MONDAY 27th JUNE 2016
Picturehouses Toddler Time: exclusive short screenings for pre-school children and their parents and carers. Today: Timmy Time: Seaside Rescue and Other Adventures [U]. It’s the nursery’s first ever coach trip and they are off to the seaside! But while Timmy and his friends are busy having fun on the beach, Timmy’s teddy and Bumpy are swept out to sea. They need a hero to rescue them – and Timmy’s the lamb for the job. This special bumper length episode of Timmy Time is followed by a classic episode in which Harriet and Osbourne take the class on a rather damp camping trip. 11am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets cost £3 per child, accompanying adult free.
Chris Bushe RSW: Wild Shores. A solo exhibition focusing on the coastlines of the Western Isles, a subject that has continued to fascinate Chris Bushe, especially the constant changing interaction of sea and land. Within this selection of works is an innate use of his medium, showing the relationship between the horizon line and what lies before and beyond it. His ability to capture the drama and atmosphere in these locations stands him as one of the most successful landscape painters currently working in Scotland. 10am-6pm Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm Saturdays, Open Eye Gallery, Abercromby Place. Ends 25th July 2016. Image: Late Summer Evening, Killinallan Point © Chris Bushe.
For Crying Out Loud: special screenings exclusively for parents, carers and their babies under the age of 12 months, with a maximum of two adults per baby. Baby-changing, bottle-warming and buggy parking facilities are available. Today’s film is Love and Friendship (U): Kate Beckinsale inhabits the irresistibly devious lead role in this well-told adaptation of Jane Austen’s novella, Lady Susan. 11am, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets cost £4.50/£3.50 per adult.
Lunchtime Concert: New York Classical Music Society. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
Lost Spaces: a summary of the work of Architectural Design students (Years 3 and 4 – BA/MA(Hons) programme) at the ESALA – University of Edinburgh. Lost Spaces proposes a design-based reflection about the value of lost spaces around Leith Walk/Easter Road, in the process of decay in their lifecycle. The task in hand was to create an intervention in the lost space that provides living accommodation and associated common facilities for a particular protagonist in need of care, implementing a strategy of socially integrated and architecturally sustainable neighbourhoods. Responding at the scale of the project sites, the proposals prioritised specific residential functions with open spaces and common facilities adapted to modern living patterns. 10am – 5pm daily, Out of the Blue, 36 Dalmeny Street. Ends 1st July 2016.
Hazel McHaffie: Inside of Me. Local author Hazel McHaffie chats about her latest book. 6.30pm, Fountainbridge Library, 137 Dundee Street. Free but booking is required as space is limited: please call in to the library or call 0131 529 5616 to reserve your place.
Grassmarket Community Cinema: Independence Day (12). On July 2nd, communication systems worldwide are sent into chaos by a strange atmospheric interference. It is soon learned by the military that a number of enormous objects are on collision course with Earth. At first thought to be meteors, they are later revealed to be gigantic spacecrafts, piloted by a mysterious alien species. After attempts to communicate with the aliens go nowhere, David Levinson, an ex-scientist turned cable technician, discovers that the aliens are going to attack major points around the globe in less than a day. As destruction after destruction ensues, the survivors devise a plan to fight back against the enslaving aliens and July 4th becomes the day humanity will fight for its freedom. July 4th is their Independence Day. 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.
Only the Brave: thirteen young people have been thinking about what it means to be brave. From dead men in suits of armour to coming out to your granny – this show takes you on a journey through our insecurities to the moment where we take centre stage. It’s about little fish with big ideas on an epic journey – fortune favours the brave, right? Now in its eighth year, the National Theatre of Scotland‘s vibrant Exchange programme brings together groups of young theatre-makers (16-25 yrs) from across Scotland and the world, to create and perform new and exciting pieces of theatre with the help and support of a professional creative team. This piece has been put together by members of Strange Town and will be shown next at the MacRobert Arts Centre as part of the Exchange Festival. Performed by the Exchange Group. For ages 14+. 7.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 45 High Street. Tickets cost £8.50/£5.50 and are available from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 556 9579 or online here.
L’Mot Me: a monthly creative meet up featuring local music and much merriment! Line up: Stanton, Rachael Bell, Kev Cunningham Music and more TBC. 8pm, Sketchy Beats, 208 Great Junction Street. Free entry, BYOB, £3 corkage for the night.
