Days out

All Star Wrestling Tour

19 Jun 2008

Once upon a time, before the well-oiled ogres of WWE ruled the world in day-glo spandex, The Wrestling was a national institution. Every Saturday afternoon in the 1970s and 1980s, everything stopped at 4pm, to watch end-of-the-pier Greek tragedies…

Edinburgh World Justice Festival

19 Jun 2008

An excellent programme of events about global justice this year, with a firm focus on how the ‘ordinary’ Scottish resident can do their bit to help create a fairer world. Highlights include an Alternative Olympics, part family sports day, part…

Glasgow Mela

19 Jun 2008

Huge outdoor festival based on the traditions of the south-east Asian sub-continent. The Mela showcases a mix of international musical cultures — everything from Bhangra to Russian folk, with a cheeky wee stop off in reggae; acts include Sukshinder…

Festivals - Something For Nothing

5 Jun 2008

If you’re looking to wet a whistle, then look no further than the Orkney Beer Festival (22–24 August, www.visitorkney.com), held at the Stromness Hotel. A now annual wing-ding, guests are invited to join fellow tipplers for a taste of the local Orkney…

Festivals - Hire Learning

5 Jun 2008

From bar worker and front of house to book seller and litter picker, the festival world needs literally thousands of paid and unpaid staff to help make their events a success. DC Site Services help run many of the major festivals, so keep a close eye on…

Festivals - Strange Days Indeed

5 Jun 2008

An integral part of the cultural calendar, festivals are fast becoming a vibrant part of the tourism industry – both at home and abroad – and organisers are undoubtedly raising the bar to keep up with demand, pushing the boundaries to give the audience…

Festivals - Capital Gains

5 Jun 2008

Kicking off the capital’s world famous summer festivals in late July, it’s the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (25 Jul–3 Aug) which is the longest running jazz festival in the UK. Following hot on its heels is relative newbie to Edinburgh’s festival…

Refugee Week

5 Jun 2008

This year, Refugee Week has built a programme loosely themed around the idea of ‘Different Pasts, Shared Futures’, with exhibitions looking at the different ways individuals interpret the cities around them, plays, talks, fairs and film festivals…

Edinburgh Treefest

5 Jun 2008

We are aware that there are other festivals covered in this particular issue, and that many of them are trying to be carbon neutral or similarly ecologically friendly. But none of them are actually about trees. A celebration of all things wooden, leafy…

Peace chain around Faslane

5 Jun 2008

The Scottish CND are organising a chain of people and banners along the fence at Faslane submarine base in peaceful protest against the UK Government’s plan to build a new nuclear weapon system, which is opposed by the Scottish Parliament. Faslane…

West End Festival

5 Jun 2008

Best for al fresco frolicking There is of course more to the West End Festival than Scotland’s Mardi Gras (pictured), but the impact of 500+ musicians and costumed revellers stopping traffic on Byres Road (Sun 15 Jun) is not to be sniffed at. Propping…

Festivals

5 Jun 2008

Until 8 June Leith Festival Various venues, Leith, Edinburgh, prices vary www.leithfestival.com Leith Festival showcases its trademark brew of home-grown talent and big name headliners with over 100 musical acts, 50 comedians and a dozen visual…

Three Harbours Arts Festival

22 May 2008

We’re all about the community arts festivals this week, it seems. Summer is finally coming, and we can’t think of a nicer way to spend a sunny weekend than tracking down art in unusual places. So, in East Lothian, the main premise behind the Three…

Edinburgh Marathon

22 May 2008

‘I’ve run a marathon every year since 2004, mainly just to keep healthy. The first time I crossed the finish line I swore I was never, ever, ever going to do that to myself again, but after about a week I forgot all the pain and decided to make it an…

Leith Festival

22 May 2008

To commemorate the annual clamjamfry of community celebration way down dockward, we thought we’d treat you to a picture of everyone’s favourite Leither. Okay, everyone’s favourite fictional Leither. We’re not just gratuitously posting pictures of…

Art School Degree Shows

22 May 2008

GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART Ragnar Jonasson Painter Originally from Iceland, Ragnar Jonasson paints, but not using brushes or canvas. ‘I’m pouring paint,’ he explains, ‘from saucepans. I pour it onto plastic, then peel it off, so there’s nothing…

O2 Undiscovered

8 May 2008

Tell ya, kid. These days, everybody wants to get into showbiz. O2 Undiscovered, which lands in Glasgow this fortnight, is the latest in a fast-growing succession of hands-on networking events offering the public a chance to meet and get advice from…

