Edinburgh Culture Minute 🪩 17 - 23 June 2026

Full Book Festival line-up revealed, Cher Lloyd headlines Pride weekend events, Bluey’s Big Play at the Playhouse + reasons to celebrate the rain

Pride Edinburgh starts on Saturday afternoon.

👋 Welcome to the 133rd weekly Culture Minute: a round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities.

🚨 There's no normal 7am Edinburgh Minute tomorrow. So this week's Culture Minute is free to read for everyone as a bonus to tide you over. I'm aiming to get back to the daily newsletter on Friday as normal.

👀 The most-viewed links from last week’s Edinburgh Culture Minute:

🗞️ News

🎭 There are 51 days until this year's Edinburgh festivals begin. Programmes are being announced, brochures are appearing and the show announcements are coming thick and fast. Last year this newsletter daily for the entire month of August, in the form of the new Edinburgh Festival Minute, which you can see here. I'm considering doing that again this year, unless you've got suggestions of things you'd prefer to get from this newsletter. Please let me know in the comments section. I really do value your feedback! Meantime here are all the programmes announced so far:

🎭 Fringe: 7 - 31 August. - Programme here.

🟡 Edinburgh International Festival: 7 - 30 August. - Programme here.

📚 Edinburgh International Book Festival: 15 - 30 August. - Programme here.

🎬 Edinburgh International Film Festival: 13 - 19 August. - Programme due to launch on 1 July.

🖼️ Edinburgh Art Festival: 14 - 30 August. - Programme here.

🌊 Fringe by the Sea: 31 July - 9 August. - Programme here.

👍 Free Fringe: Programme due soon.

⮑ The Edinburgh International Book Festival programme was launched yesterday, with more than 600 events at venues within the Edinburgh Futures Institute, McEwan Hall and Greyfriars Kirk (a new addition). Tickets go on sale at 10am on Thursday next week, 25 June. - Full details here.
'My pick of the 2026 Edinburgh book festival as line-up is revealed' - Brian Ferguson, The Herald picks out events including Ian Rankin interviewing John Grisham, and musician Corinne Bailey Rae in the children’s programme.
There's a helpful overview of the 16-day programme from Kevin Fullerton in The List.

🎤 The book festival site will host this year's BBC festivals coverage for a week from its Spiegeltent. - Broadcaster Grant Stott shares the plans in this video.

🏳️‍🌈 Edinburgh's annual Pride march starts outside the Scottish Parliament from 12.15pm, setting off at 1pm, heading up the Mile and ending at Bristo Square, where the festival is on from 2pm to 6pm.

⮑ Cher Lloyd is due to headline the main stage in Bristo Square. Also performing: GRAMMY-nominated vocalist Kelli-Leigh, Kah-Lo, Donna Marie Gaga, Michelle McManus, Frankie Lily, Bryn Christopher, and GALIVERSE. - Full details are here.
⮑ There are plenty of pre and post Pride events in Alice Cruickshank's round-up here.

🚣‍♂️ The Edinburgh Canal Festival is on Saturday from 11am to 4pm at the Lochrin Basin in Fountainbridge. - Details in this thread from Merchiston Districts Community Council.

🎭 The Lyceum theatre has launched its 2026/27 season. It's also announced a move away from subscription towards a membership-based model. The theatre's artistic director James Brining talks to Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman.

☔️ A new exhibition opening on Friday at the National Library of Scotland dives into Scotland's relationship with rain. - "Minnie the Minx and Macbeth feature in National Library’s exploration of how rainfall has shaped Scottish science, literature, history and identity" - Severin Carrell, The Guardian.

🎟️ Big tickets this week

🎸 A decade on since their last album, pop-rockers Alien Ant Farm are back and playing The Liquid Room on 4 November. - Tickets here.

🎤 Comedy hero Lenny Henry brings his 'Still At Large' tour to the Assembly Rooms on Monday. - Tickets here.

⮑ Another big name: Ed Byrne has announced a gig at The Queen's Hall on 7 May. - Tickets.
⮑ And another: Caitlin Moran discusses her new book, How To Be Hopeful, at The Queen's Hall on 22 September. - Tickets are going quickly here.

🎤 Describing herself as 'the nation's favourite pissed-off pensioner', Janet Street-Porter promises to bring comedy, tragedy and gossip in equal measure to the Roxy Theatre on 28 September. - Tickets here.

🎻 Celebrating 35 years as a professional musician, John McCusker's will launch his new album with a live performance with his trio at The Queen's Hall on Saturday. - Tickets here.

🎼 Grammy-winning singer and composer Arooj Aftab is on tour with the London Contemporary Orchestra, playing the Usher Hall on Wednesday 24 June. - Tickets here.

"I love playing in Edinburgh. This is the third time. It's gonna be spectacular, really grand, with the London Contemporary Orchestra at the Usher Hall. There will be songs from Night Reign and Vulture Prince and the music itself complements a cinematic, dramatic setting." - Arooj Aftab is interviewed by Janet Christie in The Scotsman.