TUESDAY 28th JUNE 2016
Odeon Silver Cinema: if you are 55+ come along to these special screenings for only £3 per person, and enjoy a free tea or coffee and biscuits before the show. Today’s films are Fathers and Daughters (15) at 11am (doors open 10.15am for refreshments) and Hail, Caesar! (12A) at 2pm, Odeon Lothian Road, 118 Lothian Road.
Scotland’s Gardens: National Trust for Scotland – Malleny Garden. This hidden treasure is a walled garden surrounded by woodland, found just outside Balerno. The garden is a haven for plant lovers thanks to its large variety of colourful and fragrant flowers, plants and trees. Beside the garden there is also an unoccupied doocot with an unusual saddle-backed roof and a fountain. The grounds are separated from Balerno by a stream, further enhancing the feel of seclusion, privacy and peacefulness. Today there will be a guided walk at 10am; the garden is open 10am-5pm. Malleny Garden, Balerno (for information and directions click here). Normal NTS admission charges apply (NTS members free) – for details click here – plus £2 for the guided walk. A donation will be made to SG charities. Image: Brian Chapple.
Lunchtime Concert: Lynn Czae (piano) – an award-winning pianist from the New York Classical Music Society. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
Street Child in Dance, Song and Story: after working with storyteller Tim Porteus, Lawfield Primary School’s P5A Class present Bernie Doherty’s story of the street child whose plight moved Dr Barnardo to devote his life to charitable work with poor and homeless children. 12.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 45 High Street. Free but tickets are required and are available from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 556 9579 or online here.
Spotlight On: Shang Dynasty Oracle Bones. In ancient China, animal bones were used in rituals to ask questions of deities, and the inscriptions on these intriguing artefacts represent the earliest form of Chinese writing. Join the experts for a glimpse into recent research on the Museum’s collection of ‘oracle bones’. 2-3pm (doors open 1.45pm), Auditorium, Level 1, National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street. Free but booking is required and may be made by calling 0300 123 6789 or online here.
The Annual Hidden Door Auction: have fun outbidding your friends both online and at a live auction with an electric atmosphere, and take home a piece of original artwork. All proceeds from the auction will be split between the individual artists (60%) and Hidden Door (40%) raising funds for artists and supporting Hidden Door to continue for another year. You can place bids for the online lots anytime until 7pm on Monday 27th June. You can also place absentee bids for the live auction lots, if you’re unable to attend the event itself. Full information re bidding, collection, etc, plus images of the lots, on Hidden Door’s website here. 6-10pm, St Stephen’s, St Stephen Street, Stockbridge. Free entry.
Day Shall Dawn/Jago hua savera (U) (in Urdu with English subtitles): this classic Pakistani movie narrates the lives and hopes of poor fishermen living along the vast rivers of Eastern Bengal. Part of a wave of realist movies from South Asia in the 1950s, the black and white photography presents the world of the Bengali fishermen as if it were a documentary. With a screenplay written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, based on a novel by Manik Bandhopadhyay, the film won a gold medal at the Moscow International Film Festival. This screening forms part of the ‘Forms of the Left’ workshop organized jointly by the University of Edinburgh and Leiden University. 6.10pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 2688 or online.
Picturehouses Discover Tuesdays: cult classics, art-house gems and riveting documentaries – there’s always a chance to see something different and brilliant in the Cameo’s weekly slot. Today’s film is Embrace of the Serpent (12A) (in Spanish with English subtitles). This strange, exquisitely shot epic follows an ailing German physician at the turn of the century as he searches for a rare plant said to have healing properties. Led by his enigmatic native guide Karamakate, Theo journeys deep into the Amazon, encountering native peoples, fellow explorers and Kurtz-like fanatics along the way. Melding breathtaking black-and-white imagery with a Conradesque vision of the jungle as a hotbed of corruption, violence and religious extremism, Guerra’s stunning film was a highlight of Cannes 2015, and was nominated for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar. 6pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Ragged University: About Film. A monthly film night with a group discussion afterwards. Everyone is invited to participate and no prior knowledge is required. Tonight: Punishment Park (15), directed by Peter Watkins: set in a detention camp in an America of the near-future, the film is in pseudo-documentary style and places a British film crew amongst a group of young students and minor dissidents who have opted to spend three days in ‘Bear Mountain Punishment Park’. The detainees, rather than accept lengthy jail sentences for their ‘crimes’, gamble their freedom on an attempt to reach an American flag on foot and without water through the searing heat of the desert. 
