162 Things to do in Edinburgh This Week!

Bored? You won’t be once you’ve seen what the city offers you over the next seven days! From politicians to printmaking, winemaking and worms, where else could you find such a plethora of possibilities? Have a busy week – but please check details with the organisers before setting out to any event.

MONDAY 4TH APRIL 2016

Grassmarket Community Cinema – Family Films: Charlotte’s Web (U). Based on the beloved children’s novel by EB White, this is the story of a little pig named Wilbur who was born a runt. Farmer Arable decides to kill him for dinner, but the farmer’s daughter Fern begs him to let him live. Once he gets big enough he’s sold to Fern’s uncle Homer in whose barnyard he’s left yearning for friendship, but is snubbed by other barn animals. This becomes a tale of unlikely friendship with a wise grey spider called Charlotte, who ends up giving him the ultimate gift. 11am, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome, free admission: donations very welcome. The café will also be open – please support it!

Easter Activities at Oxgangs Library – today: Tiger Tales at 10.30am and a Games Night at 6pm. Oxgangs Library, 343 Oxgangs Road. All activities are free.

Picturehouses Toddler Time: exclusive short screenings for pre-school children and their parents and carers. Today: Rastamouse – Dude Where’s Mi Bongos? (U): There’s plenty of musical ambition on display in these fabulacious Rastamouse episodes! Author Michael De Souza says of his creation, ‘Rastamouse has a positive message for young children, promoting the need to understand what is right from what is wrong, and why, in a meaningful context – through understanding, love an’ respect, Rastamouse will always make a bad thing good’. 11am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £3 per child, accompanying adult free.

Puppet Animation Festival 2016: Pitschi, the Kitten with Dreams. Komedia returns to the festival with this charming production full of humour, music, song and adventure, which will be enjoyed by young children and parents alike. Pitschi the kitten lives with her brothers and sisters, Grandma Lisette and a dog called Bello on a farm high up in the Swiss Alps. She doesn’t care much for the rough and tumble and mischievous fun of kitten play and dreams of being something else – a chicken, perhaps, or a goat, or a bunny – for after all, for Pitschi, anything is better than being a cat! Pitschi goes on an exciting adventure around the farm to meet the other animals, but finally discovers that she can be happy by being exactly what she is. Adapted from Swiss author and illustrator Hans Fischer’s award-winning picture book. For ages 2-7. 10.30-11.15am, 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.

Muirhouse Library Easter Events – today: Board Games Easter Eggstravaganza at 10.30am and Garden Club at 3.30pm. Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. All activities are free.

BYOB – Bring Your Own Baby! Modern Scottish Women. A fun, relaxed morning planned especially with parents and carers of very young children in mind. Enjoy special offers and family-friendly facilities in the café and sign up for a short buggy/baby-friendly art tour for adults. Gurgling, laughing, crying or screaming welcome, as well as lots of informal chat. For babies aged 0-1. 9-11.30am, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art TWO (Enter through Modern Two main entrance, meet in Café), Belford Road. Free but places for tours are limited; sign-up on the day. Image: Mother and Child, Norah Neilson Gray, 1920.

Craigmillar Library Easter Activities: today at 2pm Chess Challenge, at 4pm Minecraft Club(ages 7+) and at 6pm Over 12s Video Games Tournament. Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road.  All activities are free and no booking is required. Children under 8 must be supervised by someone over the age of 12.

North Edinburgh Arts Easter Activities! NEA has lots of activities to keep you busy in the Easter holidays. Today: Rabbit Fit – an Easter themed Acti-Fit class for ages 7-16. 10.30am-12 noon, North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. For more information and to book any activity, please drop into NEA, call 0131 315 2151 or email admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk.

Lunchtime Concert: Roth Guitar Duo. Royal Northern College of Music and Edinburgh Napier University graduate Emma Smith has twice won the Rita Quinney Medal for ensembles in the Edinburgh Festival of Music and Speech and has performed at many other venues in Scotland, including the National Galleries, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh Castle, and for the Edinburgh Society of Musicians. Sam Rodwell is currently in the third year of his music degree at the Royal Northern College of Music; in his very first term at the RNCM he won the String Department Salon Prize, making him the first guitarist to win this competition for nearly 30 years. Prior to coming to the RNCM, Sam worked extensively with Mark Ashford as part of ‘Guitar Circus’ in Birmingham, taking part in performances at the World Youth Guitar Festival in Winchester and at the Winchester Guitar Festival. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Building Better Homes for Animals: A Guide for Humans. The health of the environment depends on lots of small critters that help to recycle energy and nutrients – without them our farms and wildlife would struggle. Join Scotland’s Rural College to build your own mini-beast home and discover how important these overlooked animals really are. For ages 5+. 11am-4pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free, no booking required. With Scotland’s Rural College; part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Puppet Animation Festival 2016: 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. For ages 4+. 2pm, Out of The Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Tickets cost £6.50/concessions £4.50/family ticket £19 and may be booked via eventbrite here.

Survival of the Smartest. Are you a fearless explorer? Could you survive in the wild? Visit the Botanics’ explorers’ camp and meet some of their intrepid scientists as you head on an adventure to discover some of the smartest plants in the world. Learn about some of the incredible ways plants adapt to survive, and track down the plants that might just be able to help you survive in an emergency! For ages 4+. 11am-4pm today and every day until Sunday 10th April, Palm House, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. £1 per trail + normal admission cost to Glasshouses (£5.50/£4.50, children under 15 & RBGE members free). Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Edinburgh Inter Faith Association: Faith as a positive force for change in our communities. To support and strengthen the ‘community of interest’ in inter-faith engagement, Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association hosts a monthly shared vegetarian evening meal, preceded by a panel talk, lecture or open discussion. These gatherings are for all those interested in being part of a growing community of faiths in friendship. Tonight Pall Singh will highlight examples of good practice from Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. 6.30pm, The Well, Central Methodist Church, Nicolson Square. All welcome – to facilitate catering please RSVP to aliya@eifa.org.uk. Free but donations are welcomed from those who are able to make them.

Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents The Monthly Book Quiz: if you know your Waugh from your Peace, or your Meyer from your Heyer, try 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.

Grassmarket Community Cinema: Tangerine (15). Sean Baker writes and directs this comedy drama about the life of a transgender sex worker in downtown Los Angeles. Having just been released from prison, Sin-Dee Rella (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) discovers that her pimp and boyfriend Chester (James Ransome) has been cheating on her with a white girl called Dinah (Mickey O’Hagan). With nothing but revenge on her mind, Sin-Dee spends the entire night searching the city for the cheating couple. ‘Fired by zesty performances that crackle and burn with energy, Tangerine is a bittersweet affair underpinned by a winning sense of empathy and affection. Rodriguez and Taylor are a terrific double act, their on-screen chemistry providing both laugh-out-loud comedy and moving melancholia. Baker brings the same non-judgmental approach that characterised his Independent Spirit awards prize-winner Starlet, while an in-your-face soundtrack pumps up the volume to boisterous effect’. 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.

Speak Out – People’s Politics: The Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council invites you to join leaders of Scotland’s political parties to hear from people with lived experience of some of the most critical issues facing Scotland, and to explore how the elections in May 2016 might make all the difference. Come and hear some amazing people talk about what it is like when your school doesn’t think that you can achieve anything because of where you come from, you feel trapped on benefits, distrusted by officials and unable to find useful work, you work every day but there still isn’t enough money to pay the bills, or initiative after initiative ignores all the great things that are already going on in your community. You too will have the chance to have your say, about the things which you believe need to change – then it will be time for some of Scotland’s senior politicians to respond. You’ll hear from: Kezia Dugdale (Scottish Labour), Annabel Goldie (Scottish Conservatives), Patrick Harvie (Green Party), Willie Rennie (Lib Dems) and John Swinney (SNP). They’ll say what they want to do to bring about the change that our speakers are calling for. The panel will be chaired by the Rt Rev Dr Angus Morrison (Moderator of the General Assembly). 6.30pm, Assembly Hall, Mound Place. For your free ticket please register at eventbrite here or call 0131 240 3006.