🎂 Altered Images have announced a concert to play their iconic album 'Happy Birthday' at The Liquid Room on Friday 25 September. - Tickets.

🎸 Blur guitarist Graham Coxon will play The Liquid Room on 22 November. - Tickets.

⮑ Another Britpop icon, singer/songwriter Simon Fowler, frontman for Ocean Colour Scene, has announced a gig at The Queen's Hall on 27 February. - Tickets here.

🎭 The King’s Theatre officially reopens to the public on Saturday 1 August, with a special opening weekend for the public to discover the reimagined venue. People will be able to explore all areas of the building, book behind-the-scenes tours that include stepping onto the new stage and find out more about the theatre’s history and the redevelopment project. - Booking is now open and full details are here.

⮑ Meanwhile, one of the final elements of the multi-million pound makeover arrived this week: the new-look canopy. - Brian Ferguson, The Herald.

🎶 Cinetopia Salon: EDEN by Mia Hansen-Løve + DJ Set
Thu 18 June - 'A cultural evening where cinema meets food & drink, music and great conversation! Enjoy EDEN on the big screen - a celebration of 90s French House culture - followed by live set from DJ Ann Tweak. Come early for French-style apero + free nibbles!'
6pm to 10.30pm | French Institute of Scotland, EH1 1RN | £10-£12 - More details here, shared by Cinetopia.

🛍️ Edinburgh’s original vintage market, Funk Fair, first launched in 2004, returns to Out of the Blue in Leith on Saturday. - More details here.

🖼️ Head up to Abbeymount Studios this weekend for the annual Summer Open Studios event. - Full details are here.

🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?

Here's Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre:

It's a week of big shows and short runs, with only the premiere performance of Union Theatre and the final PPP of the season at Assembly Roxy on for an appreciable time. Which is not to say that what is on offer is trivial. Far from it!

First the longer runs. You'll need to run to the Hill Street Theatre for Union Theatre's Shall Roger Casement Hang? (ends Fri: tickets). It's a "★★★★☆ Impressive debut" according to Æ reviewer Hugh Simpson, who liked the nuance of the performances in Peter Arnott's 2016 play about the Easter Uprising.

In the Roxy's lunchtime theatre slot, Debbie Hannan’s The Hen Night (Wed – Sun: tickets) is a corker if the reviews from its Oran Mor opener are anything to go by. A mythic tale of seeing your bestie right...

And so to those short runs. The Lyceum has its Lyceum At Home on Stage (Thur-Sat: tickets). This is four 30 minute monologues – written by Apphia Campbell, Alexander McCall Smith, Isla Cowan and Stephen Greenhorn – that have been performed in homes around Edinburgh.

The irrepressible Lung Ha company are at the Traverse with The Table (Thurs-Sat: tickets) that questions who gets a seat at the table – and what unfolds once we’re there.

Timed to hit Pride weekend, Steven Maxwell is opening his new play The Borrowed Room at Summerhall (Fri-Sun: tickets) in which two men who grew up together meet to record a conversation about why some people leave and others stay.

At the Studio, LYRA will be in the house with Take Up Space (Thurs: tickets), an immersive gig‑theatre show, and Bijli have Revolution Days (Fri/Sat: tickets), about a Scottish Aid worker confronted by the reality of war during the Arab Revolutions.

For a spot of music, Hera, Mahogany Opera and Dunedin Consort reunite for a striking new baroque opera In the Belly of the Beast (Fri: tickets) and for ballet enthusiasts should to the Festival Theatre for Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (ends Wed: tickets) and Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black at 25 (Fri: tickets).

And the kids? What shall they do? Well, TV cartoon favourite Bluey has Bluey’s Big Play at the Playhouse (Thurs – Sun: tickets). And for kids big and small (well, over eight), Illyria Outdoor Theatre rock up to Edinburgh Castle for two performances of their take on Dumas, The Three Musketeers (Fri/Sat: tickets). Expect buckles to be well and truly swashed...

If you want to know what else is going on before next week's Culture Minute drops, check Æ listings pages, all linked here.

📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard

Got something to share? Get in touch here 💌

✍️ Edinburgh Handwriting Pen Pal - 'I'm fed up with the constant use of technology (the irony, I know) so I've decided to start a new project: Handwriting Pen Pal! I'm old enough to remember life before the machines took over, I still had fun and made friends! Join me in this!' - More details here, shared by Sara.

🎨 Beyond our Depth [Until Sat]
Tomorrow, Thu 18 June - 'Art show by communities affected by war, displacement and persecution. Scottish Refugee Festival.'
9am to 5pm | North Edinburgh Arts, EH4 4AB | FREE - More details here, shared by Abandoned Artists.

🎨 Urban Fabric | Louise Bennetts and David Lemm [Until Tue]
Tomorrow, Thu 18 June - 'Louise Bennetts and David Lemm are Edinburgh-based artists whose practices share common concerns around making, place and process. Together they will present a collaborative exhibition of new works, forged independently but presented in dialogue.'
9am to 5pm | Custom Lane, EH6 6AL | FREE - More details here, shared by a Minute reader.