Mary King’s Ghost Fest

8 May 2008

Back once again with the paranormal behaviour! The annual scary celebration of ghouls, ghosts, things that go bump in the night and (even more terrifyingly) perma-tanned television psychics, resurfaces through the ectoplasm. Night vigils in Edinburgh’s…

Women in Afghanistan

8 May 2008

This is Malalai Joya, often called ‘the bravest woman in Afghanistan’. Not yet 30, Joya has not only stood and been elected to the new Afghani parliament, but has stood up against corruption within that establishment. She’s currently suspended from her…

KT Tunstall and The Fall added to Wickerman Festival bill

28 Apr 2008

The line-up of this July's Wickerman Festival is almost complete, with the news that KT Tunstall and The Fall have been added to it. Over 100 other acts have already been confirmed for the Dumfriesshire festival, including Dodgy, The Hacienda Tour…

Big in Falkirk - Ajay Chhabra and Mike Roberts

24 Apr 2008

Anyone staging outdoor theatre in Scotland crosses their fingers – and toes and eyes – that the weather will behave itself at showtime. But for Ajay Chhabra, co-artistic director of nutkhut, who is bringing the dance and pyrotechnic spectacle Bollywood…

Ladyfest

Various venues, Edinburgh, Sun 4 May–Sun 1 Jun

24 Apr 2008

Ruby-red lips, set perms and Avon panstick. Not the traditional image of a feminist – certainly not the popular, laddish stereotype of a feminist. However, Ladyfest, Edinburgh’s first female-focussed festival, launches this fortnight with an event that…

The Budungo Trail

Kings of the swingers

24 Apr 2008

In Edinburgh a group of extrovert housemates have just moved into a new high tech environment where they will be under almost constant supervision by the public. For the next few weeks experts predict squabbles, group bonding and excessive personal…

Soma Skool

So you wanna be a DJ?

24 Apr 2008

Join the queue, kid. Or alternatively, get some hands on experience from the best in the business, as Soma Records’ annual Soma Skool, a day of workshops, demos and talks, all centering on the dance music industry, frugs its way over to your corner of…

createeurope

She’s a model, und she’s looking good

24 Apr 2008

The Goethe Institut are helping to launch createeurope, a pan-European competition for young fashion designers, with a day of talks and discussions looking at how the German and Scottish fashion industries have been revived after years of being…

Retrofest 2008 lineup announced

17 Apr 2008

The bill for Retrofest, Scotland's annual festival of pop nostalgia, has been announced. The event, which moves to a new home at Strathclyde Country Park, Motherwell from its old location at Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, is expected to attract 15,000 fans…

Glasgow International Art Festival

10 Apr 2008

‘What we’ve tried to do this year is suggest a loose theme of ‘public and private’, which runs through many of the curated shows,’ says Francis McKee, director of the biannual Glasgow International, talking me through the 70 plus exhibitions, public…

Glasgow Subway Festival

10 Apr 2008

The weather might, finally, be on the upswing, but underground at the Clockwork Orange they’re praying for rain. The first ever Glasgow Subway festival is set to launch on Thursday 10 April, with a packed out programme of events, underground in the…

Scottish Surfing

10 Apr 2008

Even when the surf’s up in Scotland, chances are the temperatures won’t be. But with advancements in wetsuits over the past few years, it’s now possible to surf the Scottish coastline year-round. Fuelled I suspect by seeing one too many photos of…

Three others to try: Beach sports

10 Apr 2008

Body boarding If kids can catch waves by standing in the water with a polystyrene board and waiting, so can the most clumsy of adults. This is an ideal introduction to surfing, as body boards are smaller, lighter and cheaper than surf boards. Coast to…

Clemens en August

10 Apr 2008

The thing about fashion is it’s just too readily available these days. When everybody’s wearing the same labels, how can you really be sure you’re setting yourself apart from the crowd, eh? Answer: by buying from a label that only sells for three days a…

The Big Word

10 Apr 2008

Sad times indeed, as it falls on us to announce the last ever night of Edinburgh’s spoken word cabaret institution The Big Word, which was started ten years ago by the now-mythical performance poet Jem Rolls. Over the last decade the night has proved…

Edinburgh College of Art Fashion Show 2008 announced

10 Apr 2008

May event on sale now Tickets are now on sale for The Morton Fraser Edinburgh College of Art Fashion Show 2008, which takes place at the Edinburgh College of Art in May. Tickets, priced £15, are on sale at www.tickets-scotland.com. See…

