Festival Around Town www.list.co.uk/festival
Telephone Booking Fringe 0131 226 0000 International Festival 0131 473 2000 Book Festival 0845 373 5888 Art Festival 07500461332
Activities & Events Public Evenings Fri 7 Aug, 7–8.45pm. £4 (£3). Royal Observatory Visitor Centre, Blackford Hill, 668 8404. See the Royal Observatory’s telescope dome, go on a journey through the Solar System, and hold a meteorite. If it’s clear, observe the skies using the telescopes which are available for public use. FREE Lothians Conservation Volunteers Until Sun 9 Aug, 9.30am–5.30pm. St Andrew Square, 229 0463. Weekly volunteering on outdoor conservation tasks. You will need to book in advance to ensure a seat on the minibus. Living History Sat 8 & Wed 12 Aug, 2.30–5.30pm. Included in admission: £5.50 (£4.50; family ticket £10–15). Georgian House, 7 Charlotte Square, 0844 493 2117. Costumed guides at the Georgian House are really getting into their roles this summer: ask them anything you like about life 200 years ago, but they will know nothing beyond 1820! Learn about the lives of rich and poor in this fascinating and transformational period of history. FREE A Wander with Bugs and Butterflies Thu 6 Aug, 1–3pm. Cammo Estate, Cammo Visitor Centre, Cammo Road, 447 7145. Enjoy a walk in the old Cammo Estate and discover the creepy crawlies and butterflies that like to live there. Get creative at the Visitor Centre. Booking essential. See right. Minibeast Safari Thu 6 Aug, 2–3.30pm. £3. Newhailes, Newhailes Road, Musselburgh, 0844 493 2124. Search out the bugs of woodland and meadow with the help of sweep nets, pooters, pots – and the on-hand ranger. Booking recommended.See right. FREE Coburg House Art Studios Open Event Sat 8 & Sun 9 Aug, 11am–6pm. Coburg House Studios, 15 Coburg Street, 554 6888. Open day at Coburg House Art Studios, a hub of creativity with homegrown and international painters, jewellers, silversmiths, sculptors and textile designers working side by side. FREE Doggie MOT Sat 8 Aug, 10am–5pm. Hillend Country Park, Biggar Rd, 445 3383. Free health checks for your dog – by the PDSA – plus plenty of information about where to walk your canine friend. FREE Herb Walk Sat 8 Aug, 2–4pm. Arthur’s Seat, 557 6242. A herb walk organised by ACE Herb Study Group to look for medicinal plants around the base of Arthur’s Seat. Meet by the side of St Margaret’s Loch below the ruin of St Anthony’s chapel.
✽✽ FREE Holyrood Park Fun Dog Show Sun 9 Aug, 11am–3pm.
Holyrood Park, 652 8150. Enter your pooch into a waggiest tail competition or take part in some fun show classes. There will also be free PDSA health checks for your dogs. See Hitlist. FREE Protecting Diversity Around the World Sun 9 Aug, noon–4pm. Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. The RGBE is studying such diverse plant groups as the Cape primrose and culinary ginger. Come and find out more.
✽✽ FREE Edinburgh Festivals’ Cavalcade Sun 9 Aug, 2–3pm.
Holyrood Park, www.edinburghcavalcade.com. With floats from all aspects of the Edinburgh Festivals, as well as community groups and commercial ventures, the cavalcade takes place in Holyrood Park for the first time ever, starting from the Holyrood Park Road entrance (by the Commonwealth Pool) and travelling north and east along The Queen’s Drive
Ugly bug ball If you’re already bored of staring at comedians, why not spend a little time investigating a very different kind of wild and unpredictable beastie? Summer is excellent bug-spotting
time, as both Cammo Visitor Centre, who are offering A Wander With Bugs and Butterflies, and the Newhailes rangers, who are ready to take you on Minibeast Safari, know well. Aw, look at this little fella. He’s much more appealing than Jimmy Carr. ■ A Wander with Bugs and Butterflies, Cammo Visitor Centre, 447 7145, Thu 6 Aug, 1–3pm, Free. Minibeast Safari Newhailes, Musselburgh, 0844 493 2124 Thu 6 Aug, 2–3.30pm. £3.
past Dynamic Earth, the Scottish Parliament and Palace of Holyrood House to finish at the Meadowbank Terrace entrance (by Meadowbank Stadium). See Hitlist.
