Days out

Glasgow Film Festival highlights

A selection of the best events at GFF 2012

3 Feb 2012

Music We’re excited about DIY promoter Cry Parrot’s event with soundtrack dark lord Umberto who will provide the music for a secret film of his choice (SWG3, 25 Feb, 8pm). Douglas Hart, founding member of The Jesus and Mary Chain, has made videos for…

Glasgow Vs Edinburgh: The Verdict

22 Apr 2010

It all boils down to this. How do the two cities line-up over eight key categories? We give our final opinions The Culture Glasgow + A near endless sea of artistic talent, with bleeding-edge creatives elbow-to-elbow with peerless arts…

A guide to the architecture and design of Edinburgh

Edinburgh’s architecture from medieval tenements to the ultra-modern

16 Feb 2011

Should you happen past Enric Miralles’ Scottish Parliament building at the foot of the Royal Mile and hear raised voices from a group of otherwise peaceful-looking types, don’t be surprised. It’ll just be yet another architectural tour that has…

Six Cities Design Festival

8 May 2007

We don’t often stop to consider the impact design has on every aspect of our lives. This month, a Scotland-wide festival aims to encourage us to do just that. The Six Cities Design Festival, www.six-cities.com, features established and up-and-coming…

Neighbourhood Watch: Hyndland, Glasgow

Tips for hot spots in the plushest part of the West End

3 Feb 2012

What’s it like? That nice bit between the ‘proper’ West End and Anniesland, with lots of cute coffee shops, restaurants and lovely flats. Think ornate doorways, stained glass and well-pruned window baskets, going for much more than your average…

Site specifics: Deep Sea World

9 Jul 2009

What is it? Dah-duh. Dah-duh. Dah-duh dah-duh dah-duh … That was a textual rendering of the Jaws theme, right? Right! Because this fortnight we’re focusing on Scotland’s own shark haven, Deep Sea World! You’re chipper today We just really…

Sex in the 21st century - Valentine’s Day Clubs

5 Feb 2009

With Valentine’s Day landing at the weekend this year, there is ample opportunity for those hoping for a love injection on the dance floor Love will be in the air like a tropical smog on 14 February, and every club and bar you walk into will be playing…

The best Easter 2011 events in Glasgow and Edinburgh

Easter egg hunts, beaches, boat trips and activities for Easter weekend

18 Mar 2011

Beach Babies Scotland is scattered with some of the most peaceful and well-kept beaches in the UK. In particular, North Berwick on the east coast is a famously picturesque seaside town, complete with miles of sand, cobbled streets full of friendly cafés…

The rough guide to Portobello, Edinburgh's seaside

Neighbourhood Watch: The best bits by the beach

24 Mar 2011

What’s it like? An utterly charming, slightly wonky area of Edinburgh, characterised by the city’s only beach and a very distinct, anti-corporate local community ethos. Formerly the holiday destination of most Central Belters, a lack of investment in…

The historical events that shaped Edinburgh

An overview of Edinburgh's history provides further insight into Scotland's capital

16 Feb 2011

In prehistoric times, our ancient ancestors hunted and farmed on the plain between the Forth and the Pentland Hills, and settled on the heights of Castle Rock and Arthur’s Seat, strengthening these rocky outcrops with primitive ramparts. Later, in the…

Hogmanay 2008 - Clubbing

11 Dec 2008

‘It’s on’ is the simple motto which Glasgow überclub Optimo are using to promote their famous Hogmanay special – it’s at the Fruitmarket again, and will see Twitch and Wilkes joined by Glasgow Italo-punks Den Haan and laptop-wielding Parisian show-offs…

Chris Packham - Wild thing

30 Oct 2009

Chris Packham recently suggested that we should just let the giant panda die out. As he comes to Glasgow, Kirstin Innes talks to the controversial conservationist.

Neighbourhood Watch: Byres Road, Glasgow

A rough guide to the trendiest road in the West

17 Oct 2011

What’s it like? One big road with many little offshoots to appeal to the culture vulture in you. Where’s it, like? Off Great Western road if you hang a left at the Botanic Gardens, and just up from Partick. Take the tube to Hillhead station (soon…

Preview of 2012 - Fascinating Mummies

Exhibition of Egyptian death rituals and paraphenalia

6 Jan 2012

If, by any chance, you happened to be in Edinburgh in 1988, and at school, there was a very good chance you went on a trip to see the Gold of the Pharaohs exhibition at the City Art Centre. It was a big deal, up there with the Glasgow Garden Festival in…

Glasgow grins and bares it

29 Nov 2007

Celebrate your cellulite this Christmas! Professional ego-booster Gok Wan is in town for the live How To Look Good Naked roadshow. Two audience members will get the full-on nudie glow, and a host of hairstylists and make-up artists will be doling out…

How to get fit through jogging, swimming, skateboarding, frisbee and tennis

14 May 2010

Hey you! Lazybones! It’s warm outside, which means there’s no excuse for your sofa addiction anymore. Niki Boyle has the best suggestions for getting sporty through spring and summer...