Boys-only cocktail classes

27 Mar 2008

‘If you want an interesting party sometime,’ the American novelist Robert Fulghum quipped, ‘combine cocktails and a fresh box of crayons for everyone.’ Today I’m doing the next best thing: I’m joining a cocktail class aimed at getting men back into the…

Edinburgh International Science Festival

27 Mar 2008

Since 1988, the Edinburgh International Science Festival has proved that the words ‘science’ and ‘fun’ are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the Festival’s extensive programme of hands-on events has become a highlight in the interactive kiddie…

Puppet Animation Festival

27 Mar 2008

PUPPETRY Various venues across Scotland, until Sat 26 Apr Puppetry has come a long way since the days of Punch & Judy on the beach. And puppetry in Scotland has made some leaps of its own. Back in 1984, when the Puppet Animation Festival first came…

Trampolining

27 Mar 2008

My training for this Olympic sport began at a tender age. I was three years old, and a friend had hired a bouncy castle for her birthday party. Back then I wasn’t really thinking about the cardiovascular favours I was doing my body, or the muscular…

Edinburgh International Science Festival

27 Mar 2008

Scientists: officially cooler and wealthier than you. You spend your evenings staring at Corrie; they’re out there scoping out life on Mars (no, not the one with John Sim) and getting paid for it. All the seats have already gone for the hot ticket of…

Tigerstyle DJs

27 Mar 2008

Local Bhangra-bhoys the Tigerstyle DJs (that’s them, pictured, up there) will be opening their hearts and the doors of the Arches to a whole new generation of musicians as of Tuesday 1 April. Brothers Raj & Pops are well known around Glasgow for their…

Horrid Henry Day

27 Mar 2008

The naughtiest boy in children’s fiction has his very own day – 1 April, but Borders is getting in early to capture the weekend crowd. Help celebrate the tomfoolery of Francesca Simon’s most famous character at this fun session of Horrid Henry stories…

Scotland’s craft community

13 Mar 2008

Click, click, click. For the past few years, the needles of crafters up and down the country have been spinning a revolution. A very quiet, civilised revolution, granted. Productive. With minimal bloodshed, and lovely accessories. Okay, that might be…

The Style Issue - Trendspotting

13 Mar 2008

Dieny Itoe Clothes Not yet out of college, 23-year-old model and design student Dieny Itoe is hotly tipped for fashion fame. Her sophisticated interpretation of form and fabric earned her the coveted Glasgow 1999 Design Medal last year, and while…

A+E Quiz

13 Mar 2008

Hello, sensitive cultural types. Quite like wielding your massive brain for an audience, but feel that there’s just too much of that baffling sporty stuff in your average pub quiz? Well, the Arts and Entertainment Quiz may well be the event for you. The…

Stop the War demonstration

13 Mar 2008

It’s exactly five years since the invasion of Iraq. Still feel you’ve got something to say about it? Haste ye along to Blythswood Square and join the Scottish leg of one of the biggest international protest marches since the original invasion. The…

Kelvingrove still top attraction

13 Mar 2008

The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum remains Scotland’s most visited attraction following its £35m refurbishment. A new global survey of museums and galleries placed the Kelvingrove 14th in the world, putting it just behind the State Hermitage…

£2m boost to National Museums of Scotland

10 Mar 2008

The fortunes of the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) received a significant boost this week, thanks to a £2m from a benefactor. Miss Adèle Stewart, a long-time patron of the National Museum of Scotland, willed the money to the trust in order that…

Leonard Cohen

28 Feb 2008

There’s no particular reason why Glasgow poetry promoters Vital Synz are holding a Leonard Cohen Supper this fortnight. It’s not the great songwriter’s birthday, and he’s still, as far as we know, in rude health. He is being inducted into the Rock…

Kimono Mackintosh

28 Feb 2008

Yeah, sorry, we couldn’t resist. Kimono Mackintosh, Glasgow’s festival celebrating the art of the pretty dressing gown goes into its second year, with a stretched out programme of events. Look out for art and orgami workshops, traditional dance…

Mark Wallinger

28 Feb 2008

A talk by 2007 Turner Prize winner Mark Wallinger (pictured. No, really, that’s him! In the bear suit! Artists, eh?), as he takes up the position of Artist in Residence at Edinburgh College of Art. National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, Mon 3 Mar

Chinese New Year

14 Feb 2008

It’s the Year of the Rat, and Scotland is celebrating. See page 9 for other events in the nationwide China Now project, or just mosey on down to Kelvingrove Museum for a day of music dance and craft. Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow, Tue 19…