Days out

Magnificent Machines

18 Sep 2008

Boys and their toys, eh? The pick of the vehicular crop will gather at the National Museum of Flight for ‘Magnificent Machines’ on Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 September and will welcome car enthusiasts, families and big kids alike. Expect a mouth-watering…

Words 2008

A way with words

4 Sep 2008

How do you create an exhibition of creative writing? And why? Kirstin Innes finds out about Words 2008

Floored genius

4 Sep 2008

Hula-hooping, burlesque and aerial acrobatics are all withinreach of your twinkle toes this autumn if you have the urge. The phenomenal success of the Strictly Come Dancing and recent Hollywood offerings including Shall We Dance? and Step Up seems to…

Glasgow Pride

Out and proud

21 Aug 2008

It’s that time of year again. Dig out the cowboy hats, the feather boas and anything whatsoever with a rainbow on it. Oh, and dig out your conviction about your sexuality because this is one of the best days of the year to make a statement, celebrate…

Hidden Gardens

Birds suddenly appear

14 Aug 2008

The Hidden Gardens, tucked away behind Tramway, may have been open for five years, but many people aren’t aware of the rich cultural history that’s entrenched in the foundations of the site and built into its design. ‘When the Gardens opened, we…

Farm Open Day

14 Aug 2008

Experience countryside life in the east end of Glasgow at the Tollcross Children’s farm. Open 7 days a week from 10am-3pm, the farm boasts a variety of farmyard animals to get up close and personal with, as well as a fun-filled day of music and games…

Bond Bound: Ian Fleming and the Art of Cover Design

Of human bond-age

7 Aug 2008

It’s strange, considering how conservative a character James Bond is, that his presentation and marketing seems to fall so readily in step with the times. From Sean Connery throughout the smooth, swinging 60s, to the more cartoonishly lurid 70s and…

The Giant Percussion Picnic

7 Aug 2008

Prepare for two hours of noise and noshing, as Giant take over the lovely Hidden Gardens from 11.30am–1.30pm for their Percussion Picnic. The event is free but ticketed, with tickets given out on a first come first served basis on the day. Bring food to…

Big Things on the Beach

7 Aug 2008

If you’ve got a couple of hours on your hands and fancy getting out of the flyer-strewn city centre, hop on a bus to Portobello, where 30 of the sea-facing private gardens have been made over into outdoor galleries. Visit www.bigthingsonthebeach.org.uk…

Edinburgh Festivals Cavalcade

Our toon cavalcade

31 Jul 2008

The warning signs have been building for weeks: large parties of Italian teenagers in rucksacks occupying whole stretches of pavement, posters of vaguely-familiar looking comedians obscuring bus shelters and funny dressed people eating fire on the Royal…

Pollok Family Day

31 Jul 2008

Whether it’s Clydesdale horses or crafts, martial arts or music that the kids are after, Pollok Family Day will satisfy the whole family’s needs this weekend, and all for free. Wander the stalls and displays dotted throughout the woods and gardens of…

Around town - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Afr-I-Can Workshops, talks and concerts led by artists of African origin. See picture caption, page 28. Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, Sat 19 & Wed 23 Jul. Rat Race Crazed athletic lycra-clad urban adventure happening all across Edinburgh. See…

Big Tent Festival 2008

17 Jul 2008

While the pretend hippies drive their SUVs to Glastonbury and this year’s T in the Park fades into lager-sodden memory, all yer actual planet-savers are off to Falkland Palace. The Big Tent Festival, which grew out of a response to the 2005 G8 summit…

Afr-I-Can

17 Jul 2008

Running between June and September, Afr-I-can is a loose series of events, talks, workshops and concerts led by artists of African origin and celebrating African achievement. Although the events are mainly aimed at families of African and Caribbean…

Up river city

17 Jul 2008

Ahead of the fifth annual Glasgow River Festival, Eve Barlow discovers why the nautical look is big this year.

Here comes the fun

17 Jul 2008

As the school holidays stretch out before us, Kelly Apter finds there’s no shortage of ways to get your hands dirty and learn something new this summer

Sound offering - sound 2008 Festival

17 Jul 2008

It might be all quiet in the Central Belt, but the cultural flurry up North continues this fortnight with the launch of sound 2008, which sets its musical stall in Aberdeen this October. Now in its fourth year, the multi-genre festival will feature two…

Kids - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Museum of Flight Airshow takes to the skies again, with thrilling flight displays from the Blades, fairground rides, kids activities and lots of vintage aircraft to climb inside and explore. National Museum of Flight, East Lothian, Sat 26 Jul. Fun in…

Three to try: adventure sports

17 Jul 2008

Transgression Park Head to the top of Edinburgh’s Ocean Terminal for a spin on your BMX, skateboard or inline skates. Not yet a consummate professional? Lessons and equipment hire are available for all three ‘freesports’. There is also a designated…

Good Vibrations

3 Jul 2008

One of the Capital’s most exciting visitor attractions, Our Dynamic Earth, has teamed up with Edinburgh International Science Festival to bring you Good Vibrations. Join Maestro and Bella as they embark on a journey of discovery to find out how noise is…

Wet Sounds

3 Jul 2008

Underwater, you hear things differently. This is part of the thinking behind Wet Sounds, a knowingly named tour of sound art which takes place not in uptight white space galleries, but in ten public swimming pools between London and Nairn. With the…

GoMA Family Festival 2008

3 Jul 2008

FUN DAY Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Sat 5 Jul Messing around with paint, glue and glitter is fun at any age, so why should kids have all the fun? Although aimed primarily at 3–12-year-olds, the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Family Festival…

Koala Alert!

3 Jul 2008

Oh look at this lickle guy! Look at his face! Now feel guilty and concerned, please, because there are less than 100,000 of these eucalyptus-munchin’, fuzzy-faced wee fellas left in the wild. The CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation has flown all the…

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…

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…

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…

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…