Filmhouse Special Event: The Visit (PG). ‘This film documents an event that has never taken place – man’s first encounter with intelligent life from space’. Earth may not have been visited by aliens, but ever since the invention of radio and television, humans have been announcing their existence to other civilizations, so the question is not ‘what if’ it happens, but rather ‘when’. With unprecedented access to the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, the film builds a chillingly believable scenario of first contact on Earth, beginning with the simplest of questions: Why are you here? How do you think? What do you see in humans that we don’t see in ourselves? This screening will be preceded by an introduction from director Michael Madsen and Royal Society scientist Martin Dominik, and will be followed by a Q&A session. 6pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. Shown as part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Pilton Walk/Jog Club: a volunteer-led group for anyone who wants to start jogging around the park and would like some friendly company. 6.30pm tonight and every Monday, meet at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre, 19 West Pilton Grove. Free; all welcome. Organised by Pilton Community Health Project. For more information please call 0131 551 1671 or email admin@pchp.org.uk.

Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Winter Lecture Series: Simon Green – From Abbotsford to Sanna Bheag, the vernacular revival in Scotland. Simon Green is an architectural historian working in the Survey and Recording Section of Historic Environment Scotland, which involves examining, investigating and recording buildings throughout Scotland. He is also researching the architecture of the Baronial and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Scotland, and in 2014 published Dumfries House, An Architectural Story. He is the President of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland. 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.

Open Eye Gallery: New Exhibitions. (1) Roland Fraser – New Works: the Edinburgh based artist encompasses furniture making within his practice, as shown in this exhibition, where an edition of his renowned ‘Orkney Chair’ will be on display amongst other items of furniture and varied wall panels. The starting point of Roland Fraser’s work is an exploration of humble disregarded timber bearing the history of its life of service as a door, window, chest or stepladder. The titles of the pieces often refer to the location of these found objects. These items are dismantled then sawn, riven, planed and chiselled to become unrecognisable from their previous incarnation. Constructing the work is a constant dialogue; where to edit and intervene and when to leave untouched; (2) John Blackburn –Selected Works: John Blackburn is a modernist painter whose work was first acclaimed after being noticed by renowned gallerist Jim Ede of Kettle’s Yard in the early 1960s. This placed him alongside contemporaries such as William Scott and Peter Lanyon and credited his skill in line with leading figures in modern abstract painting. This is the first solo exhibition of Blackburn’s work in Scotland for over 10 years, focusing on his remarkable process and mastery of his medium. ‘…an intensely physical painter for whom the tactile nature of his work is paramount and, though inherently abstract, he is keen that it should connect strongly to the realities of human experience…’ (Ian Massey for Art UK 2013). 10am-6pm Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm Saturdays, Open Eye Gallery, Abercromby Place. Both exhibitions end 20th April 2016.

TUESDAY 5TH APRIL 2016

See Your Name In Print! Come and have a go at setting type by hand and printing it with Robert Smail’s Printing Works… but you will have to mind your Ps and Qs! This is a drop-in event for everyone aged six and over. 11am-2pm, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free, no booking required.

Easter Activities at Oxgangs Library – today: Easter Crafts at 2.30pm and Chatterbooks at 4pm. Oxgangs Library, 343 Oxgangs Road. All activities are free.

Tiny Tales: Easter Bunnies. Have you ever wondered why the Easter Bunny leaves eggs at Easter? Find out with storyteller Allison Galbraith, who will share this bouncy bunny story, plus more rabbit tales, songs, games and craft activities for young ones. For ages 1-3. 10am or 11.30am, Storytelling Bothy, Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street. Tickets cost £5 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 556 9579 or online here. Please remember to book a free ticket for yourself when you buy a ticket for your child.

Muirhouse Library Easter Events: today it’s School Holiday Bookbug. 10.30am, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. All activities are free.

Puppet Animation Festival 2016: The Fisherman and the Seal. Based on the myths and legends of the Scottish Selkie, Yugen Puppet Company tells the comic tale of a lonely fisherman falling in love with a seal, and how, in matters of love, things don’t always go according to plan. Using hand crafted puppets and striking shadow silhouettes, with music from the past, Yugen Puppet Company puts its own twist on this Scottish fairy tale. For ages 5+. 10am, Out of The Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Tickets cost £6.50/concessions £4.50/family ticket £19 and may be booked via eventbrite here.

Easter Activities at Corstorphine Library: today Lego Construction – get creative with Lego™. For ages 5+. 12 noon, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan. Please sign up in the library: all activities are free.

North Edinburgh Arts Easter Activities! NEA has lots of activities to keep you busy in the Easter holidays. Today: at 11am  Song of The Sea (PG) (shown as part of Puppet Animation Festival 2016), at 1.30pm Children’s Film Club and at 3.15pm Play Rangers at Linear Park. North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. Tickets for Song of The Sea cost £5/£3/£2; other activities are free. For more information and to book any activity, please drop into NEA, call 0131 315 2151 or emailadmin@northedinburgharts.co.uk.

Craigmillar Library Easter Activities: today at 11am Books for Babies & Rhymetime, at 3pm Sandra George Art Club and at 6pm Bracelet Making Craft. Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road. All activities are free and no booking is required. Children under 8 must be supervised by someone over the age of 12.

WHALE Arts Free Easter Holiday Programme. Today: Easter Crafts – join the Stitch ‘n’ Time textile group to make lovely fabric creations to take home. For ages 7+. 1.30-3pm, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. To book your place call WHALE on 0131 458 3267.

Holiday Bookbug: one session today, with favourite songs and nursery rhymes for ages 0-5. 10.30am, Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. All welcome.

Im-peck-able Bird Feeders: enjoy a bit of bird spotting in the beautiful castle grounds, then try your hand at making a quirky bird feeder and some tasty treats for our favourite feathered friends. With Bragela Hornal. 10.30am, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £4 per person and must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, Lothian Road, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online here. Pleas note that this is a family workshop intended for adults and children to experience together. Children cannot be booked into workshops alone; at least one paying adult must accompany them.

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party: come and join Alice for some creative crafts and refreshments! 2.30-3.15pm, Newington Library, Fountainhall Road. Please call the library on 0131 529 5536 to reserve your place. Image: bbc.co.uk.

Children’s Easter Events at the Water of Leith Visitor Centre: SURVIVE! Water, food, shelter and fire are the keys to survival; learn new skills from the Centre’s ‘wild’ leaders. 2-3.30pm, Water of Leith Visitor Centre, 24 Lanark Road. £4 per child (accompanying adult free): booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 455 7367 or emailing admin@waterofleith.org.uk. The next Easter Event will be on Thursday 7th April, when you can try river dipping.

Back to the Future Food: discover the science of tastier, more nutritious food with scientists from the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health. Journey into the past to find out how vegetable ancestors could improve food today, and peer into the future to see how technology could change the way we think about food. For ages 5+. 11am-4pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free, no booking required. With the Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health; part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. Also at same times on Wednesday 6th April.

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 Eddie the Eagle (PG) at 3.50pm, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (12A) at 2.50pm, Disorder (15) at 12.35pm, and High Rise (15) at 1.15pm and 4.10pm. Cameo, Home Street. Non-members are welcome but pay standard ticket prices.

A Calendar of Memories: a relaxed session of tales, songs, laughter and reminiscence in the relaxed setting of the Storytelling Court. Hosted by Life Stories, who specialise in sharing stories with older people to help rekindle imagination, trigger memories and increase communication. 2.30pm, Storytelling Court, Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street. Free but booking is required and may be made at the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 556 9579 or online here.

Spring Bird and Garden Walk: come and enjoy a walk in the Garden with a particular focus on birds. For ages 12+; children must be accompanied by an adult. 11am-12.30pm, John Hope Gateway (meet at reception), Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free, no booking required, but numbers are limited to the first 15 people.

Golden Hare Book Group: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. The Romans have long since departed, and Britain is steadily declining into ruin – but at least the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. The Buried Giant begins as a couple, Axl and Beatrice, set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen for years. They expect to face many hazards – some strange and other-worldly – but they cannot yet foresee how their journey will reveal to them dark and forgotten corners of their love for one another. Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade is about lost memories, love, revenge and war. 6.30pm, Golden Hare Books, St Stephen St, Stockbridge. All welcome: for more information please call the shop on 0131 629 1396 or email mail@goldenharebooks.com.

Picturehouses Discover Tuesdays: a chance to see something different and brilliant in this weekly slot – from cult classics and art-house gems to riveting documentaries. Today’s film is Speed Sisters (PG), a fast-paced and exciting documentary following a group of five women who have together conquered the intensely macho world of Palestinian street racing. Remarkable for its level of access, the film follows the women and their high-octane experiences on the track, as well as their fraught home lives against the backdrop of a tumultuous region that is full of unresolved conflicts and contradictions. ‘At once an intimate study of five extraordinary women and a wider commentary on their socio-political context, Speed Sisters is thoroughly compelling’. 6pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.

Leith Folk Club: Landermason. Landermason are multi instrumentalist Fiona Lander and guitarist/singer Paul Mason. ‘With consummate musicianship, they combine both traditional and contemporary folk with jazz and other styles in their beautiful compositions and striking arrangements. We know to expect truly great things from them in this, their debut performance at the club’. With support: Lowri Evans. 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.

The Ceilidh Club @ Assembly Roxy: during the Science Festival the beloved Summerhall institution The Ceilidh Club moves to Assembly Roxy for two weeks only! The Edinburgh Ceilidh Club bring you some of Edinburgh’s best regular ceilidhs every Tuesday evening, with the cream of Scottish ceilidh bands. A caller will teach the dances, so the event is great for everyone from complete beginners to experienced ceilidhers. Come and experience Scottish dance the way it’s meant to be! For ages 14+. 8pm, Assembly Roxy, 2 Roxburgh Place. Tickets cost £7.95 and are available from the Summerhall Box Office on 0131 560 1580 or online here. Please note that very early booking is advised.

WEDNESDAY 6TH APRIL 2016

The Broonie and The Mermaid: Sylvia Troon shares her story of The Broonie & The Mermaid, with hand-made figures, shadow puppets, story-box drawings and more – learn tips on how to bring stories to life and create your own characters! A magical and absorbing session for all the family, with hands-on opportunities after the performance. For ages 6+. 2pm, Storytelling Bothy, Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street. Tickets cost £6 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 556 9579 or online here. Please remember to book a free ticket for yourself when you buy a ticket for your child.

Craigmillar Library Easter Activities: today at 2pm Trivia Challenge, at 4pm Minecraft Club (ages 7+) and at 6pm Hama Bead Craft. Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road.  All activities are free and no booking is required, but children under 8 must be supervised by someone over the age of 12.

Time Bubble Tales: a new free series of storytelling, songs and games for young children and their parents and carers. Come and enter the Time Bubble with your new wee tot for a half hour with Debbie the Deer, and learn about Scottish history in a building that has witnessed it all! 9.30-10am (for ages 0-2) or 10.30-11am (for ages 2-4), St Giles Cathedral (ask at the Welcome Desk), High Street. Free. No booking is necessary but places are limited to 12 for each session, allocated on a first come, first served basis.

The Science of Survival. All living things need the same elements to survive – food, water and shelter. Find out about the eating and sleeping habits of native Scottish wildlife and test out some wilderness survival skills for yourself in this interactive workshop led by RSPB Scotland. For ages 5+. 11am-4pm (drop-in), Botanic Cottage Potting Shed, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free, no booking required. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

WHALE Arts Free Easter Holiday Programme. Today there are two activities: (1) Build A Band Music (10am-4pm): form a band, write lyrics and perform live with WHALE’s Generate project. Bring your own lunch. For ages 10+. (2) Drama (2-4pm): a fun drama workshop with Asylon Theatre for ages 7+. WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. To book your place for either activity call WHALE on 0131 458 3267.

Poetry for Peanuts: sessions for wee ones and their grown-ups. The Poetry Library will supply the poetry books, tea and coffee – come and share some poems with your children and meet other parents/carers who like poetry or want to give it a try. 10.30-11.30am, The Space, Scottish Poetry Library, Crichton’s Close. £2 per family: please book via eventbrite here. For more information please call 0131 557 2876 or email reception@spl.org.uk.

Easter Activities at Oxgangs Library – today: Bookbug at 10.30am, Tiger Tales at 3.30pm and Glitzlit at 6pm. Oxgangs Library, 343 Oxgangs Road. All activities are free.

Easter Activities at Corstorphine Library: today Storytelling. For ages 4-10. 2.30pm, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan. Please sign up in the library: all activities are free.

The Garden Room Cafe: Duddingston Kirk’s cafe is now open for the summer, serving teas, coffees and cakes in the garden room overlooking Duddingston Loch. The kirk has embarked on an exciting new project to develop the glebe land between the manse and Duddingston Loch; it already has groups growing organic vegetables and flowers but through time it also plans to incorporate some spaces for quiet reflection and an outdoor performance area. Lizz Paterson has been appointed as a full time project worker to oversee the transformation. Cafe hours: 10am-2pm Wednesday to Saturday, 1-4pm Sundays, The Garden Room, Millar Hall, Duddingston Kirk, Old Church Lane, Duddingston Village.

North Edinburgh Arts Easter Activities! NEA has lots of activities to keep you busy in the Easter holidays. Today: at 11am The Fisherman & The Seal (part of Puppet Animation Festival 2016), at 1.30pm Children’s Film Club, at 2.15pm Play Rangers at West Pilton Park and 3.45pm Play Rangers at Linear Park. North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. Tickets for The Fisherman & The Seal cost £5/£3/£2; other activities are free. For more information and to book any activity, please drop into NEA, call 0131 315 2151 or email admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk.

Grassmarket Community Cinema – Family Films: The Children’s Choice. A screening chosen by Edinburgh’s under-12s, who were asked to vote for their favourite film. What will it be? Come along and find out! 11am, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome, free admission: donations very welcome. The café will also be open – please support it!

Muirhouse Library Easter Events – today Easter 2 team Quiz Show. For ages 8+. 3.30pm, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. All activities are free.

Lunchtime Concert: Southampton University Chamber Choir. An award winning group made up of 25 singers from around the university, ranging in age, background and degrees. Established in 2004, the choir is led by conductor and musical director George Arthur, and sings music from a range of genres including sacred music, madrigals, folk songs and occasionally jazz and pop. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

Pokémon Mini-Game Champion: who will be the winner in this series of challenges? For ages 7+. 11-11.30am and 11.30am-12 noon, Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. All welcome, but spaces are limited so please speak to library staff to reserve your place.

Stockbridge Library Easter Activities: Dazzle Ship Design Workshop – come along and find out more! For ages 7+. 3.30pm, Stockbridge Library, Hamilton Place. Image: Norman Wilkinson © Imperial War Museum (Art IWM PST 4624).

 

Marriage and Mythology: Angelica Kauffman’s Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Gordon. A testament to the two sitters’ bond of marriage, pendant portraits (two portraits hung as a pair) were a popular choice of representation for elite couples.

They were also an unusual genre of painting for Angelica Kauffman, who was more renowned for her history paintings. Art historian Heather Carroll will discuss this pair of paintings, which have only recently been put on view to the public, exploring the portraits, their artist, sitters, and potential viewers. 12.45-1.15pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed.

Edinburgh Napier University Postgraduate Open Evening. Come and get a taste of what it’s like to study at Edinburgh Napier University. This is an opportunity for anyone interested in advancing their career through further study – a chance to discover more about Napier’s industry-relevant courses and to speak to an experienced member of academic staff in your subject of interest. Edinburgh Napier offers over 100 taught postgraduate courses, which have been designed in consultation with leading business and industry figures and cover a full range of academic subjects and vocational fields – come and talk to admissions advisors and have your individual questions answered at each of Napier’s campuses. 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 evening will take place simultaneously at all three. 5-7pm, Merchiston Campus, 10 Colinton Road, Craiglockhart Campus, 219 Colinton Road and Sighthill Campus, 9 Sighthill Court. Please register in advance here.

Expecting: Edinburgh author Chitra Ramaswamy celebrates the launch of her critically acclaimed debut book, a memoir exploring each of the nine months of Chitra’s pregnancy, Expecting is a book of ‘intimate, strange, wild and lyrical essays that pay tribute to this most extraordinary and ordinary of experiences’. 6pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. Free tickets are available from the shop.

Journeying Together with the World’s Faiths: the first event in this mini-series of discussion events is an introduction to the common threads of the world religions, with Professor Frank Whaling and Edinburgh Interfaith Association General Secretary Iain Stewart. 7.30-9.30pm, St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Palmerston Place (please enter by Manor Place door). All welcome; free. The next event in the series will look at the origins of Christianity, Judiasm and Islam; it will take place at the same time on Wednesday 13th April.

Greener Leith Board Meeting: Greener Leith was established in 2006 to make it easier for people to get involved in improving their neighbourhood. Members do their best to promote community engagement, better public spaces and sustainable development; they have no permanent staff, nor offices and rely on local volunteers for nearly everything they do. Most of their money comes from grants, but they also get some income from donations and membership fees paid by supporters. Greener Leith board meetings are public, and they’re always delighted for anyone interested in getting more involved in their work to come along. The meeting is usually followed by drinks at a nearby pub. 7.30-8.30pm, Kirkgate Community Centre, 12a New Kirkgate. For more information visit the group’s website here.

