘Merck toch hoe sterk’. 1.10pm, Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place. Image © The City of Edinburgh Council. Part of the Concerts at the University Spring – Summer 2016 series.
LGBT Women’s Wellbeing Group: an inclusive and informal group that offers the chance to meet other LGBT women in a relaxed environment for chat, information and activities promoting health and wellbeing. The group is open to all LGBT women and welcomes transgender people who primarily identify as women. Today: A Woman’s Worth – on the week of International Women’s Day, come for a stroll along the beautiful Dean Path by the Water of Leith to the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art for the Modern Scottish Women exhibition. 2-4.30pm – come for part or all of the day; entry to the exhibition costs £9/£7 (help may be available if this is a barrier). To stay up to date with the group, and for details of meeting times and locations for outings, contact Alison at alison@lgbthealth.org.uk to be added to the email reminder list.
Ant Law Quartet: London guitarist Ant Law lived here a few years ago, and has formed this great band with a bunch of former colleagues, bringing in top pianist Tom Gibbs, accomplished double bassist Euan Burton and drummer Doug Hough. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Edinburgh Cares: Ladies’ Night in aid of Syrian Orphans and Children in Need. Come and enjoy a night of delicious savoury foods and decadent desserts, indulge in some retail therapy at the many stalls, oh and ah at the glamorous fashion show, have your hands decorated in henna and get ready to bid in a battle for ladies’ night auction items. Come and join Edinburgh Cares at this light-hearted, fun filled evening and hear from a sister who has made it from the struggles of Syria to the streets of Edinburgh. 6-9pm, St Thomas of Aquins High School, Chalmers Street. Admission £2 (free entry for under 5s). For further information, please contact Gael Robertson on 07707 808 362 or email info@edinburghcares.org.
Edinburgh University Chamber Choir Spring Concert: Love and Death. The programme will include a variety of music from the 16th century all the way to the 21st, including Hubert Parry’s Songs of Farewell. Conductor: Robert Brooks. 7.30pm, Canongate Kirk, 153 Canongate. Tickets cost £10/£5 on the door.
The Third Syn Festival! Across the Mediterranean Exhibition + Film Screenings. Syn Festival is a volunteer run multi-arts annual festival initiated in 2013 by the Hellenic Society of the University of Edinburgh – 9 days filled with a variety of visual and performing arts, including photography, art installations, painting, theatre, short films, live music, dance, mapping projection and a selection of workshops – all free of charge for the public. 
This exhibition aspires to promote the emergent contemporary artistic scene of Edinburgh, whilst offering at the same time the possibility of exploring a controversial du jour issue as a topic of artistic research; it aims not only to raise awareness and ignite dialogue about the current refugee crisis, but also to contribute to the effort of the public Edinburgh-based initiatives working directly with refugees. Donations collected during this year’s festival will be given to volunteer groups working with refugees in Greece in collaboration with Solidarity Quo, in support of their endeavor to aid refugees both locally and in other parts of Europe and the Mediterranean. Launch tonight 7-9pm, then 10am-5pm Monday to Saturday (closed Sunday), with short screenings and a Q & A session on Saturday 12th March 5-8pm, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Ends 19th March 2016. 
All the other events and workshops in the festival will be hosted at Teviot Row House, Bristo Place, over the same dates – for full details of the whole programme please visit the festival’s website here.
The Skylark Presents…Planet Earth Rock & Roll: Psychedelia at the Skylark. Jake and Rory’s psychedelic record collection flips the Skylark on its head at this monthly 60’s and 70’s inspired counter culture music and video night. 8pm, The Skylark, 241/243 Portobello High Street.
New Town Community Cinema. The cinema’s Alternative Kids Classics film today is The Secret of Kells (PG): a journey to a Medieval Ireland soaked in mystic beauty and gorgeous Celtic designs – a beautiful blend of Irish myths, history and a boy’s adventure. The evening Capital Cinema film this week is The Great Beauty/La Grande Bellezza (15): Jep Gambardella, a 65-year-old journalist and once promising novelist, spends his easy life among Rome’s high society in a swirl of rooftop parties and late-night soirées. But when he learns of the death of his friend’s wife, a woman he loved as an 18-year-old, his life is thrown into perspective and he begins to see the world through new eyes. ‘A dazzling, dizzying, mesmerising and hypnotic cinematic tour-de-force’. You are invited to come along to the McWilliam Room half an hour before each film for refreshments and to meet guests, volunteers and staff. Both screenings will take place in the main hall of the Glasite Meeting House, under the spectacular Georgian glass cupola; guests will sit on the padded pews (but feel free to bring additional cushions). The Secret of Kells will begin at 2.30pm, The Great Beauty at 7.30pm, Glasite Meeting House, 33 Barony Street. Tickets cost £6.44 for The Secret of Kells and may be purchased via eventbrite here, and £7.48 for The Great Beauty via eventbrite here. Tickets are also available on the door, sta. The Glasite Meeting House is run by Scottish Historic Buildings Trust. All profits from the running of the cinema go towards saving Scottish historic buildings and giving them a future use in the community.
