Edinburgh Culture Minute 🪩 11 - 17 March 2026
National award for local bookshop, Edinburgh International Festival programme revealed, Louis Theroux at Festival Theatre, The Maccabees gig, new festival jobs + a rare £100k mega job
👋 Welcome to the 122nd weekly Culture Minute: a round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities. If I’ve missed anything please get in touch. Thanks as always to everyone who contributes!
👀 The most-viewed links from last week’s Edinburgh Culture Minute:
- 🔓 Newly renovated Teviot Row House reopens.
- 🏖️ Tickets on sale for Fringe by the Sea.
- 📚 Magpie Books: a new pay-what-you-can book kiosk opening in Porty.
- 🎭 One Day: The Musical takes to the Lyceum stage until 19 April.
- 🎭 Theatre company The Forth Act is closing.
🗞️ News
📚 The Book Lovers Bookshop on Melville Terrace has been named as Scotland’s Indie Bookshop of the Year in the The British Book Awards, aka the 'Nibbies'. It's the UK's first brick and mortar romance bookshop. - More details in The Bookseller (subscription required) and paywall-free in this report by Tom H Wilson for Deadline News + there's a nice profile video of owner Caden talking about the shop here, via @edincityoflit.
💰 Breaking news: 'The Edinburgh International Festival’s organisers have criticised a controversial funding freeze for Scotland’s national arts companies'. - Brian Ferguson in The Herald.
🟨 With a theme of 'All Rise' this year's Edinburgh International Festival programme was launched this morning. Bringing together the largest representation of American artists since the festival first began in 1947, it aims to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence with some ambitious cultural set-pieces.
- Over 24 days in August, the EIF will feature 147 performances, representing 44 countries with five world premieres and ten new works commissioned by the Festival.
- 'This is a festival which is big on staged performance, with 11 theatre productions, four pieces of dance and two fully staged operas – carrying out festival director Nicola Benedetti’s promise not to forget the theatre strands in her festivals.' - Reporting directly from this morning's launch event, here's Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre.
Thom Dibdin
- Why America? EIF director Nicola Benedetti, who is now in her fourth year in the role, explains the US theme in this BBC Scotland interview with Pauline McLean.
- But US President Donald Trump 'may not like it', writes Igor Toronyi-Lalic in The Times:, with the headline: 'Nicola Benedetti: 'I can't imagine Trump saying anything meaningful about art'.'
Richard Morrison
- New York City's Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will have a residency at the EIF, writes Jane Bradley in The Scotsman, who also picks out some programme highlights.
- The EIF’s opera and classical music strands offer a 'complex, contradictory vision of America in all its messy glory', writes David Kettle in The Scotsman.
- EIF 2026 first look: Joyce McMillan on theatre.
- EIF 2026 first look: Jim Gilchrist on contemporary music.
- 🎺 The August festival also has its largest-ever jazz programme alongside full-scale operas and Scottish folk music. - The Guardian's Scotland editor Severin Carrell reports.
Severin Carrell
- If you're looking for a more general overview of all the EIF genres, read this piece by Alex Wood of What's On Stage.
- Or dive deeper into the programme's themes with the Edinburgh Music Review team's first thoughts here.
- 'Edinburgh International Festival to continue Baillie Gifford partnership' - Katie Chambers, The Stage.
- 'Pro-Palestine activists call for Edinburgh International Festival boycott' - Brian Ferguson, The Herald.
Brian Ferguson
📆 With nearly 150 performances this year, the programme can feel a bit overwhelming. The Herald's Arts Correspondent Brian Ferguson shares his picks here, including details of the opening concert at the Usher Hall.
Brian Ferguson
The Edinburgh International Festival runs between 7 - 30 August and tickets go on general sale on Thursday 26 March, with tickets available to members and supporters from Thursday 19 March. - Explore the programme here.
🎟️ Big tickets this week
🤔 Louis Theroux at the Festival Theatre: One of Britain’s most distinctive documentary makers, Louis Theroux has announced a 90-minute live event at the Festival Theatre on Friday 22 May. Tickets went on sale this morning and as of the time of publication there are still some left but I am told they're going quickly. - Book here.
🎸 The Maccabees have announced a gig at the Corn Exchange on Monday 6 July. - Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday.