Bi and Beyond Edinburgh: a fortnightly social gathering for people who identify as bisexual and non-monosexual. With organised social activities and refreshments provided, whatever your label or lack of label we welcome you. 7-9pm, LGBT Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. For more information please contact biandbeyondedinburgh@gmail.com.

Grassmarket Community Cinema: The Grown Ups’ Choice. A screening chosen by young people and adults in Edinburgh, who were asked to vote for their favourite family film (U and PG certs only). What will it be? Come along and find out! 7pm, Grassmarket Community Project, 86 Candlemaker Row. All welcome, free admission: donations very welcome. The café will also be open – please support it!

Edinburgh People’s Theatre Presents Blackadder Goes Forth: ‘a show that is as cunning as a fox who’s been made Professor of Cunning at Oxford University’ – an amateur production of three episodes of the BBC series by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton. 7.30pm, Church Hill Theatre, Morningside Road. Tickets cost £12/£10 and are available from TicketSource on 0333 666 3366 or online here. Tickets will also be sold on the door, subject to availability. Also at 7.30pm on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th April and at 2.30pm on Saturday 9th April.

Wiff Waff Wednesday: a monthly ping pong night for all ages, with music; drink and great food are 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’.

Will Eaves: The Inevitable Gift Shop. Will Eaves is the author of four novels and a collection of poems (Sound Houses, Carcanet, 2011). He was Arts Editor of the Times Literary Supplement 1995-2011, and now teaches at Warwick University. CB Editions publishes beautiful editions of work which ‘might otherwise fall through the cracks between the big publishers’. Enjoy a reading from their second title with this ascendant author – a mixture of criticism, memoir and poetry: ‘Subtitled ‘A memoir by other means’, The Inevitable Gift Shop lassoes consciousness, memory, desire, literature, illness, flora and fauna, problems with tortoises and cable ties, and brings them back home in double file, as prose and poetry’. 6.30-8pm, Fruitmarket Gallery, Market Street. Free but booking is required and may be made via eventbrite here.

Soundbone Trio Plays Led Zeppelin: previously known as NeWt, this ground-breaking Edinburgh electric/acoustic trio is headed by ex-Oz trombonist Chris Greive (also using electronics and octave dividers for bass lines!), guitar/effects wiz Graeme Stephen, and now with ex-Barbados drummer David Carnegie. On tour to present their tribute to Led Zeppelin, the trio pays homage to the massive riffs and weight of the originals while bringing a personal prog-jazz approach to every song. Expect ‘an emphatically riffing Communication Breakdown, a superbly stylish Kashmir, a rattlin’ Moby Dick, and an Immigration Song that threatens the Jazz Bar’s foundations.’ (Rob Adams). 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.

Ragged University: Home Wine Making + Grand Piano Recital. The first part of the evening will be a talk on Home Wine Making by Andrea Fuhrmann,who says ‘With the increase in alcohol prices and potential nasty additives in cheap wine it makes sense to explore the option of home wine making. Not only does it put you in control of your wine (kind of cooking from scratch) but it can also save money. As an additional bonus you may find that it is fun to do and teaches you about chemistry’. After the talk there will be an opportunity to socialise while tasting the wines Andrea has made and enjoying some freshly made hot onion soup plus other food and drink brought along by attendees. Sam Makin will then give a recital on a grand piano; ‘For the Ragged audience I have chosen to play mostly jazz standards alongside three of my original compositions. I start with a relatively familiar tune, then my current favourite standards, a blues, my own pieces, some ‘light relief’ in the form of a slightly comical standard, then an end piece of some serious note’. 6.30-9.30pm, Community Hall, St John’s Episcopal Church, Princes Street. All welcome, free – please bring some food and drink to share if you can. Register for the event here.

THURSDAY 7TH APRIL 2016

Puppet Animation Festival 2016: Ipdip Theatre Presents Anonymouse. 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. 10.30am, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. Tickets cost £5/WH residents £2/children £2.50; to book please call WHALE Arts on 0131 458 3267 – cash payments only please.

North Edinburgh Arts Easter Activities! NEA has lots of activities to keep you busy in the Easter holidays. Today: at 10am Wriggling Worm Workshop, at 1.30pm Children’s Film Club and at 3.15pm Play Rangers at Linear Park. North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. For more information and to book any activity, please drop into NEA, call 0131 315 2151 or email admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk.

Holiday Storytime: one session today – come along and listen to some great stories. 10.30am, Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. All welcome.

Picturehouses Big Scream: exclusively for babies under the age of twelve months and their parents and carers. Today’s film is Eddie The Eagle (PG), which tells the literally uplifting story of geeky plumber and 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. 10.30am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets are at usual matinée prices: babies admitted free.

Plague and Pestilence! A Caddy Capers family special from Macastory. Join Macastory for a plague-ridden hour of stories of Auld Edinburgh. Listen as their stories ‘boil’ over into tales of pestilence and mysterious goings-on in the heart of Auld Reekie. Meet a fearsome hooded figure stalking the city and a band of plague-purging pirates out to stop him! A storytelling session of gruesome family fun – just remember to wash your hands! 11am, National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge. Free but registration is required and may be made by calling 0131 623 3734 or via eventbrite here. Image: Wellcome Library.

Easter Activities at Corstorphine Library: today X Box One Fifa 16 Tournament. For ages 7+. 2.30pm, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan. Please sign up in the library: all activities are free.

Puppet Animation Festival 2016: Zoomasaurus. At the dawn of animation there was shadow… and then there was light… Join the Zoom Club (Lens on Legs) on its hunt for incredible stories and unbelievable creatures as they bring animation’s deep, dark past to life. Through storytelling and immersive hands-on animation challenges explore the earliest forms of moving image, from shadow puppetry and the zoetrope right up to modern-day computerised techniques, in this time-travelling adventure. Roll up your sleeves, grab a torch and don’t forget to pack your imagination! For ages 7+. 9.30am, Out of The Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Tickets cost £6.50/£4.50 and may be booked via eventbrite here.

Craigmillar Library Easter Activities: today at 2pm Cartoon Marathon and at 3pm Knitting Club. Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road. All activities are free and no booking is required, but children under 8 must be supervised by someone over the age of 12.

Pokémon Stadium Tournament: are you the very best trainer? For ages 7+. 3-30pm and 3.30-4pm, Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. All welcome, but spaces are limited so please speak to library staff to reserve your place.

Scotland-Russia Forum: Yakety Yak: Chai & Chat. Sparkling Russian/English conversation over tea and cakes. Open to all; no need to book, just turn up – you will be warmly welcomed by the group. 11am, Summerhall Cafe, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. No charge apart from any drinks and cakes you choose to purchase. For more information please contact info@scotlandrussiaforum.org or tel 0131 560 1486.

Easter Activities at Oxgangs Library: today Facepainting. 2.30pm, Oxgangs Library, 343 Oxgangs Road. All activities are free.

Minecraft Story Mode Holiday Special. Want to find out what Minecraft Story Mode is all about? Now is your chance – come and play through a one-off episode! For ages 9+. 11am-1pm (approx), Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. All welcome, but spaces are limited and booking is required, so please speak to library staff to reserve your place.

Puppet Animation Festival 2016: The Worm: An Underground Adventure. Underneath your feet in the muddy brown soil squirms the world’s best kept secret… a wonderful, magical creature called the Worm. Come with Wilma and William, two nature lovers, on a journey underground as they discover a family of friendly, musical worms and their colourful miniature world. Join Eco Drama after the performance, as they invite you to see some real worms in a specially designed wormery. For ages 3+. 11am or 2pm, Real Life Science Studio. John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Tickets cost £6/£5 and may be booked via the Science Festival box office on 0844 557 2686 or online here. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival. Also at same times on Friday 8th April.

Children’s Easter Events at the Water of Leith Visitor Centre: River Dipping. Join the Centre’s leaders IN the river for this favourite activity. 2-3.30pm, Water of Leith Visitor Centre, 24 Lanark Road. £4 per child (accompanying adult free): booking is essential and may be made by calling 0131 455 7367 or emailing admin@waterofleith.org.uk.

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: Diana Saunderson & Gus Carmichael: Honeysuckle Swing. 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.

Muirhouse Library Easter Events: today Teen Scream – Easter Cheesecakes. 3.30pm, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. All activities are free.