🖼️ Daniel Roy Sharples: Solo Exhibition at The Torrance Gallery [Until Sat]
Tomorrow, Thu 18 June - 'Plein air painter, Daniel Roy Sharples brings together his paintings of Edinburgh and Hong Kong in a single exhibition, creating a compelling conversation between two cities that have played a significant role in his life and artistic development.'
11am to 5.30pm | Torrance Gallery, EH3 6JN | FREE - More details here, shared by The Torrance Gallery.

🎶 UNCHAINED VOICES - Ignatius Sancho and Muzio Clementi: Two Stories between Music and Humanity
Tomorrow, Thu 18 June - 'A reading concert in Italian with sub-titles celebrating the intertwined lives of Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) - born on a slave ship, orphaned aged two, and brought to Great Britain - and, Muzio Clementi - Italian musician in "servitude" in England.'
5.30pm to 7pm | St Vincent's Chapel: Scottish Episcopal Church, EH3 6SW | FREE - More details here, shared by St Vincent's Chapel.

🖼 Fault Lines - Art Exhibition by Holly Walsh [Until Sun]
Tomorrow, Thu 18 June - 'A pop-up show of original art by local artist Holly Walsh. Paintings of vast landscapes, with both modern and mythological references. Opening Night 6 - 9 pm at ShopWithNoName. All welcome - free drinks, local art and good vibes guaranteed!'
6pm to 9pm | Shop With No Name, EH1 3RX | FREE - More details here, shared by Holly Walsh.

🎭 Dunedin Consort: In the Belly of the Beast
Fri 19 June - 'Carolyn Sampson joins Dunedin Consort to perform staged 'mini-operas' which combine the intimate baroque cantatas of Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre with bold theatrical storytelling to retell powerful myths about survival and resilience.'
7.30pm to 9pm | Assembly Roxy, EH8 9SU | £25; £13, £6 (conc) - More details here, shared by Dunedin Consort.

🎨 Makers Mark - An exhibition for the local Sustainable Artisan [Until Sun]
Sat 20 June - 'Join us for the opening of our brand new showcase Makers Mark, which celebrates the local artisan crafter. Open from the 17th at 7pm and featuring over 10 different local makers and artists.'
11am to 5.30pm | Leith Makers, EH6 8NP | FREE - More details here, shared by Leith Makers.

🎺 Oi Musica Presents: Brassed Up Mini Festival
Sat 20 June - 'A special mini festival celebrating 10 years of Brass Blast. Expect a high-energy line-up plus street food, fully stocked bar, cakes & treats, merch stall and more..... A lovely family-friendly atmosphere throughout. Grab tickets before they're gone!'
5pm to 10pm | Portobello Town Hall, EH15 1AF - More details here, shared by Portobello Town Hall.

🎻 Lunchtime recital at Barclay Viewforth Church [Monthly]
Thu 25 June - 'A varied programme of music both old & new performed by Moray Rumney (violin) and Michael Bonaventure (organ). Works by J.S. Bach, Fauré, Vaughan Williams and others, plus arrangements of Traditional Scottish music.'
1pm to 2pm | Barclay Viewforth Church of Scotland, EH10 4HN | FREE - More details here, shared by Michael Bonaventure.

🎨 Leith School of Art End of Year Exhibition 2026 [Until Sunday]
Fri 26 June - 'Visitors are encouraged to explore all three exhibitions across this celebratory weekend. Friday 26th - Sunday 28th, 10am - 4pm. Check the website for details on opening events. All welcome. 📍25 North Junction Street 📍Custom House 📍66 Albion Road.'
10am to 4pm | Leith School of Art, EH6 6HW | FREE - More details here, shared by Leith School of Art.

🎶 The Shell + Sonia Killmann
Fri 26 June - 'The Shell bring together influences from the long histories of jazz and electronic music. They stretch the traditional notions of an improvising three piece by employing drums, modular synthesisers, and electronically augmented saxophone.'
7pm to 9.30pm | Pianodrome Bruntsfield Community Hub, EH10 4NB | 12, 10 concessions - More details here, shared by Pianodrome.

🎶 Lunchtime recital for two flutes and piano
Sat 11 July - 'An hour of some of the best loved Romantic works for two flutes and piano performed by Edinburgh based musicians in an informal concert setting.'
1.30pm to 3pm | St Vincent's Chapel: Scottish Episcopal Church, EH3 6SW | £8-£10 - More details here, shared by a Minute reader.

🌍 The Global Ideas Stage
Tue 11 August - 'Edinburgh International Festival has announced speakers for the inaugural Global Ideas Stage, including Gordon Brown, Ken Burns, Bryan Stevenson and Amy Goodman, hosted by Sarah Lewis and Nicola Benedetti.'
4pm to 6pm | King's Theatre, EH3 9LQ | From £30 - More details here, shared by Edinburgh International Festival.

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📚 Four roles are currently open with the Edinburgh International Book Festival: