- Royal Botanics open air cinema
- Community Council Elections coming up next month
- Racing at Musselburgh today
- B&Q Butterfly event
- Today at The Edinburgh International Book Festival
With less than two weeks to go to the open air cinema at the Botanics, they say that tickets are selling fast.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has already sold out. There are still tickets for Romeo and Juliet or Jurassic Park today. The Luna Cinema presents three nights of classic films under the stars at the Garden’s Glasshouse Lawn.
Entry via the East Gate on Inverleith Row which opens 6.45pm, film starts 8.15pm. Adult £13.50, child £9, premium £26. Please click here to book in advance or call 0844 858 6767.
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative & Unionist MSP for Lothian, is encouraging Edinburgh constituents to consider standing for their local community council ahead of the triennial elections which will take place on Thursday 27th October. Nominations for candidates open on Monday 5th September and close on Monday 26th September. Anyone aged 16 or older and on the electoral roll can stand to represent their local area.
Speaking today Miles Briggs said:
“ As a Lothian MSP I am very aware that many of our community councils undertake excellent work on behalf of their localities and I want to encourage more people to come forward and consider standing in the forthcoming elections.
“ Community Councils in Edinburgh play an important role, working with local authority councillors and other stakeholders in the interests of their area.
“ In recent years some of our community councils have achieved real successes, such as Marchmont & Sciennes Community Council campaigning for an increase in the frequency of the 24 bus. Many of our community councils are vibrant but I am aware others sometimes struggle to attract sufficient people to fill the positions, meaning the burden falls on just a few people, so I hope people who haven’t thought about standing before will decide to get involved this time.
“ I am particularly keen to encourage younger people to think about standing so that they can voice the specific concerns and views of young people at this level.”
And they’re off at Musselburgh Racecourse at 2.00pm today with the second day of racing in a row. Only 6 miles from the city centre this is a good day out any time – but the weather is set fair for the last day of racing this month. There is a courtesy bus from Wallyford and Newcraighall train stations and children 17 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult.
If you want the absolute free experience then enter our competition to win two tickets for the September Caledonian Brewery Raceday featuring the Caledonian Beer Festival.
As part of the Garden Butterfly Survey B&Q at Germiston Gait are holding a butterfly-themed event in their store between 11am and 3.30pm on Sunday 28 August 2016. The idea is to encourage Edinburgh gardeners to make their gardens butterfly friendly.
Horticulturalists will be on hand to show insect hunters how to attract butterflies, bugs and bees into their backyards with some pollinating plants.
To entertain the children there will be craft workshops, face-painting, balloon modelling and giveaways. B&Q are sponsoring Garden Butterfly Survey in an effort to get people out in their gardens to count butterflies and in particular one special butterfly.
The Ringlet has spread north dramatically over the last 30 years and is a bit of a success story. It has distinctive cream coloured rings on its dusky wings, and is unlike most butterfly species as it flies on overcast and drizzly days, so is fairly easy to spot, flitting gently among long grass or visiting flowers to drink nectar.
Just over 30 years ago there was only one known colony of the species near Larkhall in Lanarkshire but now it has spread as far north as Dornoch.
Richard Fox, Butterfly Conservation Head of Recording, said: “Ringlet butterflies are only around for a few short weeks every year and are not to be missed.
“At first sight a rather drab, dark brown butterfly, if you follow its dainty flight until it comes to rest on a leaf or flower, you will be rewarded with views of the beautiful ringed eye spots on the undersides of the butterfly’s wings.
“Ringlets are most common in damp habitats with lots of long grass, such as along rivers, ditches and woodland edges but they also wander into our gardens, so are a great species to record in your Garden Butterfly Survey.”
Michael Ness, Store Manager at B&Q Hermiston Gait said “We are really passionate about protecting the environment here at B&Q Hermiston Gait. Our butterfly event is the perfect way to get our customers involved and show them how their gardens can be a great habitat for beautiful butterflies. And, as it’s the summer holidays, it’s a great time to get the whole family involved and have a bit of fun.”
Butterflies are important indicators of the health of the environment, and by helping them, gardeners can create a better home for wildlife. The UK’s estimated 22 million gardens represent an area roughly the size of Aberdeenshire and offer a huge and vitally important habitat.
Butterfly sightings can be entered online at www.gardenbutterflysurvey.org to help build a picture of the fortunes of these beautiful insects. These records are stored so that gardeners can keep a tally of all the species seen over the years.
Today at the Edinburgh International Book Festival you can once again start off with Ten at ten with a short reading from one of today’s Festival authors.
After that there is an event featuring Patrick Flanery with Francesca Kay at 10.15 when they will discuss a world without privacy and whether that means it is a world without expression. Both authors have used spying and surveillance in their books and this will not doubt be an engaging hour.
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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