Puppet Animation Festival 2016: The Wonderful World of Lapin. Tania is a French lady who has just arrived from Paris for a very spe­cial occasion: the World’s Tastiest Carrot Competition. In her trunk, she carries her very own garden – when she opens it, a whole world is re­vealed…a world of Tania’s animal friends, each of them desperate for a taste of her prize carrot… The wonderful world of Lapin! Narrated in English, with the puppets speaking simple French sentences, this is a fun and bilingual show which is accessible to all.  A dynamic and magical mix of puppetry, music and play for all little ones, a tasty ending is guaranteed! For ages 3-6. 2pm, Out of The Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Tickets cost £6.50/£4.50/family ticket £19 and may be booked via eventbrite here.

Holiday Crafts: 3pm, Piershill Library, Piershill Terrace. All welcome: free.

When Saturday Comes: Colin McPherson and Kevin Williamson In Conversation. Using the When Saturday Comes photographic series in the Document Scotland exhibition as a catalyst for discussion, photographer Colin McPherson and writer Kevin Williamson (Neu! Reekie!, Bella Caledonia, Rebel Inc.), will explore how Scottish football clubs relate to their fans and local communities. 6-6.45pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed. Image: Berwick Rangers, 2014 from the series When Saturday Comes, Colin McPherson − © Colin McPherson/Document Scotland.

Fruitmarket Fresh Fruit Social. Fresh Fruit is a group of young people aged 16–25 who work together and with artists to explore new ideas and make and share artwork. Using The Fruitmarket Gallery’s exhibitions as a starting point, you’ll be supported to shape the direction and content of projects by working with artists and peers in a unique gallery space. Sessions are social, informal and free, and the gallery can support your travel costs from Edinburgh and the Lothians. Snacks and refreshments are provided. No previous art experience is necessary. Fresh Fruit want to work with more young people to create events and exhibitions, share and discuss their artwork, work with artists and visit exhibitions. Come along to the next meeting and say hi! The new session starts 6-8pm tonight, then at the same times on the first Thursday of every month, Fruitmarket Gallery, Market Street. Please register via eventbrite here, or for more information contact Caitlin Page, Learning Programme Manager at the gallery: text or call 07527 927 916 or 0131 226 8186 or email caitlin@fruitmarket.co.uk.

The Amber Shadows: Lucy Ribchester’s debut novel The Hourglass Factory was Waterstones Edinburgh Book of the Year 2015. This evening she launches her new novel, set in Bletchley Park. 6pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. Free tickets are available from the shop.

Waadstock! A World Autism Awareness Day event. Autism Initiatives are teaming up with Get2gether and Autism Edinburgh to host a night of music by a variety of bands and acts, including country and folk singer Michelle Hogg (Kimangel), The UpMo Experience, singer/songwriter Michael Steele, and Fast Girls. Plus a DJ playing the best music till the early hours. For over 18s only. 7.30pm-late, Cav, 3 West Tollcross. Free – but a donation would be appreciated as all money raised will be divided between the acts.

LGBT Women’s Wellbeing Events Edinburgh: 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:  ‘If it makes you happy’ – it’s Edinburgh International Science Festival again and the group is heading out to see the wonderful spoken word and happiness researcher Agnes Torok for her free show as part of The Fringe of Reason – ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It – Take This Survey’. Show starts 7.30pm, join the group from 6.30pm for a drink first, Banshee Labyrinth, 29-35 Niddry Street. To stay up to date with the group, including meeting times and locations for outings, contact Alison Wren at alison@lgbthealth.org.uk to be added to the email reminder list.

Picturehouses Culture Shock: the best in cult and genre films. Tonight: Slacker (15) – Richard Linklater’s groundbreaking and influential classic focuses on a day in the life of Austin, Texas as the camera roams from place to place and provides a brief look at the overeducated, the social misfits, the outcasts and the oddballs. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.

Connie Voisine and Alan Gillis at the Scottish Poetry Library. Connie Voisine grew up in Maine and earned a BA in American studies from Yale University. Her first collection, Cathedral of the North (2001), won the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Award Series in Poetry, and her second, Rare High Meadow of Which I Might Dream (2008), was a Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist. She is an associate professor of English at New Mexico State University and a director of La Sociedad para las Artes. Connie’s poems are rooted in evocative places such as the American Southwest and Mexico. Alan Gillis was born in Belfast and was last year chosen to be one of the Next Generation of UK Poets; he is a Lecturer in English at Edinburgh University and editor of Edinburgh Review. His third poetry collection,Here Comes the Night, was published by The Gallery Press in 2010. Alan writes poetry that is funny and irreverent, while digging down to the core of the subjects he explores. 6.30pm, The Mezzanine, Scottish Poetry Library, Crichton’s Close. Tickets cost £5/£4: please book via eventbrite here. For more information please call 0131 557 2876 or email reception@spl.org.uk.

Muirhouse Library Writers’ Group: come along if you would like to share your writing in a friendly and informal environment, with plenty of tea and cake! New members welcome. 11.30am-2pm, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. The next meeting will be on 5th May. The group also holds evening meetings outwith the library – for more information please email muirhouselibrarywriters@gmail.com.

Blackwell’s Edinburgh Presents Jacqueline Riding: Jacobites. – A New History of the ’45 Rebellion. Utilising past and recent scholarship, Jacqueline Riding draws extensively on a wealth of contemporary sources, revealing the thoughts and feelings of the key players and local eyewitnesses as the extraordinary events of the Jacobite Rebellion played out. What emerges is a story more complex, paradoxical and even more tragic than the myth suggests. From the exiled Stuart court in Rome to the palaces of Versailles and Holyroodhouse, from the battlefields of Flanders to Falkirk and Culloden, Jacobites brilliantly sets the ’45 in its full and proper context on the stage of European history. Dr Jacqueline Riding specialises in eighteenth and early nineteenth century British history and art; she was the consultant historian and art historian on Mike Leigh’s award-winning Mr. Turner and is the consultant historian on his next feature film, Peterloo. 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.

Movers & Makers: Screendance Salon & Cinema. (1) 6-7.30pm: Screendance Salon is a workshop for professionals interested in creating dance works for the screen. Join artists and filmmakers involved in Scotland’s growing screendance community, share your ideas, work-in-progress or completed films and take part in peer-to-peer discussions led by Independent Dance Co-Director and renowned curator and programmer Gitta Wigro. To submit a work please email info@screendance.scot; (2) 8-9.30pm: Screendance Cinema: curated by Gitta Wigro and featuring internationally significant and single screen works. Gitta has curated many international film festivals including Video Dance Italy, Movement on Screen and VideoDanza, as well as working in artist development for over 15 years. The evening will finish with a post event discussion and a chance to meet the curator. Both events take place at Out of The Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Tickets cost £5 for each event, but there will be free entry to the Cinema for those attending the Salon.

The World’s Wonder: a comedy about medieval Scots magician Michael Scot, Alexander Reid’s play is something out of the ordinary. With dialogue that is witty, satirical and often deep, this piece offers a wonderful Scots voice, performed by Theatre Alba’s Leisure Group, with its heady mix of teachers, solicitors et al, who tackle this fantastical Scots classic with their usual verve and commitment. 7.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, High Street. Tickets cost £10/£8 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 556 9579 or online here. Also at same time on Friday 8th April.

Doghouse Roses + Joseph Parsons Duo. Scotland’s Doghouse Roses celebrate the release of their third album Lost is not Losing, their first in 5 years. This album sees the duo’s trademark fingerpicked guitars and vocal harmonies augmented by new band member, guitarist, John Alexander to create a ‘boundary ignoring landscape’ (Americana UK). Joseph Parsons is a prolific songwriter, who weaves traces of emo rock, soul and folk to create his own distinct style of rock music. Parsons’ early music education was formed busking on the streets of Europe and later honed on the club and festival circuit in his native USA. New songs from the 2016 CD will be unveiled! For over 18s only. 7.30pm, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets cost £8 in advance (booking fee applies) and may be purchased from Tickets Scotland here.

Filmhouse Special Event: a special preview screening from a 35mm print of Son of Saul/Saul fia (15) (in Hungarian, Yiddish, German, Russian, Polish, French, Greek and Slovak with English subtitles). Winner of Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars® and the Grand Prix at Cannes,László Nemes’ brilliant debut feature is propelled by the same harrowing intensity as its central character – a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz-Birkenau who is forced to assist in the grisly day-to-day management of the exterminations. When Saul recognises a boy who miraculously, but only fleetingly, survives the gas chamber, he decides to give him a proper burial. However, his search for a Rabbi to recite the mourner’s Kaddish places both his own life and the escape plan hatched by his fellow inmates in jeopardy. Plus short With a Little Patience (in Hungarian and German with English subtitles). Employing much of the same visual language and ideas that would later populate Son of Saul, With a Little Patience is László Nemes’ first film. Told all in a single take, and offering no escape from the face of a young woman going about her daily office duties, the film builds to a slow, explosive climax.. 8.35pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online. Son of Saul will screen at Filmhouse from its UK release date of 29th April.