The BFG

2 Apr 2009

PREVIEW STAGE ADAPTATION Nineteen years after his death, Roald Dahl remains as popular as ever with the bedtime crowd. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, The Witches – the list goes on, each of them bringing delight to…

Scotland The Great - Nine Inch Will Please a Lady

22 Jan 2009

The Burnsian band I am in, with Malcolm Ross and my brother Russel, The Bum-Clocks, has a version of ‘Nine Inch’, a witty ditty in celebration of quantity. We usually locate it in our mash-up of the poetry of Burns and Iggy Pop which kicks off with ‘A…

Shivago Thai Clinic

8 Jan 2009

Mental note to self: stop channelling Gwyneth. As a glass cup is set alight, blown out then placed on my back, things at the Shivago Thai Clinic, off Edinburgh's High Street, are feeling decidedly un-Hollywood. Indeed, as the foreign contraption comes…

RockNess / T in the Park line-ups announced

Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, and Foo Fighters for T; Groove Armada, Kasabian and Chemical Bros for RockNess

3 Mar 2011

The great and good of the music world are set to arrive in style this summer with both T in the Park and RockNess dishing up the goodies for their June and July festivals. At TITP in Balado, the mighty Pulp join Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay and Foo Fighters…

Wallace and Gromit Present: A World of Cracking Ideas

31 Mar 2010

Oscar-winning characters Wallace and Gromit take centre stage at this Aardman Animations exhibition, as visitors get the chance to tour around Wallace and Gromit’s 62 West Wallaby Street home, as well as looking at, and interacting with, their most…

Go Ape

Become king of the swingers with this adventure amongst the tree tops

10 Sep 2009

So here I am, standing in front of a group of strangers – a strapping great harness hitched around my nether regions – trying to remember which karabiner attaches on to which safety line and which foot to put where. Welcome to Go Ape, the high-wire…

Site Specifics: Edinburgh Castle

14 May 2009

What is it? Do I really have to answer this? It’s that gigantic castle thing on a rock dominating your capital city. Yeah, we know Look, it may seem like rather an obvious choice, but really, when was the last time you actually visited? May is the…

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…

Events for St Andrew's Day 2011

Live music, ceilidhs, free and discounted entry to nation’s key landmarks

18 Nov 2011

Visit for free As part of Scotland’s Winter Festivals, the weekend before St Andrew’s Day will be enhanced with money-off deals for some of the nation’s key landmarks. You can get cheap or free entry to Glasgow Science Centre (check out the…

Lennoxlove Book Festival

Michael Morpurgo, Alistair Darling, James Naughtie and Julia Donaldson among highlights

17 Oct 2011

Set in the East Lothian woodlands is a five-star luxury accommodation dubbed by Historic Scotland as one of the country’s ‘most ancient and notable houses’. While renowned for its golfing breaks and wedding parties, Lennoxlove (full name: ‘Lennox’s Love…

Neighbourhood Watch: Shawlands, Glasgow

25 Aug 2011

What’s it like? The unofficial hub of the Southside. Young, bustling and almost completely tenement-bound, packed with pizza places, big bars and some excellent independent shopping, Shawlands also benefits from proximity to the lovely space of Queen’s…

Preview: the National Museum of Scotland

A peek inside the museum, plus reminiscences from notable Edinburghers and a guide to coming events

22 Jul 2011

The National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street is due to reopen this month after a three-year, £46.4 million redevelopment. David Pollock takes an exclusive peak behind closed doors to find out about the new exhibits

Mirazozo coloured inflatable structure a 2011 Edinburgh Fringe highlight

Architects of Air bring their latest inflatable structure to Edinburgh

8 Jul 2011

Picture the scene – you walk inside a Fringe venue, and find no actors, no musicians, no dancers, in fact no performers at all. You'd be forgiven for wanting your money back. Unless, that is, your ticket is for an Architects of Air creation – because…

Interview - Prof Brian Cox and Robin Ince

Two minds talk science and comedy ahead of their Uncaged Monkeys show at Edinburgh Science Festival

24 Mar 2011

Robin Ince: Am I wrong to sometimes be scared of science idiots? I presented a show about Schrödinger’s cat on Radio 4 [Schrödinger’s Quantum Kittens] and the BBC received complaints that it was broadcasting shows promoting killing cats in boxes.