🎤 Alison Moyet has announced a concert at the Usher Hall on 26 October, performing songs of Yazoo and more. - Tickets go on sale on Friday.
🪩 90s ravers EMF play The Caves on Thursday 12 March. - Tickets here.
🍉 There's a Harry Styles Album Release Party at La Belle Angele on Friday. - Tickets.
🎧 Jitwam has a DJ set at Sneaky Pete's on Sunday from 6pm. - Tickets via RA.
🍿 London-based five piece ensemble Wes Banderson perform a selection of the original score music and deep cut needle-drops from the films of Wes Anderson at the Mash House on 28 March.
🎵 This week at The Usher Hall: Wednesday 11th: Scottish Opera - Tristan und Isolde, Thursday 12th: Ocean in Concert, Friday 13th: RSNO Season 25-26: Gladiator in Concert, Sunday 15th: Poulenc’s Gloria and Bruckner Mass in D Minor + Monday 16th: Love Music Community & Junior Choirs concert.
🎤 Performing at The Queen's Hall this week: Thursday 12th: The Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Saxophone Dreams with Jess Gillam, Friday 13th: Tom Davis: Spudgun, Sunday 15th: Vittorio Angelone: you can’t Say Nothing any more + Monday 16th: New Town Concerts: Piatti Quartet.
📆 Find more comedy listings via Boom Edinburgh.
✍️ If you're looking for a supportive environment to write, meet other writers and (optionally) share your work, The Chicken Coop Writing Group is back from 31 March at Lost in Leith. - More details via The Good Egg Project.
The Good Egg Project
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
Here's Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre:
It's a busy old week this, with comedy, kids, several musicals, slow theatre and the most Edinburgh of Edinburgh community theatre shows, all on offer.
That most Edinburgh of shows first. Characters of Edinburgh: Platformed at Out of the Blue (Thu-Sat: tickets), sees a host of characters ask "who best represents Edinburgh" in Active Inquiry's devised piece, scripted by Duncan Kidd.
'Characters of Edinburgh is a community festival that invites us to imagine the Edinburgh we want to live in and how we want our city to be represented to the world.'
Big musicals wise, there is the much anticipated opening of One Day - The Musical which has its press night tonight at the Lyceum (ends Sun 19 Apr: tickets) and the continuation of the "★★★★☆ Huge energy" Matilda The Musical at the Playhouse (ends Sat 22: tickets).
Small musicals wise, the compelling piece of narrative gig theatre: A Giant on the Bridge is at the Studio (Fri/Sat: tickets). Æ said "★★★☆☆ Insightful" of its 2024 outing.
A Grain of Sand from Good Chance at the Traverse (ends Thurs: tickets) sees a young Gazan girl search for her family and the ‘Anqaa’ – the mythical Palestinian Phoenix.
You want comedy to take your mind of it all? What better than The Importance of Being Earnest, from the EUTC at the Bedlam (ends Sun: tickets). Or, for the kids (borrow a brace, if you have to), Horrible Histories The Concert at the Festival Theatre (Fri-Sun: tickets).
And finally a couple of hot tips at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. Hazel Darwin-Clements has her Maya and the Whale (Sat: tickets) about a young climate activist. And Iddo Oberski returns with Balancing in Freedom (Sun: tickets) his slow-theatre journey through history and personal disability.
Oh, and if you missed out on the current season of lunchtime theatre at the Traverse, A Play, A Pie and A Pint has a wee summer season at the Roxy. Details here.
As always, for these and details of all forthcoming shows (including the EIF launched this morning), check Æ's listings pages, all linked here.
📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard
✍️ Hot Butter Press - A new quarterly art zine - Artists Miriam Morris and Sarah Davidson (Ghost Bros) are publishing a new quarterly riso art zine, printed at Typewrongers, Edinburgh. Filled with new writing, new art and open call opportunities. Follow HBP on insta: @hot.butter.press for more news - More info.
🖼 Custom Lane exhibition: EARTHBOUND by Becky Little and Tom Morton (free) [Daily]
Tomorrow, Thu 12 March - We are delighted to welcome Becky Little and Tom Morton with Earthbound. This exhibition presents an exploration of the clay earths that were deposited on Orkney during the last Ice Age and were used in traditional craft and construction.
9am to 5pm | Custom Lane, EH6 6AL | FREE - More details here, shared by TALKS AT THE LANE team.