Trio Subtonic: ‘this world travelling, groove-heavy power trio out of Portland, Oregon blends genre-bending funk with slow burning underground soul jazz, exploring a coalescence of rock, soul, funk, hip hop and jazz that draws in listeners and pushes boundaries.  Creating a sonic footprint that sounds like a lot more than just three people, Subtonic delivers soulful grooves, expansive improvisations and a deep pocket, with Galen Clark (keys), Bill Athens (bass) and Russ Kleiner (drums)’. ‘Trio Subtonic operate within simultaneously soulful and funk-heavy arrangements …with dazzling key-work from Galen Clark, the trio is a veritable monster hybrid of jazz fusion.’ (PDX Pop Now).  9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £7/£5 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.

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 Infernal Affairs/Mou gaan dou (15). (In Cantonese, English and Thai with English subtitles): bringing together two of Asia’s biggest stars, Andy Lau and Tony Leung, Infernal Affairs became a world-wide hit upon its release and remains one of Hong Kong’s most famous and influential crime films. At its core it is a classic, edge of the seat, cop and gangster cat and mouse story. Infernal Affairs was later remade by Martin Scorsese as the award winning The Departed. 8.45pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.

FRIDAY 8TH APRIL 2016 

The International School of Brussels: Free Charity Concerts. The Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Orchestra and Kattenberg Five Jazz Quintet – eighty wonderful young musicians, directed by Carolyn Stock-Chapin – will perform three free concerts in Edinburgh this weekend. Featuring music by Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Count Basie, the concerts aim to raise funds for two Edinburgh charities – Fresh Start and St Columba’s Hospice. Come along, enjoy a night of great music, support these dedicated young people on their tour, and show solidarity with the people of Belgium. Tonight’s concert begins at 7.30pm at Central Hall, 2 West Tollcross, Tollcross, and is in aid of Fresh Start, a charity helping people who have been homeless establish themselves in their new home.

WHALE Arts Free Easter Holiday Programme. Today: Creative Adventures – Glow in the Dark! Come and play with glowing paints to make some exciting designs with this project for children with additional support needs and their families. For all ages. 10am-12 noon, WHALE Arts, 30 Westburn Grove. To book your places call WHALE on 0131 458 3267.

Easter Activities at Oxgangs Library – today: Bookbug at 10.30am and Get Crafty at 2.30pm. Oxgangs Library, 343 Oxgangs Road. All activities are free.

North Edinburgh Arts Easter Activities! NEA has lots of activities to keep you busy in the Easter holidays. Today: at 10am Picnic and Play visit to Forth Quarter Park (all ages), at 1pm Eco Kidz trip, at 1.30pm Play Rangers at West Pilton Park and at 4pm Play Rangers at Linear Park. North Edinburgh Arts, Pennywell Court. All activities are free. For more information and to book any activity, please drop into NEA, call 0131 315 2151 or email admin@northedinburgharts.co.uk.

Easter Activities at Corstorphine Library: today Lego Construction – get creative with Lego™. For ages 5+. 2.30pm, Corstorphine Library, Kirk Loan. Please sign up in the library: all activities are free.

Holiday Crafts: 3pm, Piershill Library, Piershill Terrace. All welcome: free.

Crafts with Lindsay: for under 12s. 2.30pm, Newington Library, Fountainhall Road.

Craigmillar Library Easter Activities: today Make Your Own Library Card. 2pm, Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road.  All activities are free and no booking is required. Children under 8 must be supervised by someone over the age of 12.

Darren Shan: Zom-B Goddess. The internationally best selling author will be meeting fans and signing copies of his new novel, the final installment in the Zom-B series. 2.30pm, Waterstones West End, 128 Princes Street. No tickets are required.

LGBT Age Edinburgh – Art & Tea: A trip to the National Gallery. A group visit to the National Gallery followed by a cuppa in the cafe (you will need to purchase your own tea/coffee). Of note will be a visit to the exhibition 20th Century: Masterpieces of Scottish and European Art. 12 noon-2pm, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free but booking is essential; please contact Beverley on 0141 271 2330 or email beverley@lgbthealth.org.uk. LGBT Age is a project run by LGBT Health and Wellbeing for LGBT people aged 50 and over in Greater Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Lothians. The project aims to promote health and wellbeing and create social opportunities; it offers a befriending service, a social programme and information sessions. To receive updates or for more information, please contact lgbtage@lgbthealth.org.uk or call 0141 271 2330.

Muirhouse Library Easter Events – today: Back To School Art Club. 3.30pm, Muirhouse Library, Pennywell Court. All activities are free.

Velázquez’s Old Woman Cooking Eggs: Concert and Talk. Art historian Ola Wojtkiewicz will give a 10-minute talk on the Velázquez’s masterpiece; the talk will be followed by a 30-minute concert of Spanish music in the gallery by solo guitarist Roberto Kuhn. Produced with Live Music Now. 12.45-1.30pm, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Pokémon Free Play: discover how Pokémon began – play any of the classic games, red, blue or yellow, or compete with your friends in Pokemon Stadium. For ages 7+. Morningside Library, 184 Morningside Road. All welcome, but spaces are limited so please speak to library staff to reserve your place.

Stockbridge Library Easter Activities: Easter suncatcher and cookie treats. 2.30pm, Stockbridge Library, Hamilton Place.

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.

Douglas Davies: the Edinburgh-born, Borders-based, artist and 2015 winner of the Royal Watercolour Society’s Sir William Gillies Award shows new paintings. Opens today, then 9.30am-5pm Monday to Saturday, Dundas Street Gallery, 6 Dundas Street. Ends 23rd April 2016.

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.

New Town Community Cinema. This afternoon’s Alternative Kids Classics Programme film is Kirikou and the Sorceress (U). The evening film is Monsoon Wedding (PG), whose director Mira Nair was the first woman to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. 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). Kirikou and the Sorceress will begin at 2.30pm, Monsoon Wedding at 7.30pm, Glasite Meeting House, 33 Barony Street. Tickets cost £6.44  for Kirikou and the Sorceress and may be purchased via eventbrite here, and £7.48 for Monsoon Wedding via eventbrite here. 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.

Stretched (contemporary jazz quartet): Stretched is a touring band from the successful Glasgow club night, playing original music with energy, drive and exciting interplay. Born out of a path trodden by the likes of Fat Suit, and influenced by Mark Guiliana, Donny McCaslin and Lionel Loueke, Stretched features four of Scotland’s most innovative musicians searing a new sound in Scottish Jazz: Scott Murphy (sax/electronics), Kyle Irwin (guitar), Angus Tikka (electric bass) and Mark Scobbie(drums). 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.

The Why Not Club Presents Michael Calfan. ‘French producer Michael Calfan became a household name in dance music early last year with Treasured Soul, which reached the UK chart top 20′ (The Sun). Over 18s only. 10pm-3am (last entry 1am), The Why Not Club, 14 George Street. Tickets cost £6 (booking fee applies) and are available from Skiddle here.

SATURDAY 9TH APRIL 2016

The International School of Brussels: Free Charity Concerts. The Symphonic Band and Jazz Orchestra, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Orchestra and Kattenberg Five Jazz Quintet – eighty wonderful young musicians, directed by Carolyn Stock-Chapin – will perform three free concerts in Edinburgh this weekend. Featuring music by Stan Kenton, Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Count Basie, the concerts aim to raise funds for two Edinburgh charities – Fresh Start and St Columba’s Hospice. Come along, enjoy some great music, support these dedicated young people on their tour, and show solidarity with the people of Belgium. Today’s concerts take place at 1pm at St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road (in aid if St Columba’s Hospice), and at 7.30pm at Stockbridge Church, Saxe Coburg Street (in aid of Fresh Start).

St Columba’s Coffee Morning: cakes, tray bakes, tombola, bric a brac and home baking for sale. Raising money for the Celtic Challenge, Team Brockie (Barbara and Les) in aid of St Columba’s Hospice. 10am-12 noon, St Columba’s Free Church Hall, Johnston Terrace (opposite The Hub). Entry £2 (includes a coffee or tea and a cake). Plus Refresh Your Walls: a picture sale fundraiser for the church’s Refresh Our Church programme to upgrade the building’s interior. 10am-4pm in the church.

