rem -
OPEN LIST
ompetitions Presentations Wed 6. City Chambers. High Street. 7pm. The presentation ceremony for prizewinners in the Spring Fling 1990 painting. poetry and photography competitions. An exhibition of photographic submissions with the theme ‘Our Future Shouldn‘t Cost The Earth' opens at Stills Gallery. 1115 High Street. Fri 8. Ham—5.30pm. The winning poets‘ work is presented at the same venue on Tue 12 (see below). Tommy Mitchell Trio Centenary Tea Dance Thurs 7. Queensferry Community Centre. Kirkliston Road. Queensferry. 1 .31l—3.3(lpm. 511p. An afternoonof old-time dancing. with tea and home waking included in the price. Slide Workshop Open Days Thurs 7 and Fri s‘. WASPS Studio. Patriothall. Hamilton Place. lilam—me. Videos. displays and demonstrations on how Slide Workshop :ombines visual arts. theatre. music and dance. Kenny Munro's Peace Mural Thurs 7—Sat 9. Assembly Rooms. George Street. lilam—l .3llpm; 2.3(l—opm. Help complete this mosaic mural in the Assembly Rooms' foyer. dedicated to peace in the 1990s. and featuring contributions from all overthe world. Lothian Festival 01 Languages Fri 8. Dean Education Centre. Belford Road. 7-1(lpm. A chance to benefit from Edinburgh‘s cosmopolitan population by
learning new languages through songs.
sketches. dance. lessons. games andother activities. Open to all ages from 11) to 100. Gala Fair Day Sat 1). Murieston Park. Gorgie Dalry. Noon—4pm (also Sun 1(1); Holyrood Park (Scottish Miners' Gala). Noon—5pm. Local. open air stalls and celebrations.
Spring Fling Kite Fly Sun 111.1lolyrood Park. l1am—5pm.()rganised by the Wind Things eo-operatiye (which runs the Grassmarket kite shop). this is an opportunity to see the flying Dare Bear teddies. to build your own kite. to see all
manner of airborne constructions. and to enter a frisbee competition.
Spring Fling Poetry flight Tue 12. Stills Gallery. 105 High Street. 7pm. Brian McCabe. poet and author of the recently published novel The Other McCoy. reads from his own work and hosts readings of poems by winners of the Spring Fling poetry competition, ofwhich he was a
judge.
Splashing On The Colour ch 13—Sat 16. 4a Downfield Place. off Dalry Road. 10am—4pm. The Women Unlimited Health Project for women livingin Gorgie/Dalry invite you to help decorate the shop front of their premises under the guidance of a local artist.
Over 50s Tea Dance Wed 13. Wester Hailes Education Centre. 5 Murrayburn Drive. 2—4pm. £1. Live music. tea. sandwiches and home baking for the young at heart. Mini Video Festival Thurs 14. Ryrie‘s Bar. Haymarket. Info: 225 6518. A compilation of work by Lothian Video Users‘ Group. including drama. music. documentary and experimental work. with a prize for the best spoofadvert.
oSPR/NG
,(iLfNG’90.
GLASGOW HERITAGE WEEK
~ . 9-17 JUNE 1990
This year‘s Glasgow Heritage Week, promoted by the National Trust for Scotland, runs from Saturday 9 to Sunday 17 June, and encompasses events, special outings and exhibitions all overthe city. “Queen's Cross Relurbishment' is the subject of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society's open day on Sat 9, at 870 Garscube
Road (1DaMpm). The following day,
Sun 10, there is a chance to enjoy (weather permitting) a guided walk in
Pollok Country Park, and possibly to pause at the Henry Moore sculptures currently on show in the park. The walk leaves from the Rangers' Centre at
1 2pm.
l l 1 l l l
2' “ad -« w ‘71’20 Perhaps the highlight of the opening few days is Monday’s double bill: a coach tour on the subject of ‘Glasgow's Famous Folk' leaves Hutchesons' Hall at 11am, returning at 12.15pm forCliff Hanley's lunchtime talk on ‘My Glasgow’. The tourand talk, in common with most of the week's events, are free.
A host of activities is on offer each day of the Heritage Week: lull details are available from Hutchesons' Hall, 158 Ingram Street/2 John Street, 041 552 8391. The next issue of The List will carry details of the final three days of the Week.
72'1‘he List 1—14June 1990
SPRING LOADED
From the jaded viewpoint of a Scottish
- listings magazine hack, an arts and
entertainments festival between May and August is the last thing you need. Edinburgh's Spring Fling is now into its sixth year, and shows no signs of going away, so I decided to find out why it comes round every year to bother us again.
Edinburgh District Council’s Pat Stephenson, who has the unenviable task of interesting the press in Spring Fling, is very understanding. She draws my attention to the festival's origins: a whole string of Gala Days which traditionally take place in and around Edinburgh during June. This year, there are seventeen of them, from Dueensferry to Calder, taking in the Scottish Miners and ot course the Spring Fling Gala, which kicks off the whole lot in Princes Street Gardens on Sat 2, with activities and performances as diverse as Swan Lake on stilts and jewellery-making. ‘The idea is for Spring Fling to act as an umbrella for all the community Gala Days and give them more cohesion,‘ explains Stephenson. ‘There’s also an attempt at cross-fertilisation of neighbouring
Galas.’
In a sense, Spring Fling does for Edinburgh what Mayfest's community circuit does for Glasgow. While the Festival and Fringe are based lirme in the city centre, Spring Fling funds performance tours which visit Edinburgh's less accessible and less well-heeled areas. ‘There’s also a focus on participatory workshops and acquiring skills,‘ says Stephenson. For example, the maverick French circus troupe Archaos will be conducting children’s workshops (presumably minus chainsaws) in Pilton, and group creative projects take place in Princes Street Gardens and the Assembly Rooms throughout the two weeks.
Annual competitions in poetry, photography and painting are another important ingredient. This year, the competitions are based around environmental issues, a topical theme, which has forthe first time spilled over to colour the whole festival green.
With performances and participation events geared to people of all ages and all creative bents, Spring Fling offers something for every taste. Who knows, ifthe weather holds, you might even see the occasional peaky-laced List journalist joining in. (Andrew Burnet)