The pursuit of Group 637, a lethal, one-sided game of cat-and-mouse with a squad of heavily armed police and National Guardsmen, is contrasted with the corrupt trial of Group 638 by a quasi-judicial tribunal. Punishment Park has established itself as one of the key, yet rarely seen, radical films of the late 1960s/early 1970s, giving voice to the disaffected youth of America that had lived through the campus riots at Berkeley and the trial of the Chicago Seven and were witnessing the escalation of the Vietnam War. Followed by a Realist Film Theory Discussion; debates around the terms Realism and Realist rage across film studies and we can find these terms employed to describe films as disparate as Batman Begins and Fish Tank. So what value is there in a term that can be used so inconsistently? An attempt will be made to build a working definition as concepts of Realism are applied to the chosen film. 6.30-9.30pm, The Brass Monkey, Drummond Street. Popcorn is provided, you may bring your own snacks but no hot food. The Brass Monkey serves snacks and sandwiches. It is not necessary to ‘book’ a place as the event will be free and open to all, but committing to coming will give the organisers a heads-up about numbers – register your interest here.
Move It! East Lothian Council Youth Dance Showcase. Featuring talented young people from all of East Lothian Council’s dance classes, with groups ranging from nursery age through to East Lothian Youth Dance Company plus after school and curricular classes. Be amazed at the variety of dance styles showcased, including break dance, street dance, contemporary and jazz. 6.30pm, The Brunton, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh. Tickets £7.50 from The Brunton Box Office in person or on 0131 665 2240, or from Hub Tickets here. Booking fees apply.
Leith Folk Club: Kevin Gore. Gifted with the most formidable voice and a solid, earthy guitar style, it’s no exaggeration to suggest that Kevin Gore is probably Scotland’s greatest living protest singer/songwriter; his songs will stay in your heart long after the performance is finished. With support: Jenny Biddle. 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.
Open Decks Night: come along and do a set. XDJ, CDJ and often Vinyl. Any style, any genre. Any level (Hilton to Digweed). All welcome! 7.30pm, Leith Depot, 138 Leith Walk.
WEDNESDAY 29th JUNE 2016
Scotland’s Gardens: Traprain Circle. Three gardens: Garvald Grange, Haddington, which has been transformed over the last 24 years from a bare landscape into a haven for wildlife, with beehives, ponds, and orchard and walled garden, Granary House, Kippielaw, a small but well stocked cottage style garden with extensive views westward to the Pentlands and beyond and northwards to Fife, and Stevenson Steading Walled Garden, Haddington, a two acre walled garden, with early summer herbaceous borders, espaliered roses and climbers, over sixty different hostas and a woodland walk along the Tyne. 11am-6pm – for directions and contact details click here. Admission £15 for unlimited access to all three gardens or £5 per garden for a single visit, of which 40% goes to Trellis Scotland (a charity supporting therapeutic gardening through a range of easy to access services) and the net remainder to SG beneficiaries. Tickets will be available at all open gardens.
Scottish Waterways Trust: A Tale of Two Canals (Guided Walk). A fun, free tour around the Falkirk Wheel. Packed with quirky facts and fascinating stories, the tour will explore the history of the Union and Forth & Clyde Canals, and the building of the iconic Falkirk Wheel which rejoined the canals for the first time in 70 years. The tour lasts approximately 2 hours (3 miles) and includes a trip to the recently excavated historic lock flight – hidden to all but the most determined of visitors! There will be some walking on uneven ground involved, and unfortunately the tour may not be accessible for wheelchairs or those with mobility issues. Participants should wear sturdy boots/shoes and wear appropriate/waterproof clothing. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. 11am, Falkirk Wheel Visitor Centre, Lime Rd, Tamfourhill, Falkirk FK1 4RS. Free but booking is required and may be made via Eventbrite here. For more information please contact Gemma Wild, at the Scottish Waterways Trust on 07795 315434 or gemma@scottishwaterwaystrust.org.uk. There will be further tours on 6th, 14th and 20th July but please note that these tours start at 1pm.