Edinburgh Irish Festival: Irish Set Dancing Taster. Come and join in this regular Friday night event – this will be a free taster session for new folk (cost is usually £4 per week). 7.30-9.30pm, Quaker Meeting House, 7 Victoria Street. For more information please contact Liz Ballantyne on 0790 020 6933 or email stan.reeeves1@btinternet.com. 
Edinburgh’s Festival of Ireland is a celebration of the city’s Irish community, with films, dancing, theatre, a centrepiece concert and much more! For details of all events click here.
23rd Italian Film Festival: the Italian Film Festival in Scotland offers the best of il cinema Italiano. Today’s film is They Call Me Jeeg Robot/Lo chiavamano Jeeg Robot (12A): Inspired by the 1970s cartoon series Steel Jeeg, They Call Me Jeeg Robot combines well-handled special-effects with a superhero story that also comments on the social and political ills of Italy. We first meet thief Enzo as he tries to evade the police. Tumbling into toxic waste, he emerges imbued with super powers that soon find him tackling crime boss Fabio and protecting Alessia, who is convinced he’s Jeeg Robot and has come to help humanity. 6.05pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
SATURDAY 12TH MARCH 2016
Celts for Families: art activities, music and stories inspired by the new Celts exhibition, which opened on Thursday. Celts Object Encounters – explore special replica jewellery pieces and symbols of status, 12 noon-4pm, Grand Gallery; Carnyx Craft – drop in and make a crafty Carnyx hand puppet, 12 noon-4pm, Grand Gallery; Tunes and Tales from the Cauldron – join musicians Grainne Brady and Tina Rees for music and stories inspired by the exhibition and the 
Gundestrup Cauldron, 12 noon and 3pm (40 minute sessions, in association with Live Music Now Scotland), Hawthornden Court, all National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free. Image: The Gundestrup cauldron. Iron Age, c. 100 BC–AD 1. Found in Gundestrup, northern Jutland, Denmark. © The National Museum of Denmark.
Gaelic Rhymetime! annagan na chloinne: Seinn comhla rinn! Join in some Gaelic songs and rhymes at these special Seinn sessions. 10.30am, Leith Library, 28-30 Ferry Road. All welcome!
Bruncheon! aka The Sound of Muesli – featuring The Kitchen Stools, with vocal harmonies and storytelling lyrics in a warm acoustic vibe, plus new addition to the line-up, handpan player Rob Senior. The café kitchen will accompany and complement the music with a delicious menu featuring kippers, morning rolls, mega-muffins and sweet treats galore – top-notch live music, great food and excellent company! 11.30am-2.30pm, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Free entry.
Balerno Farmers Market and Tattie Day: lots of special stalls and events this Saturday! Best Dressed tattie competition, crafts, music, tattie growing advice, hot food, face painting and a raffle. Come and support small businesses at your local market – each month stalls offer fresh and locally produced meats, cheeses, vegetables and award winning breads. ‘Our traders create quality products, none of that mass produced tat here’. 9am (Tattie events from 10am)-1pm, High Street, Balerno.
Satellart! What are you going to do this Saturday afternoon? If you’re 8-14 years old, come to the library for these new creative sessions – Satellart is all about bringing art and science together and crafting it. 2pm, Oxgangs Library, Oxgangs Road North. Tell your friends! For more information ask in the library or call 0131 529 5549.
Gorgie Farm Seed Swap – a great day for gardeners of all ages and abilities! The day will include workshops, a Q & A session and exhibitor stalls, plus the ever popular communal seed swap. 10.30am-3.30pm, Gorgie City Farm, 51 Gorgie Road. Free entry.