Easter Activities at Oxgangs Library – today: Bookbug at 10.30am and in the afternoon Satellart, a new group for 8 – 14 year olds in and around Oxgangs which brings together art, science and crafting (please confirm time with library). Oxgangs Library, 343 Oxgangs Road. All activities are free.

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 Curious George (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 Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG).

Balerno Farmers Market: come down, support small businesses and your local market. ‘Our traders create quality products, none of that mass produced tat here’. 9am-1pm, High Street, Balerno.

Wee Treasures – April: storytelling for early years children and their families, inspired by a different portrait each month. Delve into the magic treasure chest to find out what the story will be – with fun rhymes and songs, puppet characters and lots of opportunities to join in! For children aged 2-4. 10.30 or11.30am, Great Hall, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed but places are limited – sign up on the day. Image: Wee Treasures – © Lindsey Hamilton.

Craigmillar Library Easter Activities: today at 11am The Breakfast Club and at 2pm, Crafternoon. Craigmillar Library, 101 Niddrie Mains Road.  All activities are free and no booking is required, but children under 8 must be supervised by someone over the age of 12.

Farmyard Animals; Friends and Foes. An interactive family-friendly session; come and discover how scientists from the Moredun Research Institute help keep farm animals healthy here in Scotland and around the world. Together with Farmer Fred and all the Farmyard Heroes have fun exploring why healthy and happy farm animals are important for animal welfare, livelihoods and the environment. For ages 5+. 11am-4pm (drop-in), Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free: no booking required. With the Moredun Institute. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Holyrood Art Club Exhibition: the annual exhibition by one of the oldest and certainly the largest art clubs in Edinburgh (founded 1957) opens today. 10.30am-5.45pm then daily at same times (2-5.45pmon Sunday 10th April), Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place. Free. Ends Saturday 16th April.

 

 

Jenni Fagan: The Sunlit Pilgrims and The Dead Queen of Bohemia. The highly acclaimed author of The Panopticon and one of Granta’s Best Young British Writers launches her new novel and her poetry collection. Set in a Scottish caravan park during a freak winter – it is snowing in Jerusalem, the Thames is overflowing, and an iceberg separated from the Fjords in Norway is expected to arrive off the coast of Scotland – The Sunlight Pilgrims tells the story of a small Scottish community living through what people have begun to think is the end of times. Meanwhile The Dead Queen of Bohemia is a journey through a life lived on the edge. With a poetic style influenced by Gertrude Stein and William Burroughs, this collection is woven with surrealistic imagery that is both unflinching and dislocating. Fagan’s poetry is raw and tough yet beautiful and tender and with themes of loss and recovery, hope and defiance, represents a clarion call from a self-taught poet who started writing at the age of seven and so far has not stopped. The Dead Queen of Bohemia documents the progression of a voice and a life written over the last twenty years; it opens with Jenni’s most recent work and includes her previous two collections, both now out of print. 7pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome, free – donations also very welcome!

Bruncheon! aka The Sound of Muesli – featuring Candythief, Paul Gilbody and Daccordianna. A cracking line-up for the April Bruncheon, put together by special guest programmer Diana de Cabarrus, (Candythief, Stems) who will also be hitting the stage. 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.

Modern Scottish Women Drop-in 3: inspired by an artwork from the exhibition, and led by artistKatharine 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 1^stMarch will allow re-entry to this session if shown to staff.

RE-ACT Humble Jumble Sale: a jumble sale to raise funds for the vital aid work Re-Act is responsible for, using donations from local people. All proceeds will go directly to help refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East; these funds allow volunteers to source essential aid locally around the worst affected areas in Europe, Syria and its neighbouring countries, and those arriving in Scotland. A fun family-friendly event with good vibes, tunes and incredible bargains to boot! All prices negotiable due to the variety of stock. The event will also be a free shop for refugees settling in Edinburgh. 11am-3pm, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Entry £1.

Briggs, Donaldson, Henderson: Doubtfire presents three artists new to the gallery, each with a distinctive and beautifully crafted style. ‘A pure joy of an exhibition for Spring, full of colour, passion and vitality’. 10am-5pm Monday to Friday, 12 noon-5pm Saturdays, Doubtfire Gallery, 3 South East Circus Place. Ends 14th May 2016.

Getting It Right for LGBT Teachers: a unique event for teachers who identify as LGBTQI. The organisers will provide opportunities for conversations, support and sharing best practice. Joining them will be representatives from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), Education Institute of Scotland (EIS), The National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) and Scottish Workplace Networking for LGBT people (SWAN), to provide guidance and information about support services and initiatives aimed at improving the professional life of LGBT teachers in Scotland. LGBT Health & Wellbeing and LGBT Youth Scotland and all the partner organisations are keen to hear from LGBTQI teachers about what they can do to support them in their careers and in schools. 2-5pm, LGBT Youth Scotland, The Citadel, Commercial Street. Free but booking is essential and may be made here. For more information please contact Jules Stapleton Barnes on 0131 523 1104 or jules@lgbthealth.org.uk.

British Art Now: A Panel Discussion, Exhibition Viewing & Wine Reception. The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art is delighted to sponsor the closing reception of the 2016Association of Art Historians conference. The event will begin with a panel discussion on ‘British Art Now’, exploring what British Art Show 8 can tell us about the state of contemporary art. This will be followed by the opportunity to view the exhibition and enjoy a wine reception in the Playfair Library. This event is organised in collaboration with British Art Show 8 and the Association of Art Historians. 6-7.30pm, Talbot Rice Gallery, Old College, South Bridge. Free but booking is essential and may be made via eventbrite here.

Scottish Parliament Literature Tour: Language and the Land. Language and writing associated with the Parliament and the landscape which inspired the design of the award-winning Parliament building are explored in this one hour guided tour. Selected pieces of prose, poetry and drama from Scottish writers past and present are included. The tour will visit the Dewar Room in the 17^th century Queensberry House, the oldest building in the Parliament campus, where the book collection of the former First Minister Donald Dewar is on display. The tour ends in the Media Gallery of the Debating Chamber. Recommended for visitors 16+. 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.

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. Image: Rachel Maclean Feed Me 2015 − courtesy of the artist and Film and Video Umbrella, © Rachel Maclean, 2015.

Sounds on Saturday: Organ Favourites. A concert in aid of the Cathedral Choir’s USA tour 2017. Michael Harris will play Langlais Incantation pour un jour saint, JS Bach Prelude and Fugue in G, Kerll Passacaglia, Reger Benedictus, Hollins A Trumpet Minuet, Wolstenholme Scherzo in B flatand Widor Toccata (Symphonie V). 5.30pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Admission by programme £5 at door.

Inspired by Nature. Nature has been perfecting solutions to problems since life began 4.1 billion years ago – now more than ever we need to look to her if we are to design a sustainable future. Join Professor Thomas Speck from the Botanic Gardens of Freiburg and Dr Kalina Raskin from CEEBIOS to discuss developments in biomimetics. For ages 14+. 7-8.30pm, Lecture Theatre, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Tickets cost £8/£6 and may be booked via the Science Festival Box Office on 0844 557 2686 or online here. In association with Heriot-Watt University. Part ofEdinburgh International Science Festival.

Swing Alba Gypsy Jazz Trio: swing, jazz, latin and bossa novas from two guitars and drums, with Erik, Peter and Lewis. 5.45pm, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Free admission.

Filmhouse Special Event: Where You’re Meant to Be (15) + live music from Aidan Moffat. Cult-pop raconteur Aidan Moffat sets out to explore Scotland’s past by rewriting and touring its oldest songs. But he doesn’t count on running into 79-year-old force of nature Sheila Stewart – a travelling balladeer who upturns Moffat’s folk assumptions. He believes the old songs are ripe for updating. She does not. With Stewart’s wrath ringing in his ears, Moffat embarks on a road trip that finds him dressed for battle in a Highland graveyard, caught between feuding monster-hunters at Loch Ness, and singing in a dismissive farmer’s kitchen – before facing Stewart in his home-town of Glasgow for an unlikely final showdown in this funny wee film about music and death. 9pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £10 and may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.

Limbo – with special guests Ded Rabbit + Eyes of Others + Black Spring DJs + Snide Rhythms. ‘Limbo sets out to bring you consistently great live music in a well produced environment’. For over 18s only. 7.30pm, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets cost £7 in advance (booking fee applies) from eventbrite here, or £9 on the door, sta.