Edinburgh Samhuinn marks events from pagan calendar

Beltane Fire Society bring fire and drums to Capital's Royal Mile

27 Oct 2010

As a nation with some deeply pagan roots, we love any excuse to set fire to things while bashing away at drums. Thank goodness, then, for the Beltane Fire Society, which not only shares these passions, but manages to foreground them twice a year. This…

Glasgow Vs Edinburgh: Comments

22 Apr 2010

Residents from both cities have been battling it out on The List’s messageboards over the past fortnight, giving reasons for their preferences. Here are just a few of the best. See the rest online at www.list.co.uk/gvse Glasgow Only good thing…

Site Specifics: The Falkirk Wheel

25 Jun 2009

Occupation? The world’s only rotating boatlift. There are two canals which run through Falkirk but don’t connect, see? The Wheel lifts boats from one to the other. And commemorates the millennium. Aye, nine years ago it was millenniums as far as the eye…

Cry Wolf

28 May 2009

Edinburgh Zoo has announced the return of wolves following a 16-year hiatus. Three wolves have made their way from the Highland Wildlife Park. Due to hunting, habitat loss and diseases, they are now confined to small pockets in a handful of countries.

Underneath The Arches

8 Jan 2009

Glasgow’s Arches, as anyone who’s worked there will tell you, is the sort of place that doesn’t so much defy your expectations as consistently confound them. Audiences might marvel at the sort of building that can stage a theatre show, art exhibition…

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…

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery want your children to become Portrait Detectives

New events to get kids interested in the refurbished Gallery

9 Jan 2012

Under wraps for the past two and a half years, the newly re-opened Scottish National Portrait Gallery cuts quite a dash. But for younger visitors, the wow factor generated by a £17 million spend can be hard to see. Which is why events like Portrait…

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery re-opens

Edinburgh gallery transformed after major refurbishment

14 Dec 2011

The public and exhibition space within the Gallery has increased by more than 60% since its refurbishment; as well as the traditional (and much missed) artworks from the likes of Ramsay, Nasmyth and Raeburn being on prominent display, the new Scottish…

Neighbourhood Watch: Leith, Edinburgh

A beginner's guide to the capital's port town

21 Jul 2011

What’s it like? It’s Leith. If you’re an Edinburgh List reader, it’s very likely you live there. Glossy bars, Michelin-starred restaurants and warehouse conversions squaring off against cobbles, pint’n’pie pubs and Hibees. Vibrant, community-focused (it…

Bus trips to the Scottish Highlands from Edinburgh

How to explore the best of the rest of Scotland

16 Feb 2011

Edinburgh has culture, history, shops and sustenance, but there’s a whole country beyond to be explored and it would be a shame to limit a visit to Scotland to the capital alone. If you visit just one other part of the country, make it the Highlands…

Glasgow walk encourages critical engagement with centre

Guided walk of city explores use of urban space

14 Aug 2010

The skyscraper-crammed stretch of city centre basking in the title Glasgow’s International Financial Services District is a strange place at the best of times. During the day, the tower blocks are full of call-centre workers; at night the street corners…

Time to burn: Calorie counting

14 May 2010

How much exercise will offset that last custard cream you ate? Alice White is on hand with a handy comparative guide to burning off those calories...

ECA's Fashion Show

30 Apr 2009

Edinburgh College of Art’s annual fashion degree show has long been a key date in the calendar of fashion-forward ‘Burghers, who know that the innovative designs on display tend to transcend expectations for a student fashion show. ECA graduates have…

Beltane Fire Festival

16 Apr 2009

What’s that coming over Calton Hill? Yes, it’s the annual Beltane Fire Festival, complete with fire, frolics and lashings of body paint. Celebrating the beginning of the summer season, the unique festival draws inspiration from ancient Gaelic traditions…

Take Me Out

2 Apr 2009

From cycling, pirate ships, dolphin watching and woodland walks to face-painting, castles, beaches and alien designs, Anna Millar handpicks some of the finest days out and events this Easter, whether you’re a big or a little kid

Easter Eggcitement 2009

2 Apr 2009

Chicks, Eggs & Bunnies Week Mon 6–Thu 9 Apr, 10–11am. £8 per day. Imagination Workshop, 136 Marchmont Road, 0131 466 0148. Make a chick, egg or bunny in this Easter-themed workshop. Price includes a chocolate egg. Ages 6+. Easter Egg-citement…

Cool Sports

19 Feb 2009

Baseball It's not just rounders you know. Beyond its similarities, baseball is a game of skill, speed and tactics. Find out how by heading along to the Edinburgh Devils or the Glasgow Baseball Association, where beginners are always welcome. See…

Che Camille

27 Nov 2008

In the beginning, there was The Chateau, a shambling old tenement warehouse on Glasgow’s Southside, rented out at rock bottom prices to a loose collection of artists, designers and performers, and Franz Ferdinand, who staged now-legendary guerrilla…

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…

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…