St Bride’s Family Cinema: see your favourite films for free! Adventure, excitement, fun and laughs – everyone welcome. Juice and choc ices are available to purchase in the interval at 50p each. This week’s film is Shaun The Sheep (U). Please note that all children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. 10.30am-12.30pm (includes interval), St Bride’s Centre, Orwell Terrace, Dalry. Next week’s film is Joseph King of Dreams (U).
Edinburgh Cares Arthur’s Seat 5k Challenge for Syria: a sponsored walk specifically in aid of Syrian orphans and children in need. The deteriorating situation of Syria and the plight of Syrian victims of war is not hidden, 250,000 lives have been lost and millions are displaced with no immediate solution. Increased aid efforts are needed to help millions of innocent humans in need of basic needs such as food, water and accommodation. Edinburgh Cares volunteers invite you to join them on this personal challenge; they encourage you to raise £50 minimum by seeking sponsors for your walk, but any amount is welcomed. 2pm, Arthur’s Seat, Holyrood Park. For further information please contact info@edinburghcares.org, and to register for the walk please contact Gordon on 07960 717739.
Disabled Access Day 2016: The first Disabled Access Day took place on 17th January 2015, when an amazing 261 venues took part across 11 countries. Following on from the success of last year, Euan’s Guide (the listing and review site that helps disabled people and their families know which venues are truly accessible) has arranged the second event, which takes place today – and it’s even bigger and better! Disabled Access Day aims to increase the numbers of conversations between venues and disabled people, as well as to raise the profile of disabled access. There are numerous events taking place in Edinburgh, from National Gallery of Scotland taster sessions to backstage tours at the Traverse Theatre, an inclusive ceilidh at Dance Base, Stagecoach and Lothian Buses Try It Out sessions, free Access sessions at Holyroodhouse, BSL talks at Edinburgh Zoo, a Disabled Access information day at Heriott-Watt University and lots more – click here for full details, or check the Disabled Access Day Facebook page and Twitter feed.
Scottish Waterways Trust Volunteer Day: Calder’s Gateway Garden. Help regenerate and enhance Calders Gateway Community Garden (on the banks of the Union Canal at Sighthill) as part of Marks & Spencer’s Spark Something Good™! Marks & Spencer launched Spark Something Good to get people, their stores and their customers out there to make a difference – they and the Scottish Waterways Trust are looking for volunteers to join them both & help out at Calder’s Gateway, the beautiful community garden they look after in Edinburgh. The garden was created by young people on the Canal College Employability Project in 2013-15 (above); the work included planting native trees and wildflowers and building oak benches – come along and help keep the garden a thriving community hub for local people and for visitors to the Union Canal to enjoy. On the day you’ll be able to take part in lots of different volunteer tasks, including litter-picking and the creation of a vibrant new wildflower area. You don’t need any previous experience – everyone is welcome. All tools and equipment will be provided, just dress sensibly for the weather. 10am-1pm, meet at the entrance to the Union Canal car park, off Calder Crescent, EH11 4NE. Registration is required and may be made here.
Institut français d’Ecosse Open House Spring 2016: come and discover the Institut’s new courses and meet the team! Pop by for a chat about your needs, assess your level in French, visit the library, have a coffee and explore all the advantages of being a student at the Institut français. 10am-2pm, Institut français d’Ecosse, 13 Randolph Crescent.
Royal Botanic Garden: Disabled Access day 2016. The Botanics are the national hub for this event; the Garden will be offering free entry to the glasshouses for anyone who quotes ‘Disabled Access Day’ on arrival (normal price £5.50, last entry 4pm), and there will be three tours of the Garden for those with visual impairments, hearing difficulties or mobility requirements: book your place on a tour by calling 0131 248 2944 or emailing gardentours@rbge.ac.uk. Registered assistance dogs welcome. 10am-5pm, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row.
Comic Book Workshops: Edinburgh League of Comics returns! Learn more about character creation – then write and draw your own story. At the end of the sessions you’ll have your own comic book to take home. For ages 10+. 11am-1pm, Kirkliston Library, Station Road. Places are limited; to book a slot contact the Library via Facebook here, email kirklistonlibrary@edinburgh.gov.uk, call 0131 529 5510 or pop in and talk to library staff. The next workshop will be held at the same times on Saturday 19th March.
LGBT Art Therapy Weekend: Transforming Shame. A free weekend art therapy workshop and discussion exploring themes of shame, pleasure and acceptance within our sexualities, genders and identities. This interactive workshop invites participants to use art-making to create visual and verbal dialogues of shared experience, support and strength. No prior experience of art making required. Facilitated by art therapists. 11am-5.30pm today and tomorrow, Sunday 13th March (attendance on both days is required) LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. Booking is essential and may be made online here. For more information please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or email alison@lgbthealth.org.uk.