Picturehouses After Dark: Theatre of Blood (15). Featuring Vincent Price, Ian Hendry, Diana Rigg, Coral Browne, Jack Hawkins and many other famous names in the tale of a Shakespearean actor who takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition. 10pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online here.

SUNDAY 10TH APRIL 2016

Portrait Detectives: collect your kit, follow clues and solve a mystery from history! For ages 4-12. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free and unticketed. Supported by the Friend of NGS. Image © Alicia Bruce.

Filmhouse Junior: films for a younger audience. This week: Short and Sweet: Animations for Kids (U): a selection of clever, colourful and beautifully-animated short films that children of all ages will love! Some have words and others have noises, some have dancing rhinos and others have stegosauruses – all of them, however, have something special that makes them fantastic fun for all the family. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4 per person, big or small.

Bug Busting Trees: join scientists from the PROTREE project in an adventure to understand how we can help trees to fend off the bugs that would like to attack them. Get hands-on, meet the main offenders, and discover how trees are able to defend themselves if only we allow them to – then take the chance to help with the testing of a new computer game about tree health. For ages 5+. 11am-4pm (drop-in), The Atrium, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. Free: no booking required. With PROTREE. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Cowgate Pop-Up: bringing together Edinburgh’s creative community and showcasing venues that you may otherwise not think to visit, you’ll find a multi-venue pop-up arts & crafts, clothing, vintage, music and food market. For those of you who have been to London – think of Brick Lane with its unusual pop-up shops and vintage/arts markets. Many of the Cowgate venues sit empty in the daytime despite the possibility of opening; some people may know them only as nightclubs or late-night bars, but they hold a special place in the hearts of those who work in or frequent them. The Bongo Club stalls will include art, jewellery, knitwear, RSPB, vinyl, vintage, candles, children’s crafts, photography and lights. There will be more stalls at Opium, Sneaky Pete’s. The Mash House, La Belle Angèle, Cabaret Voltaire and City Café (downstairs). 1-5pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate and other venues throughout Cowgate. Free entry.

Art Explorers: join in an afternoon of creative fun – be inspired to make your own work of art as you explore the beauty of trees from the Garden using a wide range of colourful and tactile materials. For ages 5+. 1-4pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Inverleith Row. £3 per person, no booking required. With Greengage Arts. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Edinburgh Living History – Upstairs Downstairs. Join Edinburgh Living History at Edinburgh’s very own hidden Edwardian gem. Meet the Reids and their staff at a moment of crisis. There are guests coming but problems with staffing. Will they be able to cope with the influx of visitors? How will this affect the lives of those above and below stairs? Come along and be transported right back to the Edwardian period. Edinburgh Living History are Lauriston’s multi award-winning team, who interpret the history of the castle in a variety of entertaining ways in Edwardian costume, bringing alive the history of the house. Each performance is carefully scripted, with intrigue, drama and humour; you will be able to watch as stories unfold. 2pm or 3pm, Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South. Tickets cost £5/£3/£12.50 (family ticket) or £6.50/£4.50/£17 with afternoon tea, and must be booked in advance via the Usher Hall Box Office, Lothian Road, in person, by calling 0131 228 1155 or online.

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.

Picturehouses Vintage Sundays: classic films back on the big screen. Today’s film is The 400 Blows/Les quatre cinq coups (PG) (In French with English subtitles). François Truffaut’s first feature, about a 13 year old’s bleak odyssey through family life and reform school, ending in an escape whose precarious permanence is questioned by the final frozen image of the boy’s face as he reaches the sea. The central character of Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Leaud) would reappear in many of Truffaut’s later films and would come to define Leaud’s onscreen persona. Of huge influence upon later films from many parts of the world, The 400 Blows remains a fresh and vivid evocation of childhood as well as a love letter from the director to the world of movies. 1pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.

 Winton House is proud of being the first ever garden to open under Scotland’s Gardens scheme in 1931. The terraced and walled gardens have welcomed visitors every year, bar one during the War. The gardens continue to develop and improve; in addition to the natural areas around Sir David’s Loch and the Dell, extensive mixed borders are taking shape for the terraces and walled garden, and in spring a glorious covering of daffodils makes way for cherry and apple blossoms. Enjoy an informative tour of this historic house and walk off delicious lunches and home baking (served at ‘Café Winton’) around the estate. Winton House is a wonderful family day out; the open day is essentially a family event with archery, falconry displays, Luca’s ice cream sold from a vintage Bentley, tours of the house, games on the lawn, treasure hunts and face painting. 12 noon-4.30pm, Winton House, entrance off B6355 Tranent/Pencaitland Road. Admission £4; guided tours of the house £5/£3, children under 10 free. Marie Curie receives 40% of the net takings, with the remainder going to Scotland’s Gardens beneficiaries. For more information please contact Sir Francis Ogilvy Winton Trust, Pencaitland EH34 5AT, tel: 01875 340 222. Image © Tony Marsh.

Edinburgh Spy Week: Paranoid State. Spy Week returns for its third year with an exciting programme of events exploring the secret worlds of spies and espionage in fiction and in fact. The Filmhouse’s contribution is this season of films, which explore the mental condition of spies and voyeurs as they begin to find it increasingly difficult to tell the difference between reality and imagination. The paranoid individual shows a ‘pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others’ but in an atmosphere where neither their own perceptions nor society as a whole can be trusted, we enter the condition of the all-pervasive Paranoid State. The political and the psychological converge as paranoia blurs the distinction between the self and the system. Today’s film is Bridge of Spies (18): Steven Spielberg’s consummately crafted period thriller (co-scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen), follows idealistic American lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks), whose beliefs are initially put to the test when he is assigned the defence of hated Soviet agent Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). Matters become increasingly complex with the capture of an American spy, leading Donovan to serve as go-between in a potential exchange between East and West. The screening will be introduced by Dr David Sorfa, Film Studies, University of Edinburgh and followed by a Q&A with Vin Arthey, author of a biography of Rudolf Abel. 5.30pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.

Frightened Rabbit: Scott Hutchison, Grant Hutchison, Billy Kennedy, Andy Monaghan and Simon Liddell play live. 3pm, Coda Music, Bank Street, The Mound.

Blackwell’s Edinburgh Teenage Book Group. If you love to read, or just want to read more, join this group to talk about the latest teenage fiction and your favourite books. The teen book group meet on the second Sunday of each month and read anything from classics to contemporary, dystopian to historical – in short, anything you fancy! Currently reading The Martian by Andy Weir. 2-3pm, Blackwell’s, South Bridge. To join just email your details to schools.edinburgh@blackwell.co.uk.

St Giles At Six: Oliver Kember (baritone) and Ailsa Aitkenhead (piano) will perform ButterworthA Shropshire Lad, Ravel Don Quichotte à Dulcinée and songs by Schubert, Wolf and Tchaikovsky. 6pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free; retiring collection.

Sara Barker – Art Taster Workshops (for ages 11-15). Explore Sara Barker’s CHANGE-THE SETTING exhibition in sculpture, drawing, painting and collage workshops led by trained young people and artist Louise Fraser. Each workshop is unique and includes an introduction to the exhibition. For ages 11-15. 4-6pm today and every second Sunday of the month, Fruitmarket Gallery, Market Street. Free but please register via eventbrite here (12 places available), or for more information contact Caitlin Page, Learning Programme Manager at the gallery: text or call 07527 927 916 or 0131 226 8186 or email caitlin@fruitmarket.co.uk. Image © Sara Barker.

The Kevin McKenzie Trio: the well-travelled Edinburgh guitarist is known for his outstanding jazz playing as well as his work with Celtic, Folk and World Music ensembles. In his new trio Kevin is joined by two of Scotland’s most prestigious players, Brazilian bassist Mario Caribe and top jazz drummer Alyn Cosker, for a stimulating and enjoyable evening of modern jazz originals and standards. 9pm (entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £7/£5 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.

Funken Folk: prepare to dance until your souls are worn through, as you are transported over choppy seas in a rickety ship, on a multi-genre voyage of skulduggery. With Gaelic folk songs, rock & roll and inimitable banter from Àdhamh Ó Broin, a set that’s sure to get your timbers shivered from Shipwreck Rats, Berlin’s ‘furriest, most furious pirate speed folk troupe’, and resident DJ at Glasgow’s Buff Club Gordie ‘Groove’ Holliday to make everyone jiggle about like puppets with their strings in a twist. 11pm-3am, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Tickets cost £5 in advance here or £6 on the door, sta.