Lunchtime Concert: Alone with History. Alastair Savage (fiddle) continues his new album launch events with a lunchtime performance in the historic surroundings of St Giles’, playing music by Neil Gow and James Scott Skinner alongside Alastair’s own compositions and a tribute to Rabbie Burns. A fantastic acoustic to enjoy the Scots fiddle tradition. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
Rubens & Company: Some Discoveries: Tico Seifert, Senior Curator at the Scottish National Gallery, will give an introduction to Rubens & Company: Flemish Drawings from the Scottish National Gallery exhibition and will highlight some of the discoveries made in the preparation of this exhibition. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed. Rubens & Company is on at the gallery until 28th August 2016.
The Isabel Dalhousie Lecture: The 1816 Philadelphia Emma and its readers. Professor Juliette Wells – 2016 Isabel Dalhousie Fellow – talks about the rare 1816 Philadelphia edition of Jane Austen’s Emma. This edition was the only version published in America during Austen’s lifetime, and only six known copies still exist. The Isabel Dalhousie Fellowship is named after the main character of Alexander McCall Smith’s Sunday Philosophy Club series. In association with the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities. 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.
Blackwell’s Edinburgh and Fledgling Press Present Mark Leggatt: The London Cage. The Edinburgh-based author lauches his much awaited follow-up to Names of the Dead. Connor Montrose is still running for his life. The retreat of the glaciers has revealed a Cold War secret that should have lain buried for centuries, with the power to bring down the communications and defence systems of every country on the planet. Including his own. Montrose is faced with the choice of betrayal or survival, but either way, he’ll lose. He is told: ‘Your country needs you, but if you give up the secret, your friends and those you love will die.’ Then an old man tells him, ‘If I had the choice between betraying my friends and betraying my country, I should hope I have the guts to betray my country.’ What will he do? 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.
Light, Colour and Dementia: architect and researcher Amanda Nioi explores the contribution that a considered interior design can make to the wellbeing of people with dementia. 5.30-6.30pm, Jordanburn Lecture Theatre, Kennedy Tower, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Place. Free but booking is required; please contact Vanessa at info@artlinkedinburgh.co.uk or call 0131 229 3555.
Theatre in Scotland: Reflecting the Nation. Join a distinguished panel of critics and theatre makers to discuss the remarkable journey of modern Scottish theatre, and to explore the directions it might take in the years to come. The last three decades have seen an extraordinary cultural renaissance in Scotland, reflected in the newfound confidence of its playwrights, in the vibrancy of its theatre culture and in its recent outburst of new theatre companies. Join Orla O’Loughlin (Artistic Director, Traverse Theatre), Joyce McMillan (theatre critic, The Scotsman), Philip Howard (director and dramaturg), Mark Fisher (theatre journalist) and Allan Little (former BBC special correspondent, Chair of the Edinburgh International Book Festival) to explore and celebrate this success, and ask what it can tell us about Scotland as a whole. This event will be followed by a book signing of Joyce McMillan’s new book Theatre in Scotland – A Field of Dreams (edited by Philip Howard). 7.30pm, Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street. Tickets £5/£4 from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 1404 or online here.
Stik Cook Band: ‘Hard Bop’ modern jazz from the Blue Note years of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver and Cannonball Adderley, as effervescent drummer Stik Cook brings in some great players, with ex-US trumpeter Yati Durant, SNJO-featured sax star Martin Kershaw, high-energy pianist Pete Johnstone and Ed Kelly (bass) 9pm (Entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
The Royal Observatory of Edinburgh Presents Moon (15). This beautifully crafted American science fiction film (made in 2009 and shown in 35mm print) follows Sam as he comes to the end of his three-year mission on the Moon, running a remote lunar mining base with only a talkative computer for company. This BAFTA-winning film was praised for both its tense storyline and also for its rather excellent scientific credentials. The film will be followed by a short talk and informal discussion with staff from the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, who will be putting those scientific credentials to the test and considering some of the more intriguing questions the film raises. 