National Museum of Scotland Tours for Visually Impaired Visitors: new for Disabled Access Day, these tours have been developed for adult visitors with a visual impairment. Take an introductory tour around two of the Scottish galleries in the National Museum of Scotland, with an opportunity to touch objects from the handling collection. 11am-12 noon or 2-3pm, meet at Tower Entrance, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Tours are free but numbers are limited, so please book your place by calling 0300 123 6789.
Bookbinding: as part of Martino Gamper’s Post Forma project for British Art Show 8, book binder Ciara McDermott will be giving practical demonstrations in the gallery and offering a service for members of the public to bring along their own books to be renewed. 12 noon-3pm, Inverleith House, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free, no booking required.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians: Richard Deering and colleagues : EIGHT hands at two pianos. 7.30pm (prompt), Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road. The Edinburgh Society of Musicians is an organisation which promotes practical music-making in Edinburgh; it has been in existence since 1887. Chamber music recitals are given every Saturday evening from early October until the end of June. There is a small annual membership subscription but concerts are open and admission is free. For more information please contact Sarah Bainbridge at sarahba@lineone.net
Edinburgh’s Festival of Ireland: A Celtic Crossover. Join one of Scotland’s premier traditional bands, The Tannahill Weavers, folk legend and Irish Traditional Singer of the Year Cathal McConnell, Scottish fiddle master Duncan Wood, harpist Karen Marshalsay, Siamsoir Irish Dancers and Edinburgh Irish Set Dancers & Musicians for an evening of the best in Irish and Scottish music reflecting the close cultural connections between the two countries. 7.30pm, The Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street. Tickets cost £15/£12 and may be purchased from The Queen’s Hall Box Office in person, by calling 0131 668 2019 or online here, or from Coda Music, Bank Street, The Mound (tel: 0131 622 7246) or Ripping Records, South Bridge (tel: 0131 226 7010).
Edinburgh University Music Society Chorus and Symphony Spring Concert: Karl Jenkins The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and Vaughan Williams Pastoral Symphony. 7.30pm, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place. Tickets cost £10/£5 and are available from SparkSeat here.
23rd Italian Film Festival: the Italian Film Festival in Scotland offers the best of il cinema Italiano. Today’s film is God Willing/Si Dio vuole (12A): Edoardo Falcone’s award-winning debut feature is a witty, thought-provoking comedy on keeping the faith. Tomasso is a renowned surgeon and a liberal and fierce atheist. He expects his son Andrea to follow in his footsteps and is shocked when Andrea confesses that he has decided to become a priest. Tomasso discovers that the charismatic Catholic priest Don Pietro has played a big influence on his son’s decision and sets out to discredit the priest and steer his son back towards a life in medicine. The road to hell may be paved with good intentions but could the path to enlightenment proceed along some misguided deceptions? 6.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
The Scottish Chamber Choir: The Making of the Drum. An exploration of the natural world through song, with works by Chilcott, Whitacre and Britten, performed with Caritas Strings from George Watson’s College and conducted by Steven Griffin. The Making of the Drum is one of Chilcott’s most original and striking creations. In his preface he describes the genesis of the piece: ‘In 1984 I was very fortunate to visit Uganda, where a drum maker made me a beautiful drum with a snakeskin head. I’ll never forget sitting in the plane to come home and seeing by chance the baggage handlers loading my drum with incredible respect and care. The drum to them is a living spirit. The poems I set are a celebration of how that spirit is brought to life. The piece enacts the ritual of constructing the drum, whose component parts are drawn from the surrounding nature – 
a nature that gives of itself almost sacrificially’. 7.30pm, Palmerston Place Church, Palmerston Place. Tickets cost £10/£5 (students), under 18s free, and may be purchased on the door, in advance from members of the choir or from TicketSource here. Image: kabiza.com.
