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Hitlist EVENTS, TALKS, LGBT* ✽✽ Edinburgh Festivals Cavalcade Floats and pipe bands and jazz hands and crying children dressed up as cartoon characters, oh my! The festivals aren’t actually allowed to start until there’s been a gigantic procession of some kind: confusingly, this year, it’s taking place in Holyrood Park rather than along Princes Street. Holyrood Park, 9 Aug, 2–3pm, free. ✽✽ A Queen’s Progress If the Fringey crowds are already getting too much for you, go (slightly) west to Linlithgow, where they’re re-enacting the life and times of Mary Queen of Scots. Find out how the castle would prepare for the Queen’s arrival and then meet the mediaeval babe herself. Linlithgow Palace, 01506 845698, 8 Aug, 1.30pm, £5.20. ✽✽ West Port Book Festival Utterly wonderful lo-fi literary festival. This year the programme features Alan Bissett and John Hegley as well as a magic trail (!) in and out of the shops. Colour us charmed. Various venues, West Port, 13–16 Aug, various times, free. ✽✽ Whisky Fringe Let’s not beat around the bush: the Fringe is about boozing. This two-day festival offering you the chance to sample over 200 whiskies and the odd rum is just more upfront about it. Mansfield Traquair, 15 Mansfield Place, 525 9380, 8 & 9 Aug, 2–6pm, £20. ✽✽ Pink Links The catchiest-named speed dating event around returns. Women only, 15 ‘dates’ a night, and the odd bar break for Dutch courage. Deep Blue, below the Blue Moon, 1 Barony Street, 556 2788, 7 Aug, 7pm, £5. ✽✽ Holyrood Park Fun Dog Show Make a fuss of your pooch, with show classes, free PDSA health checks, and – this is our favourite bit – a waggiest tail competition. Holyrood Park, 652 8150, 9 Aug, 11am–3pm, free.
6–13 Aug 2009 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 77
Edinburgh Mela The 15th Edinburgh Mela is something of a milestone for the massive multicultural music, art, theatre and food festival celebrating Asian Scottish culture, and not just because it is returning to its original home of Pilrig Park. ‘This year, we’re working in the Year of Homecoming,’ says director Liam Sinclair. ‘We wanted to explore what that meat from a culturally diverse or multicultural perspective. So we coined this idea of “Home Be-Coming”; if Homecoming has been about the Diaspora coming back to Scotland, then Home Be- coming is about looking at migration into the country over the last 70 years and how that has had an impact upon contemporary Scottish culture.’ Expect a focus on Scottish bhangra acts and multicultural DJs, and a jam session setting ceilidh and Punjabi music off against each other as well as some excellent dance from places as far flung as Zimbabwe and Singapore. ■ Pilrig Park, Fri 7–Sun 9 Aug, www.edinburgh-mela.co.uk
5QUESTIONS
Margaret Robertson is a former editor of Edge magazine. She will be talking about the future of storytelling videogames at Edinburgh Interactive Festival
5 people to watch out for in the UK gaming industry Rob Yescombe, creative director, Crytek UK. Christian Donlan, an astute, eloquent writer. Sean Murray, co-founder of Hello Games. Dan Marshall, independent game maker. Mark Sorrell, head of design at Fremantle Media: taking games to places they’ve never been
4 reasons why people should come To find out why Channel 4 staged the death of a fictional scientist; to meet Ian ‘Fighting Fantasy’ Livingstone, founder of Games Workshop; to get some key data about how games are changing the world; and to find out why games consoles are doomed from Runescape’s Simon Seefeldt. 3 great things about Edinburgh Interactive For me: a chance to come home to Edinburgh. For the industry: be somewhere with some history and culture – not a conference centre in LA. For everyone else: come and find out how games are bigger, smarter and more varied than you may have realised.
2 storytelling games everyone should play The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (available for download on Wii) has a confusing, looping structure, but the stories within it unfold beautifully. Storyteller (www.ludomancy.com) shows how games can tell stories purely through play. 1 of the best games of all time Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a classic. An old-fashioned fairy tale brought to life in a way no other medium could.
■ Corn Exchange, 01462 456780, 13 & 14 Aug, 10am, free.