Five things you need to know today
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay
Buy your tickets for the Hogmanay Torchlight procession from 10am on Friday..
The Torchlight Procession is back and tickets are on sale today for the event which will begin several days of festivities.
Read more here and buy tickets here.
Council owned energy company- inactivity is a public scandal
An Edinburgh council-owned energy company which hasn’t been used for anything since the idea was conceived nearly a decade ago is a “public scandal,” a councillor has said.
Anger over the council’s failure to properly establish the publicly-funded Energy for Edinburgh (EFE) has sparked calls to “put it out its misery”.
The arms-length organisation officially launched in 2016, two years after proposals were first presented to councillors, to reduce fuel poverty and carbon emissions by delivering affordable energy initiatives for residents across the city.
However it is still yet to carry out “any activity,” officials said in a new report which cast doubt over whether there would be any “added value” in EFE taking projects forward rather than the council directly overseeing them.
EIF recommendation
Alison Goldfrapp plays live at Edinburgh Playhouse on Friday evening.
She is making her solo debut with a new album The Love Invention after being part of the synth pop duo Mercury Prize award-winning Goldfrapp.
Big Beach Busk
Portobello will be the place to be this weekend with music on the Prom.
From noon till 6pm the Prom at Portobello will be filled with musicians of all kinds playing outdoors, and that will include Oi Musica the sousaphone band based there who have invited anyone who wants to join in their Pop Up Band to a workshop from 10am – midday at Edinburgh College Milton Road and then to play from 3pm at the bottom of John Street.
A spokesperson for the band said: “All abilities are welcome, from beginners on the drums, and new or experienced players of brass & wind. No requirement to read music.
“Relaxed and friendly, working in a non-formal style (mistakes aren’t a problem!), we’ll look at 1 or 2 tunes in sections, before forming one big band.
The performance at the Big Beach Busk will be low-pressure and fun. Tell your pals & family to come along! And stick around for more street bands, The Edinburgh Samba School + Shunpike Social Club one-off collaboration is performing immediately after the PopUp Band.”
Our August issue
Our August newspaper has been out since 1 August, and we are now producing the September paper.
Our cover story is about Mademoiselle Macaron Rachel Hanretty, with a strapline to our exclusive story about Alex Cole-Hamilton, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
Inside there is a feature by George Mair who is writing for us for the first time this month – and loads of sport from both Nigel Duncan and Bill Lothian.
If you would like to receive a copy just a wee bit ahead of everyone else then please subscribe by clicking on the image below. It helps us with the overheads of producing a paper and also ensures that we can keep all of our news output free for all.
(And do read about Rachel and the Barbie story here)
