simon chadwick northern streams

fjarinnorthern streams festival bannerNorthern Streams Festival: a two day festival of music, song and dance from Scandinavia and Scotland. In tonight’s concert Margaret 1281 Scottish performer of ancient native music traditions Simon Chadwick tells stories with harp music and song of Queen Margaret and The Maid of Norway, and introduces the bowed lyre, one of the oldest instruments of Northern Europe, which he has reconstructed, whilst young Copenhagen-based folk trio Fjarin play their own tunes inspired by the music of Celtic and Scandinavian traditions. 7.30pm, Grassmarket Centre, 86 Candlemaker Row. Tickets cost £10/£8 and are available via the Northern Streams website here. Please note that tickets cannot be purchased from the venue except during the festival itself. Northern Streams Festival is organised by the Edinburgh and Lothians branch of the Traditional Music and SongAssociation of Scotland: it continues on Saturday 25th April.

Bookbug: for young children and their parents and carers. 10.30-11am, Oxgangs Library, Oxgangs Road North.

TER St GilesLunchtime concert: KMA Men’s Choir, Dordrecht, Netherlands. 12.15pm, St Giles Cathedral, High Street. Free.

portobello comedy night posterThe Portobello Comedy Night: your last chance to experience the magic of the comedy night until August! Starring Phil Differ, Ben Verth, Kate Dillon and Johnny Seaton, with MC Steven Davidson. 8.30pm, Dalriada, 77 The Promenade, Portobello. Tickets cost £10 and may be purchased from the Dalriada or from Brown Paper Tickets here (transaction fee applies). They will also be available on the door if there are any left. ‘Run like the seaside wind to secure your tickets, or be inconsolably sad for the whole summer!’

Edinburgh_Royal_Commonwealth_Pool
Do What U Wanna Do – @ Open All Hours
is back at the Commie Pool tonight! Gym, swimming, coached activities, chill out, arts & crafts, and refreshments for ages S1-S6. 7-9pm, Royal Commonwealth Pool, Dalkeith Road. £1 per person. For more information contact Clare Jamieson on 0131 556 9389 or clare@canongateyouth.org.uk. Canongate Youth is an independent charity; since 1977 it has successfully provided support , recreation and training opportunities for 5-25 year olds to help them overcome barriers and secure a great future.

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Balerno Village Screen: We Are The Best (15). Lukas Moodysson’s brilliant adaptation of his wife Coco’s graphic novel about three teenage misfits growing up in 1980s Stockholm, who – with neither musical instruments nor talent – decide to form an all-girl punk band. ‘An ebullient and sharply observant portrait of DIY spirit and growing up different’. In Swedish with English subtitles. 7.30pm, Balerno Village Screen, St Joseph’s Centre, Balerno. Balerno Village Screen is a community cinema run by volunteers. All screenings are free but you are asked to register in advance to give the organisers an idea of numbers; registration may be made online via eventbrite here, or by obtaining a ticket from the Mill Cafe or Balerno Post Office. Read The Editor Reporter’s Top Five Films of 2014 (of which We Are The Best came in at No.2) here.

charlotte and the charlatans - kalopsia

Charlotte and The Charlatan: an Octavo Fika presentation from Kalopsia collective. A one-off performance-exhibition, combining dance, spoken word, illustration and video installation, costume and textiles and the written word. All elements take as a starting point stories from the artbook Charlotte and The Charlatan. Each artist is invited to interpret the text freely; the culmination will be a presentation of these collaborations in an engaging, entertaining performance-event, under the banner of Kalopsia’s Octavo Fika project. For over-18s only. 8pm, Community Space, Ocean Terminal, Ocean Drive. Tickets cost £5 (includes a drink) and may be purchased via eventbrite here (transaction fee applies); hand-made copies of the book will be available to buy at the event. Kalopsia is an Edinburgh-based creative agency formed in 2012 by a group of creators who wanted to improve the support and space for contemporary textile practice: it is now a social enterprise.

summerhall historical fiction festival logoSummerhall Historical Fiction Festival. This three-day festival will explore the richness and variety of the historical novel – why writers love to write it and why readers delight in reading it. Today’s events:

(1) 10.30-11.30am: Why Historical Fiction? Novelist, journalist, reviewer and historian Allan Massie leads a discussion about the who, how and why of this most popular genre: ‘The historical novel at its best is history made to live in the imagination of the reader’. For ages 12+.