Books FREE Words and Music of Cool America Fri 7 Aug, 6–7.30pm. Central Library, George IV Bridge, 242 8000. Jazz played by guitarist Don Paterson, bassist Brian Shiels, saxophonist Keith Edwards and trombone player Dave Batchelor and poems chosen by Don Paterson and read by Angus MacInnes. Celebrating 150 Years of Conan Doyle Sat 8 Aug, 7.30pm. £7.50 (£5). Polwarth Parish Church, Polwarth Terrace, 447 2741. An evening of music and literature with guest speaker Owen Dudley Edwards. FREE Getting Started at NLS Tue 11 Aug, 2–3pm. National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 3845. Find out how to register, seek out specific books and peek inside the Reading Rooms, then enjoy a lifetime of reading books for free. Email events@nls.uk or phone 0131 623 4675 to book.
✽✽ FREE West Port Book Festival Thu 13 Aug, times vary. Various
venues, West Port. After the success of last year’s inaugural festival, authors, poets and magicians congregate in Edinburgh’s Soho for readings, happenings and workshops. It’s all free with tickets for most events bookable via
tickets@westportbookfestival.org. See Hitlist.
Exhibitions FREE Votes for Women Until Sat 9 Jan (not Sun), 10am–5pm. Museum of Edinburgh, Huntly House, 142 Canongate, 529 4143. An exhibition charting the women’s suffrage movement in Edinburgh. Fairs SACS National Game Fair Scotland Sat 8 & Sun 9 Aug, £10 (£5–£7). Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, 01828 650639. A demonstration of the importance of game and other wildlife to the Scottish countryside, this fair features gundog and falconry displays, entertainment and trade stands.
Food & Drink Men in the Kitchen Mon 10 Aug, 7–9.30pm. £40. Cookingmania, 75a Main Street, Davidsons Mains, 3362012. Men-only practical cookery classes.
✽✽ Whisky Fringe Sat 8 & Sun 9 Aug, 2–6pm. £20. Mansfield
Traquair, 15 Mansfield Place, 525 9380. Annual whisky show offering the chance to sample the delights of over 200 different whiskies and some rum. Adults only.
LGBT ✽✽ Pink Links Fri 7 Aug, 7pm. £5. Deep Blue, below the Blue Moon, 1
Barony Street, 556 2788. Pink Links is back, this time for women-only speed dating fun on the first Friday of every month. There are 15 dates of three minutes each, bar breaks for Dutch courage and opportunities to mingle afterwards with free entry to GHQ. See www.pinklinks.biz for more info or to book tickets.See Hitlist. Talks Dumfries House is Perhaps the Homeliest of All Thu 6 Aug, 10.30am. £8. Lauriston Castle, 2a Cramond Road South, 529 3963. So said the third Marquess of Bute about his Ayrshire home. Simon Green discusses. Includes refreshments and a tour of the grounds. Please book in advance. FREE The Art of Spain Thu 6 & 13 Aug, 11am–1pm. National Gallery of Scotland: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, The Mound, 624 6200. Weekly screenings of the acclaimed BBC Four series, in which art historian and critic Andrew Graham-Dixon argues that the influence of Spanish art across Europe, from the golden age of El Greco and Velázquez to Picasso and Dali in the 20th century, is even greater than that of its traditionally more celebrated Italian counterparts.
NEXT ISSUE OUT WEDNESDAY 20 AUGUST
78 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 14–21 Aug 2008