Taking place every other year, the SPIE (International Society for Optics and Photonics) Conference 2016 is being hosted in Edinburgh 26th June – 1st July. SPIE is one of the largest, and most prestigious, astronomy conferences in the world for developers of ground- and space-based telescopes and their associated technology. The Royal Observatory of Edinburgh are arranging some public events to tie in with the conference and invite you to join them at the Cameo! 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
THURSDAY 30th JUNE 2016
Picturehouses Big Scream: screenings exclusively for parents and carers with their babies under 12 months. Today’s film is Roman Holiday (U). Whilst undertaking a highly publicised tour of Europe, a cloistered and naive princess rebels against her restrictive schedule. One night she escapes her luxurious confinement and stumbles upon an American journalist posted to Rome. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn (in her breakthrough role) make for one of cinema’s most charming couples in this whimsical fantasy with a bittersweet finale. 10.30am, Cameo, Home Street. Tickets may be purchased from the Box Office in person, by calling 0871 902 5723 or online.
Greyfriars At 12: a flute & piano recital with Leila Marshall (flute) and Ailsa Aitkenhead (piano). 12 noon, Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place. Free, no booking required.
Lunchtime Concert: Andøy Brass Band, Andenes, Norway. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
Odeon Silver Cinema: if you are 55+ come along to these special screenings for only £3 per person, and enjoy a free tea or coffee and biscuits before the show. Today’s films are Hail, Caesar! (12A) at 11am (doors open 10.15am for refreshments) and Fathers and Daughters (15) at 2pm, Odeon Lothian Road, 118 Lothian Road.
Inspiring Impressionism: Nocturne Exhibition Tours: early evening tours of the Inspiring Impressionism exhibition focusing on key aspects and artists who feature in the exhibition. 5.30-6pm, Academy, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free but purchase of exhibition ticket (£11/£9, free to SNG members) is required. Inspiring Impressionism is on at the gallery until 2nd October 2016.
Get Online: free help with computing. Bring along your iPad: staff will cover all the basics and then help you get the most out of the internet. 2-4pm, Newington Library, Fountainhall Road. Free but please phone 0131 529 5336 to book a place.
Scottish Society for the History of Photography Journal Launch Party: the relaunch of the journal as a twice yearly publication with an Anniversary Edition that takes as its inspiration the 1996 edition, which featured the work of several photographers who exhibited in the seminal exhibition Light From the Dark Room at the National Galleries of Scotland in 1995. After a welcome from International Photography Curator at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery Anne Lyden, distinguished photographic artist and Chair of SSHoP Alexander Hamilton, will introduce the work of the society and its journal, which is now for the first time available to the general public. Edinburgh based photographic artist and co-editor of SSHoP’s biannual publication Robin Gillanders will announce forthcoming events and lectures. Members of SSHoP committee will be present, along with a number of renowned photographers featured in the journal, to meet attendees, sign books and discuss their work, including Patricia Macdonald, Catriona Grant, David Williams, Calum Colvin, Owen Logan, Ron O’Donnell, Ian Stewart and Thomas Joshua Cooper. Plus live jazz and drinks. The Gallery will be open for viewing during the event until 7pm. 5-7pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street. Free, no booking required.
Word Power Books Presents Gavin Bowd – The Last Communard: Adrien Lejeune, the Unexpected Life of a Revolutionary. ‘A brilliant, striking portrait of revolutionary Europe through a remarkable personal story.’ In 1871, Adrien Lejeune fought on the barricades of the Paris Commune. He was imprisoned for treason when the Commune fell and narrowly avoided execution for his role in the struggle for a new future. In later life, he immigrated to Soviet Russia, finding fame as a revolutionary icon. In his native country, he was vaunted as a hero, a touchstone of revolutions past during France’s interwar dramas. Abandoned by the Soviet regime, he languished, fortunes foundering, in Russia. Having led a long and extraordinary life he died in Siberia in 1942 while fleeing Moscow as the Nazi armies swept across western Russia. 
It was another thirty years before he returned to Paris, his ashes coming to rest in the Communards’ plot of the Père Lachaise cemetery, on the centennial of the uprising, a symbol of France’s undying radical tradition. Gavin Bowd shows how an individual can be swept up in the fierce tides of history, and at the same time be defined by his own efforts to force those tides into a different, and better, course. Lejeune’s life captures war and revolution in a tumultuous period of European history. 6.30pm, Word Power Books, West Nicolson Street. All welcome, free; donations also very welcome! ‘In an age of increasingly timid and poorly-supplied chain bookshops, everyone should be glad that Word Power exists’ (A.L. Kennedy).