(2) 11.45am: The Vespasian Chronicles. Robert Fabbri talks about his life-long love of ancient war games, the challenges he encountered in changing careers and becoming a writer, and what it is he finds so compelling about Vespasian’s story.

(3) 3.15pm: Discovering the truth about Jean Armour, aka Mrs Robert Burns. Novelist and playwright Catherine Czerkawska talks about the research for her upcoming novel The Jewel, which tells the story of the long-suffering, intelligent and likeable Jean Armour.

(4) 4.30pm: Dalriada: A Romance of Invention. Prolific author Professor Christopher Harvie talks about the weird and wonderful way that fiction lands on fact and some of the odder facts that sound like fiction.

All events take place in the Red Lecture Theatre, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets for each of today’s events cost £6/£3 and may be purchased via the festival’s website here or by calling the Summerhall Box Office on 0131 560 1581. The festival continues on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April.

Easel Sketching at Scottish National GalleryEasel Sketching in the Gallery led by artist Damian Callan. A different subject every month, sometimes with a model. All materials supplied. 2-4pm, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street: please ask at the Information Desk for the exact location within the gallery. Free.

knife in the water

Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema: a season of films curated by Scorsese, all screened in pristine digital restorations. Today: Knife in the Water (Noz w wodzie) (PG). (In Polish with subtitles). Roman Polanski’s first feature mixed ostensibly simple ingredients: two men, a woman, a yacht, a vast expanse of water and a haunting jazz score by the great Krzystof Komeda; it became Poland’s first Oscar nominee. 6.15pm, Filmhouse, Lothian Road. Tickets may be obtained online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 228 2688. This screening will be introduced by Dr Pasquale Iannone (University of Edinburgh); the film will be shown again on at 6.15pm on Monday 11th May 2015

hidden door

Bongo Lives! x Hidden Door Teaser: a trailer for next month’s Bongo Lives! x Hidden Door Festival (22nd-30th May) to launch the official publicity campaign, preview all the visual artists’ projects and showcase two of the live bands playing, alongside teaser videos of all of the bands involved. 7-10pm, The Bongo Club, 66 Cowgate. Tickets cost £5 on the door.

malawiStockbridge Parish Church Malawi Coffee Morning: Fair Trade tea and coffee, greetings cards for sale – all profits to the church’s Malawi project. 10.30am-12 noon today and every Friday, Stockbridge Parish Church, Saxe Coburg Street. All very welcome!

beauty by design poster ngsBeauty by Design: Unpicking Venetian Lace.There never was a nation that could dream of taking precedence to Venice in making needlepoint lace appreciated by the likes of emperors and princesses across the mountains‘ (Giovanni Grevembroch). Come and celebrate the feast day of St Mark, Patron Saint of Venice, by finding out about the intriguing history of one of Renaissance Venice’s most famous ‘luxury products’ – needlepoint lace. Tricia Allerston, Deputy Director of the Scottish National Gallery, explores the making of needlepoint lace in 17th century Venice and its widespread appeal in Europe. 12.45-1.30pm, Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, Scottish National Gallery, The Mound. Free and unticketed.

Slavs and Tartars Hung and Tart (acacia) 2014. Hand-blown glass. Courtesy of the artists.
Slavs and Tartars Hung and Tart (acacia) 2014. Hand-blown glass. Courtesy of the artists.