🎥 Where we meet land: environment and ecology in artists' moving image [Daily]
Bringing together seven recent moving image works from across the UK, Where we meet land creates space for thinking about our relationship with the natural world, taking us from urban green spaces to more remote, apparently wilder places.
11am to 6pm | Fruitmarket, EH1 1DF | Free - More details here, shared by Fruitmarket.
🎨 COND CONT'D [Conditions Continued] a solo art exhibition. [Weekly]
Tomorrow, Thu 12 March - I am Maro - an abstract artist. I've made a body of work titled COND. CONT'D. [Conditions Continued]. Official launch night is Thursday 12th March from 6:30pm - 8:30pm at Leith Makers. Don't be shy, come see some art.
11am to 5.30pm | Leith Makers, EH6 8NP | FREE - More details here, shared by a Minute reader.
🗣️ Something About Living - Poetry event (free!)
Tomorrow, Thu 12 March - Join us for the Edinburgh launch of Palestinian poet, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha's new poetry collection Something About Living featuring a live reading from the poet, a conversation with Zain Rishi, and an audience Q & A.
7pm to 8.30pm | Palestine Museum Scotland, EH3 6QG | FREE - More details here, shared by Palestine Museum Scotland.
✍️ The People's Story Museum Retold [Daily]
Fri 13 March - An exhibition retelling working class histories and stories in Edinburgh
10am to 4.30pm | The People's Story Museum, EH8 8BN | FREE - More details here, shared by Edinburgh College of Art.
🐋 Maya and The Whale by Hazel Darwin-Clements
Sat 14 March - The story of a young climate activist on the run who finds herself face-to-face with a beached whale. Bold, imaginative and moving, it blends storytelling and music to explore tensions between family, activism and a changing world. Sat 14 Mar.
7pm to 8.30pm | Scottish Storytelling Centre, EH1 1SR | £10-£12 - More details here, shared by Wendy Niblock, Independent Arts Projects.
🎭 Balancing in Freedom
Sun 15 March - Drawing on his family's Holocaust history, his own experience of disability, and Rudolf Steiner's philosophy, Iddo Oberski (with the help of his puppet, Svjetlana) fuses storytelling, visual art, music, spoken word, and magic into a living artwork.
2pm to 3.30pm | Scottish Storytelling Centre, EH1 1SR | £12, £10 concessions - More details here, shared by Fergus Craig.
🎶 Poulenc's Gloria and Bruckner Mass in D Minor
Sun 15 March - The Edinburgh Royal Choral Union and the Brussels Choral Society join forces with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, conducted by Michael Bawtree in a vivacious performance of Francis Poulenc's Gloria, alongside Bruckner's magnificent Mass in D minor.
3pm to 4.30pm | The Usher Hall, EH1 2EA - More details here, shared by a Minute reader.
🎨 Unveiled at Lauriston Castle [Weekly]
Fri 20 March - Tours for 'Unveiled' Exhibition, with 16 students from Edinburgh College of Art responding to the unique site of Lauriston Castle. Not to be missed!
11am to 12pm | Lauriston Castle, EH4 6AD | FREE - More details here, shared by Caitlin Lloyd, Edinburgh College of Art.
🧵 What Is This Space For? [Daily]
Wed 25 March - No ordinary exhibition! hubCAP (Edinburgh College's student-run gallery) turns The Gatehouse Gallery in the heart of North Edinburgh into a community living room. Free workshops in zine-making, mending & more. Visit our website to find out more!
11am to 4pm | The Gatehouse - Edinburgh College | FREE - More details here, shared by Lauren McKay, hubCAP Gallery.
View all posts by hubcapgallery
🎥 Fiends in the Furrows - New Film Festival Celebrates Folk Horror - Fiends in the Furrows comes to locations around Leith from April 23 - 26. Highlights include open air screenings of The Wicker Man, Watership Down and Rose of Nevada. The festival is a collaboration between Cinetopia and Leith Kino. - Fiends in the Furrows.
🎭 JOB: Capital Theatres: Technician (Stage & Flys) - Join the full-time technical staff running our premier venues, supporting the Stage team in providing technical facilities to visiting productions and working with the team on ongoing and future maintenance and improvement projects (Salary: £39’054) - Thanks to Imogen for sharing this. Apply here.