Stage to Page at the Traverse. Stage to Page is a lively voluntary collective of writers, directors and actors who meet monthly to conduct short public workshops of scenes from brand new plays. The event is coming to Edinburgh for the first time. Stage to Page is a great opportunity for writers to be actively involved in an exciting fast and furious workshop process and hear their work being read. The actors are selected in an open-casting process on the night and – under the expert direction of the volunteer directors – bring to life the raw scripts. 
All this happens under the supportive and inquisitive eyes of the audience, who give valuable on-the-spot feedback facilitated by a guest host selected from Scotland’s thriving artistic community. The guest host for the Edinburgh event will be Rosie Kellagher, the Traverse’s Literary Associate. 7pm, Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street. Tickets £3 from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 228 1404 or online here.
Alexander Chapman Campbell Recital: amongst the hundreds of releases of autumn 2013, a new and unexpected album turned up at ClassicFM, the world’s largest classical radio station. Intrigued, the Managing Editor immediately placed it as ‘Album of the Week’ on ClassicFM Drive. 
The response was unprecedented. There was a flood of emails and phone-calls after every airing, the album soared into the charts and within a week Decca Records wanted to secure the rights to this beautiful and mysterious music. Since then, Alexander Chapman Campbell’s debut album for solo piano Sketches of Light has appeared across radio and TV, featured on several chart-topping compilation albums and continues to enchant listeners around the world. In March 2016 the 27-year-old composer released his second collection for solo piano Portraits of Earth. His music has been described as ‘not jazz, not classical, not improvised, but a glimpse of something new…’ and his second album only deepens this enigma. ‘A truly original and magnificent musician: not one to be missed.’ 6.30pm (concert will begin at 7pm), St Andrew’s & St George’s West Church, 13 George Street. Tickets £10/£8 + booking fee here. For more information please contact the church office on 0131 225 3847.
Click Clack ft. Baobab Gateway and Susanna Orr Holland. A monthly night of live music and other performing arts of an experimental nature – funky and idiosyncratic. Think Zorn and Ornette meet Beefheart, James Brown and Philip Glass in a basement bar, on the last Thursday of the month. Baobab Gateway bring African inspired world-jumpin-dance-grooves; Susanna Orr Holland performs songs and poems from India to Iceland. 7-10pm, Henry’s Cellar Bar, Morrison Street.
The Blueswater + Joshua Fialkoff: a special blues concert from Felipe Shrieberg-fronted regular 6-piece The Blueswater, tonight featuring New Orleans piano star
Joshua Fialkoff. The internationally touring pianist/vocalist draws inspiration from swing and blues legends including Fats Waller, Ray Charles, Count Basie, Otis Spann, Gene Harris and many others, and plays with a variety of Louisiana-based ensembles such as The Fried Bananas, plus Philadelphia-based R&B band The Downtown Shimmy. 9pm (Entry from 8pm), The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Picturehouses E4 Slackers Club: Now You See Me 2 (12A). The four horsemen return for their second mind-bending adventure, elevating the limits of stage illusion to new heights and taking them around the globe. One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their Robin-Hood-style magic spectacles, the illusionists resurface for a comeback performance. 
When the Horsemen are threatened into pulling off their most impossible heist yet, their only hope is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and reveal the mastermind behind it all. 9pm, Cameo, Home Street. Membership of the Slackers Club is free; take your ID to the cinema or call 0871 902 5747. Members may collect tickets from the Box Office or book online.
FRIDAY 1st JULY 2016
Glass Life: an exhibition of stunning glass sculpture, depicting the hidden inner workings of living cells, created by artists and researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology. 10am-5pm, Glasshouses, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. Admission free with Glasshouses ticket (£5.50/£4.50/children under 16 free). Ends 31st August 2016.
