Protest ride
A protest cycle ride will take place on Friday night at 7pm – meet at Middle Meadow Walk to join the ride calling for more safety on the city streets.
In August organisers of the ride say that three cyclists have been involved in crashes – and say the ride will tell the authorities that “This is unacceptable”.
Last weekend of the festival
The festivals are drawing to a close this weekend. There will be no fireworks above the castle and instead there will be a drone show featuring 100 drones in the city centre sky.
If you are still wondering what to go and see then read our reviews here.
There have been some awards ceremonies and you could do worse than go to see some of the shows performed by nominees even if the winners are not yet announced. (The winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Awards will be announced on Saturday morning – the nominees are below).
Local MP on a walkabout
Local MP Tracy Gilbert went on a walkabout in Muirhouse on Thursday – the third in recent months to see for herself what the issues are that people are facing. Ms Gilbert laments the amount of flytipping and litter in the area. She regrets that things have not improved since she was last out with a walking group from North Edinburgh Arts. She said: “It’s really litter and fly tipping, waste – and problems with kerbs and roads. There are people with mobility issues or people with buggies who have problems getting across the road where the kerb is not fully dropped.”
She explained this is part of an ongoing campaign which she and her staff are undertaking. She said: “It really annoys me, because we’re all citizens of Edinburgh. We’re all paying council tax, and all have the same services, and particularly at this time of year in Edinburgh city centre, if there was mess like this, it would be cleaned up. And I find that particularly frustrating that in certain parts and spots in the cities like like West Pilton and Muirhouse, the same service levels don’t seem to apply.”
Ms Gilbert is speaking to council officers about the possibility of getting skips placed in the area for a major tidy up at some point. If there are any matters her constituents would like to raise with her then they can contact her by email – [email protected]
Catch Brick Journeys before it ends on Sunday at The Pitt
Brick Journeys is an exhibition built entirely from LEGO® bricks, celebrating how humans have travelled through time from hot air balloons to rockets.
The displays include a brick-built airport, the mighty Forth Road Bridge, and jaw-dropping models of iconic transport landmarks. Perfect for kids, adults and LEGO® lovers, the show features stunning recreations of Oulton Hall, the LNER Azuma and the legendary Locomotion No 1. If you are into trains, planes or just amazing builds, this exhibition is for you.
At The Pitt there are global street food vendors, bars, a coffee shop, children’s play area, indoor and outdoor seating and views of the Firth of Forth and the Forth Bridges.
Beyond the Fringe
At the Famous Spiegeltent the entertainment will continue for one more week.
The hand picked programme is called Sounds Of Scotland and showcases a wide range of some of the
best music being created in Scotland including African dancebeats, Americana, Folk,
Roots, Funk, Blues, Rock and Indie, with a spotlight on top quality singers and original
songwriters.
It’s a sparkling selection which has had “The Grand Old Dame” rocking,
swaying and rattling her jewelled mirrors in this her 105th year, and her first time back in
Edinburgh for nine years.
The final week promises another five special musical treats.
The strong female representation includes two talented women with famous surnames who are
making their own waves in the Country/Americana scene with their outstanding voices and
songwriting talents. Roseanne Reid is the daughter of Proclaimer Craig Reid, and a BBC Radio 2
Young Folk Award nominee, who has worked alongside early mentor Steve Earle and Teddy
Thompson amongst others.
Special guest is Fay Fife (Rezillos) who is performing with her alt country Countess of Fife band member, guitarist Brian McFie (whose credits include The Big Dish and Marianne Faithfull) before heading off on tour in September with her full band.
Award winning Kirsten Adamson (daughter of rock legend Stuart Adamson (Big Country/Skids)) is
performing double duties on 26 August. She headlines with her band The Tanagers (who have just
finished recording the highly anticipated follow up (Dreamviewer) to her widely acclaimed Landing
Place album). She’ll also play a short opening set with her duo band The Marriage (with Dave Burn).
Dreamviewer is released on 26 September, so expect some previews of the songs from it in the show.
Black Cat Bone, part of the new generation of musicians (and whose show at Edinburgh Jazz & Blues
Festival sold out) will inject a loud electrifying blast of high energy original electric blues rock to the
final week. They are promising some special guests from their friends in Burlesque/Cabaret scene.
They are followed (on 27 August), by a dose of “full fat funk” from Edinburgh funksters James Brown is
Annie, who have worked with the likes of Average White Band, The Family Stone and Brand New
Heavies. A night of fearless funk, creative jazzy fire, and groove-soaked energy.
Finally, in a rescheduled gig after their original date became a casualty of Storm Floris, Liz Jones and
Broken Windows will close the season on Sat 30 Aug – soulful blues rock featuring some of
Scotland’s finest players, fronted by the formidable vocal talents of Liz Jones. Fortunately no
Windows were broken in the storm and they’ll be in fine fettle for this lunchtime show
Sounds Of Scotland is curated by Morag Neil of Scary Biscuits Promotions, Edinburgh based
independent music promoter, producer, artist manager and friend of The Famous Spiegeltent for
many years. Sounds Of Scotland is a very special addition to The Famous Spiegeltent’s
outstanding programme which includes the legendary La Clique (celebrating its 21st year), running
to 31st August.