Slavs and Tartars: Lektor. Lektor, by art collective Slavs and Tartars, is part of a new body of work that explores Mirror for Princes – a medieval form of advice literature intended for future rulers. The artists locate contemporary parallels to these texts in relation to spin doctoring and society’s interest in self-help books such as How to Marry a Millionaire and How to Lose 15kg in 15 Days. The exhibition centres on a multi-channel audio installation, featuring extracts from an influential 11th century Turkic offering advice on the power and pitfalls of the tongue. Preview 6-8pm tonight, then 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday, Collective Gallery, City Observatory and City Dome, Calton Hill. Ends 12th July 2015.

circus cafe st mary's streetGuid Crack: For the Love of Stories. Edinburgh’s monthly storytelling night, this time with guest teller Calum Lykan, who leads a celebratory evening, remembering the stories we love the most. Accompanied young adults welcome. 7.30pm, Circus Cafe & Bistro, St Mary’s Street. Entry by suggested donation of £3. A selection of drinks and food may be purchased from the cafe.

thomas Aitchison at Collective
Thomas Aitchison: digitally filtered image (2015). Courtesy of the artist.

Satellites Programme: Thomas Aitchison. Thomas Aitchison has developed a new series of paintings and an installation entitled Drag a File Here, as part of Satellites Programme 2015. Employing a filter-like effect to the images and painting on dustsheets dotted with marks from previous use, Thomas explores the frictions between ground and image, systematic and accidental mark making. Using materials and tools that commonly support, but are edited out of, exhibition design, Drag a File Here brings the process and materiality of the ‘backstage’ to the fore. Preview 6-8pm tonight, then 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday, Collective Gallery, City Observatory and City Dome, Calton Hill. Ends 14th June 2015.

song by toad record labelSong, By Toad’s Bad Fun Presents Tisso Lake + Adam Beattie + Brooke Sharkey. ‘A night of gorgeous, broadly folky music’ brought to you by the Edinburgh independent label. 7.30-10pm, Henry’s Cellar Bar, 16 Morrison Street. £5.

Happy Earth Day

LGBT Women’s Wellbeing Group: an inclusive group offering the chance to meet other LGBT women in a relaxed environment. Chat, information and activities promoting health and wellbeing. The group is open to all LGBT women and welcomes transgender people who primarily identify as women. Today ‘My Baby Just Cares For Me’ – celebrate International Mother Earth Day by having a go at creative upcycling, with an opportunity to discover some of Stockbridge’s second-hand shops. 2-4.30pm: please contact Alison Wren on 0131 652 3283 or email alison@lgbthealth.org.uk for information re meeting place, and to be added to the group’s mailing list.

earthworks

Mesh Artists Collective: Earthworks. Presenting our understanding of ‘earth’ in its wider sense, the focal point of the exhibition will be a large scale collaborative installation inspired by the diversity of Scotland’s terrain. Other works include prints, paintings, textile works and sculptures exploring soil, geology, landforms and human relationships with the land. The exhibition will also feature collaborative sketchbooks documenting the processes used in the development of the work. Mesh Artists are Barbara Rowell, Marrion Barron and Mary Walters. Private view tonight 6.30-8.30pm, then 12 noon-4pm Tuesday to Friday, 12 noon-5pm Saturdays and Sundays, Patriothall Gallery, 1D Patriothall, off Hamilton Place, Stockbridge. Ends 3rd May 2015.

kevin nearyKevin Neary – Live. Serenity Cafe, 8 Jackson’s Entry, The Tun, 111 Holyrood Road. The Serenity Cafe is Scotland’s first recovery cafe, run by people in recovery for people in recovery, and for public customers who want good value, good quality food in a relaxed space. All events are family-friendly and drink and drugs-free.

larger_lgbt_logoLGBT Film Night: LGBT themed and mainstream films in a friendly, sociable setting. The film choices are voted for in advance at meetings or by email – you are welcome just to turn up, but please be aware that the film will already have been chosen. 6.30pm (screening starts 7pm), LGBT Health and Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street. To join the mailing list or to find out more, please contact admin@lgbthealth.org.uk or call 0131 523 1100.

storycollective

The Story Collective: Living in a Better Nation. An evening of traditional stories, of Stoorworms and Selkies, which resonate deeply in our own time. Fact and fiction intertwine to spark imagination, vision and debate about the future of Scotland and its people, as the country enters a new chapter in its history. The Story Collective is David Campbell, Wendy Woolfson, Douglas Mackay, Beverley Bryant, Janis Mackay and David Francis. 8pm, Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43-45 High Street. Tickets cost £8/£6 and may be booked online here or by calling the Box Office on 0131 556 9579.

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