Pocion de Fe: A wild dance party with tight funky grooves and irresistible Latino horn licks from a dynamite seven-piece of Edinburgh’s top musicians, with frontman Felipe Schrieberg’s Spanish lyrics and hot Cuban-style wordplay adding to the spicy blend of Latin and Caribbean rhythms, Cuban salsa and African mambo. Plus DJ Astrojazz. 12 midnight-3am (entry from 11.30pm, band 12.45am), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
SUNDAY 13TH MARCH 2016
Make and Innovate Challenge Day: test your construction skills in a series of fun, architecture based challenges inspired by the Museum’s BUILD IT! display. Create your own architecturally-inspired hat, build the tallest tower you can out of thin, spiky spaghetti and fluffy, sticky marshmallows, find out how maths is the key to answering many construction questions, and how it influences architecture in the world around us, join Edinburgh International Science Festival for fast-paced demos and experiments from the busking bike, join Computer Xplorers to learn how to build amazing 3D models
of mansions and castles, race tracks, space ships or your very own school, and find out more about Museum Model: Lego Live Build – a project to celebrate the Museum’s 150thanniversary – by dropping in on the Museum’s Master Builder as he continues the build of a LEGO™ model of the Museum. 
Events and drop-ins take place in the Grand Gallery, Level One, at varying times between 12 noon and 4pm today – click here for details. All are free, but booking is required for the Computer Xplorers’ 3D Design: CAD workshop – call 0300 123 6789 or book online. National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. 
You can follow #BUILDIT updates on social media – and look out for free LEGO® brick activities from January to April. and more BUILD IT! activities at the museum during Edinburgh International Science Festival (26 March to 10 April). BUILD IT! is part of the Festival of Architecture 2016, a key part of the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design celebrations. Also part of British Science Week.
Filmhouse Junior: films for a younger audience. This week’s film is Mary Poppins (U) starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke: Mr and Mrs Banks decide to advertise for a nanny to care for their rowdy children, Michael and Jane. The children write their own ad, and when their father tears it up and burns it in the fireplace, the pieces miraculously reassemble and go up the chimney. Next day, Mary Poppins appears, gliding down from on high with an umbrella as her parachute… This delightful musical is one of the greatest family films of all time, still as fresh and entertaining as it was fifty years ago! 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small.
12th Annual Mindful Peace Walk: this silent walking meditation is an open event, led by lay members of the Edinburgh Sangha of the Community of Interbeing, who follow the practice and teachings of Zen Buddhist Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. Before the walk begins there will be a brief introduction to mindful walking as meditation practice. This is not a protest or campaigning event, so please do not use any banners. Children are welcome when accompanied by adults. Please note that no animals except Registered Assistance Dogs are permitted within the garden. Please remember to wrap up warmly. 9.30-11am (introduction at 9.45, walks starts at 10), meet at West Gate entrance to John Hope Gateway (Arboretum Place entrance), Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh. Free. Jointly organised by the Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace and the Edinburgh Sangha of the Community of Interbeing.
Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is Jules & Jim (PG): in terms of inspiration to future film-makers and public affection, François Truffaut’s third feature might be considered as the high-point of the entire nouvelle vague, fleshing its story of a menage a trois in Paris and Germany around the time of the First World War with a dazzling weave of filmic allusion, virtuosity and bitter sweet celebration of life. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Edinburgh University MA Music Showcase: a Sunday afternoon of superb World Music from three Edinburgh MA Hons Music Course ensembles, presented by course leader Tom Wagner, featuring The Sitar Project: North Indian music from TEN sitars(!), with tabla accompaniment, The Balkan Music Project: great Eastern European music from dynamic 12-piece plus vocalists, and The Film Music Orchestra: 8-piece playing film music and games scores. 3-5.30pm, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Free entry.
23rd Italian Film Festival: the Italian Film Festival in Scotland offers the best of il cinema Italiano. Today’s film is Rocco and His Brothers/Rocco e i suoi fratelli (15):Luchino Visconti’s masterpiece follows a mother and her five sons as they abandon the poverty of southern Italy to seek a better life in Milan. The ties of blood are challenged by the struggles for work, dignity and acceptance, and matters are further complicated when the young Rocco falls in love with the same woman as his boorish, viciously possessive brother Simone. This sweeping melodrama is distinguished by the lustrous black and white cinematography of Giuseppe Rotunno, 
who sculpts with light in a way that would influence Scorsese’s Raging Bull. 5pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
Filmhouse Quiz: the ‘phenomenally successful (and rather tricky)’ monthly quiz. Teams of up to 8 people should be seated in the café bar by 9pm. Free to enter. 9pm, Café Bar, Filmhouse, Lothian Road.
St Giles At Six: Music Lead the Way. Edinburgh Southside Choir, with soloist Mhairi Gibson, presents a light and varied programme. 6pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free; retiring collection.