Garden Social: for people with dementia. Free sessions with refreshments and activities inspired by the Garden. 10.30am-12.30pm, Botanic Cottage, Royal Botanic Garden, Inverleith Row. Free but booking is required; please call 0131 248 2981
Lunchtime Concert St George’s Parish Church Choir, Belfast. 12.15pm, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
In Focus: Henry Raeburn’s Reverend Robert Walker (1755-1808): art historian and curator Bill Hare (University of Edinburgh) takes an alternative look at Raeburn’s Skating Minister of God/Flying Messenger of the Gods. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.
Leith Community Cinema: Star Wars – The Force Awakens (12A). Balance returns to the Force as the First Order, emerging from the ashes of the Empire, clashes with the Resistance, which includes scrappy newcomers as well as heroes from the former Rebel Alliance. Fancy dress welcome! Food and drinks available on the night for a donation. 7-9pm (doors open 6.30pm), Pilrig St Pauls’ Church, Pilrig Street. Please book in advance via Eventbrite here or on the Community Cinema website here; suggested donation for admission £3/£2.
Susana Wessling: Painting By Layers. The artist launches her new exhibition – with bubbly and nibbles! 7.30pm, Sofi’s Bar, 65 Henderson Street.
Art of the Storyteller: this series continues with Janis Mackay and Donald Smith sharing an evening of their favourite stories, drawing on their experiences and inspirations within contemporary storytelling. 7.30pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 45 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£6/£5 and are available from the Box Office in person, by calling 0131 556 9579 or online here.
Astronomical Society of Edinburgh: Dr Bruce Vickery will give a talk on Charles Piazzi Smyth, Astronomer Royal for Scotland 1846-1888. 8pm, Church Centre, Augustine United Church, George IV Bridge. Free: all (members and non-members) welcome. The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh (ASE) has been holding meetings in Edinburgh to inform members and the general public about astronomy since 1924. 
It meets monthly, usually on the first Friday of the month at 8pm, and new faces are always welcome at the meetings. The Society also has an Imaging Group, which is open to all members, from complete novices to seasoned astronomers. Members and beginners of all ages are encouraged to participate in the Society’s activities. For more information and details of membership click here.
Head Shake Society: Adam and Danny’s record collections collide. Diverse musical tastes and flavours overlap and meet up in many eclectic places. With an open mind to music, the emphasis of their collaboration focuses on a good vibe sound and groove. Expect Jazz, Hip Hop, Rock and R&B sounds with many others in between. 9pm, The Skylark, 241 High Street, Portobello.
*Want to get away this weekend? Here are two possibilities*
Newcastleton Traditional Music Festival. This one describes itself as ‘the friendliest, most welcoming and family friendly traditional music festival in Scotland’. Events include competitions, singarounds, concerts, ceilidhs, dances, workshops and the Copshaw Common Riding. Accommodation (possibly – but very limited) available in the village, plus 
camping (for tents, caravans and campervans) on two sites. Camping is non-bookable and the organisers say they’ve never had to turn anyone away in almost 50 years! For information about tickets, accommodation and location see the festival’s website here. 1-3 July (first session 6pm Friday, last session starts 8.30pm Sunday), Newcastleton, Scottish Borders.
Kelburn Garden Party. Kelburn bills itself as ‘a festival like no other’; it’s set in the grounds and glen of a 13th century castle – one that the owner, the Earl of Glasgow, had painted by four Brazilian graffiti artists 16 years ago. The graffiti is still there, and the psychedelic walls provide the backdrop for four days of music, interactive art installations, living theatre, pop-up gigs, glen walks, waterfall plunge pools, poetry, workshops, cabaret and ‘downright surreal happenings’. Line up includes Haitus Kaiyote, Bella & The Bear, James Lavelle, Sea Bass Kid, The Blueswater, Tinderbox Orchestra, Loki, James Brown is Annie, King Eider, The John Langan Band and many more. Lots of children’s activities, from adventure assault courses to The Lullabies Collective and Circus Alba; art in the Neverending Glen; the Blundabus, jazz and classical music in the Plaisance Sessions – they’ve even got a steam room to help you sweat out your overindulgence… 1st-4th July (site opens 2pm Friday 1st, closes 1pm Monday 4th), Kelburn Castle, Nr. Fairlie, North Ayrshire KA29 0BE. For tickets, travel information (buses are available from Edinburgh, and the site is just 5 minutes from Largs station) and accommodation options, see the Garden Party’s website here.
