Festival
{AROUND TOWN} LIST.CO.UK/FESTIVAL
HITLIST POLITICS, POETRY, POWER
Events are listed by city, then type. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to sport@list.co.uk for sport or aroundtown@list.co.uk for all other events. Listings compiled by Laura Ennor. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
EDINBURGH
Activities & Events ✽✽ Mobilise: The Anti-Cuts Festival Until Sat 20 Aug, times
Mobilise: The Anti-Cuts Festival Carol Ann Duffy and Robin Ince are amongst the lefty faces in this political festival. See picture, page 86. Unison Scotland Building, until Sat 20 Aug, times vary.
Golden Hour: The Final Chapter As the Forest Café closes, we’re saying goodbye to a lot of good things, like this long-running lit night. See preview, opposite. Forest Café, Wed 24 Aug, from 1pm. Edinburgh Book Fringe Owen Jones and 2-Toner Pauline Black are among the authors appearing at Word Power’s excellent Fringe. Word Power Bookshop, until Thu 25 Aug, times vary.
Festival of Politics 2011 This year, the Scottish Parliament-hosted programme of discussions are specifically focused on how politics works in our brave new social media world. Scottish Parliament, Fri 19–Sat 27 Aug, times vary. Fair Trade on the Fringe A very worthwhile and frankly ace fair, selling karmically-positive goodies in the city centre. Pick up gifts, food and drink, crafts, fashion, jewellery and more. Castle Street, until Sun 21 Aug, 10am—6pm.
Benghazi Speaks: Revolutionary Images from the Libyan Uprising Images of the revolutionary graffiti and cartoons that appeared recently in Libya by Dutch photojournalist Teun Voeten. Filmhouse, until Sun 4 Sep.
Ruskin Live! Actor and art historian Paul O’Keeffe recreates Ruskin’s celebrated 1853 lectures at the Philosophical Institution, on Turner (Thu) and the Pre-Raphaelites (Fri). Scottish National Gallery, Thu 18 & Fri 19 Aug.
Keep Rising: Radicalism and Revolution in 2011 Spend the day thinking about the ongoing radical movements in world, and share ideas and inspiration with like minded people. The Forest Café, Sat 20 Aug, 3pm.
84 THE LIST 18–25 Aug 2011
L A V I T S E F
vary. Prices vary. Unison Scotland Building, 60 Belford Road, 226 0080, unisonmobilise.blogspot.com Politically charged festival-within-a-festival of events tangentially or directly related to the effects of recent or impending cuts to pubic services. Run by a gaggle of self-described ‘raging lefties’, the festival includes workshops and political debates throughout the day, a couple of events with Carol Ann Duffy, and each night at 8.30pm, The Mobilise Show, which features a different selection of guest comedians every night, from Vladimir McTavish to Robin Ince. See picture, page 86, and Hitlist.
✽✽ FREE Edinburgh Book Fringe Until Thu 25 Aug, times vary. Word
Power Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, 662 9112. Hosted by fiercely independent Word Power Books, this festival gives a platform to smaller-scale publishers and writers, be they polemicists or comedians, during the capital’s festival month. In its second week the festival welcomes, amongst others, Owen Jones to discuss his book Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class, Pauline Black to talk about her autobiography Black by Design: A 2-Tone Memoir, and Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann to answer some very silly questions, in honour of the launch of their book, Answer Me This! See Hitlist. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Until Sat 27 Aug. Mon–Fri, 9pm, Sat, 7.30pm & 10.30pm. £25–£58. Castle Esplanade, Edinburgh Castle Royal Mile, 225 1188. Glittering military entertainment including the Massed Pipes and Drums, the Dutch Mounted Bicycle Band and South Africa’s water-buffalo- horn toting Navy Band.
✽✽ Festival of Politics 2011: Renewing Politics in the Age
of New Media Fri 19–Sat 27 Aug, times vary. Prices vary. The Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Road, 348 5000. The only festival of its kind to be hosted in a UK parliament, the Festival of Politics features famous names from politics, media and the arts in debates and cultural events, most of which are free. This year events are themed around the incursion of new and social media into areas traditionally the preserve of traditional press and institutions. See Hitlist. FREE Detours: Ross Sutherland Fri 19 Aug, 6.30pm. City Art Centre, 2 Market Street, 529 3963. Detours is a series of eight performances by Fringe artists within visual art spaces. Sutherland’s is a performance of poetry as inspired by David Mach’s Precious Light exhibition. Booking essential. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival. FREE Remembered Remedies Sat 20 Aug, 10am–noon. Royal Botanic Garden, Arboretum Place, 248 2909. We all know dock leaves take the nip out of a nettle sting, but how else do we use plants as remedies? Ethnomedica want to know your secrets.
FREE The Beat of the Show – Outdoor Sculpture Tours Sat 20 & Sun 21 Aug, 2pm. Royal Botanic Garden, Arboretum Place, 248 2909. Edinburgh based artist Ciara McDermott leads informal tours of Thomas Houseago’s The Beat of the Show, the exhibition of outdoor sculpture currently on show in the gardens. Tours last approximately 45 minutes. Meet at Inverleith House reception desk. FREE Saturday Social Sat 20 Aug, 3pm. Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, 650 2210. Gallery Education Assistant Shawn Coulman leads a weekly session offering a relaxed introduction to the current exhibition. FREE Community Fun Day and Fun Dog Show Sun 21 Aug, 11am–3pm. Holyrood Park, 652 8150. Yes, it’s fun twice. Take part in some sporting activities and/or enter your dog in the dog show, and meet people who work in the park. FREE The Japanese Tea Ceremony Sun 21 Aug, 3–4pm. Royal Scottish Academy, The Mound, 225 6671. Mio Shapley, professional storyteller and qualified master of Urasenke or the Japanese tea ceremony, and Hiromi Moffat, shamisen player, invite you for a very special Japanese cuppa. Swords of the Righteous Mon 22 Aug, 10.15am–3.15pm. £15 (£12; children £8.50, under 5s free) castle admission (event is included). Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, 225 9846. Partially dramatised explanation of how and why Cromwell’s army came to lay siege to Edinburgh Castle. Sound Chamber Mon 22 Aug, 2.30–7.15pm. £10 for a day pass; £5 for concerts. St Andrew’s and St George’s Church, 13 George Street, chambermusicscotland.org.uk Chamber music used to be the way that most people experienced music before the twin inventions of radio and the gramophone: they sat down and played it themselves. It may be a pity that music-making has become so professionalised, but Scotland is still home to some world-class chamber ensembles. Sound Chamber is a day of showcase performances with some opportunities for discussion and industry networking in the middle, organised by Chamber Music Forum Scotland, Scottish Music Centre and Enterprise Music Scotland. Featured groups are the Dunedin Consort, Mr McFall’s Chamber, Pure Brass, Concerto Caledonia and Auricle Ensemble. Day passes are available to those who want to experience everything, or if you just want concert tickets then book through the Fringe Box Office. Salsa Dance Night Wed 24 Aug, 6.45pm. £5 (students £4). Harry’s Bar, Randolph Place, 07734 435354. Evening salsa dance classes, one for beginners at 7pm and a further, intermediate class at 8pm. A free taster session is offered from 6.45pm–7pm. FREE Art Late Thu 25 Aug, 5.30pm. Various galleries, edinburghartfestival.com A regular and extremely popular feature of the Edinburgh Art Festival, Art Late is a specially programmed night of late openings at galleries across the city. A unique opportunity to experience live music, performances and impromptu events in a selection of venues across the city. The programme is revealed to those who have booked a place during August. Booking essential. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.