Edinburgh Culture Minute 🪩 19 - 25 November 2025
Look inside the revamped King's Theatre, Push The Boat Out poetry festival begins, Teviot update + this week's big tickets and creative jobs
Welcome to the 109th 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:
- 🎨 New Summerhall Arts residency programme for locals.
- 🧶 60 makers at Tea Green Events market at NGS this weekend.
- 🎹 Busy line-up of gigs at Bruntsfield's new venue for the Pianodrome.
- 🪴 Bardware exhibition at Leith gallery.
- 📚 £72k Director of Engagement job at National Library of Scotland.
🗞️ News:
🎭 The curtain has been raised on the first King's Theatre programme since it closed for refurbishment. The revamp is still ongoing, as you can see in the video below, released earlier today. - Read more about the autumn 2026 season of shows here.
- 'King's Theatre reopening pushed back to summer as costs rise further and new programme unveiled'. - Jane Bradley, The Scotsman.
- "With any delay, there are additional costs. The cost of labour and materials has continued to rise throughout the project. We still have £2.5m to raise. We are having ongoing conversations with all our funders at the moment," - Capital Theatres chief executive Fiona Gibson told Brian Ferguson in The Herald.
🎭 While the King's won't be ready for panto season, there are still loads of shows on around the city this winter. Helpfully, there's a complete listing of all of Edinburgh pantos and festive shows in one place, by Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre.
Thom Dibdin
🎉 Push the Boat Out Festival begins on Friday and runs until Sunday, with more than 120 artists on board. The poetry extravaganza is mainly focused on the Pleasance venues but some events happen in other locations including Porty beach and Holyrood Park. There's even a scent-focused event combining poetry and perfume at the Lush shop. - The full event listings are here, a PDF of the programme is here and all tickets are on Citizen Ticket.
📘 Venues across the city are hosting events for the annual Book Week Scotland celebration. - Find the full listings here.
- ⮑ Best-selling crime writer Val McDermid is at Pilrig St. Paul's tonight (Wednesday) at 7pm. Perfectly timed for this cold snap, Val will discuss her new biography of her favourite month - Winter. - Tickets via Toppings.
- ⮑ Argonaut Books on Leith Walk has a new website with a new events page.
- ⮑ Lighthouse Bookshop on West Nicolson Street hosts Readers and Writers Against the Genocide: A Fundraiser on Wednesday 26 November. Featuring readings by Kathleen Jamie, Zaffar Kunial, Zain Rishi, Tom Bailey, Colin Herd, Zainab Imran, Alycia Pirmohamed, and Sunnah Khan.
- For more writing/reading-related events than I can fit in here, dive in to the latest edition of The Good Egg Project newsletter.
🎵 Shunning 'Black Friday' and everything associated with it: Fair Saturday is a one-day celebration of creativity and community across the arts, with live music, practical workshops on printmaking, singing and songwriting, as well as markets. - The event's website is here and the full programme is here.
⮑ Highlights from the programme are in The List.
📚 Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel laureate, best-selling author and award-winning film producer, is due to discuss her new book 'Finding My Way' at the Assembly Rooms on Sunday 30 November. - Tickets are here.
⮑ "What a playful and fun-loving character Malala is." - Ashley Davies interviews Malala in the Metro + The Times.
🎤 With the renovation of Teviot Row on schedule, the Gilded Balloon has confirmed it's returning to the student union building as a major Fringe venue next year. It will also continue running gigs from Patter House and the Auditorium at the National Museum of Scotland. - Applications to perform are now open.
🪩 Meanwhile on the other side of Bristo Square, a new nightclub, a comedy club, live music venue has opened beneath the Gilded Saloon. The team behind People’s Leisure Club talk to Myrtle Boot in The Skinny.
🎉 Celebrating five years in business, Leith's Good Vibes record shop is throwing a party. It's at Leith Cricket Club on Friday 5 December. Spinning the tunes: Lost Map DJs, Supper Club DJs, EHFM DJs, Arusa + a Special Guest TBC... - Tickets are here.
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
Here's Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre:
No big openers this week, although Scottish Opera is still at the Festival Theatre with their magnificent La Bohéme (Thurs, Sat only: tickets), and the Tina Turner Musical is still at the Playhouse (ends Sat: tickets). Both are highly recommended.
Elsewhere, top tip is Placeholder at Summerhall (Sat/Sun: tickets). While holding a seat at the theatre for her white employer in Saint-Domingue in 1790 Minette dreams up ghosts from her past…. It's a beautifully conceived solo show I can't recommend enough.
A quartet of local performers and performing companies are taking part in an Open Floor Scratch Night at the Studio (Thurs: tickets). This is a great opportunity to see new ideas and new shows in the making. The four taking part all have great theatrical chops, so double quadruple-bonus here.
In Musselburgh, MAMA are making the best of it after the Brunton's closure. A Blockbuster MAMA Variety celebrates the silver screen at Our Lady Of Loretto Church Hall (Sat/Sun: tickets).
Opera fans are spoilt for choice. Besides La Bohéme, Scottish Opera’s Opera Highlights tour is at the Traverse (Sat: tickets), while Clyde Opera Group have A Ravel Soirée (Sat: tickets), just round the corner at St Marks Unitarian Church on Castle Terrace.
Oh, and for any Flamenco fans who haven't already booked, there are a few seats left tonight at the Queens Hall for Daniel Martinez's "★★★★★ Captivating" Art of Andalucia (Wed: tickets).
For full details - and listings for next week when it begins to get really busy - check out Æ's listings pages: all linked here.
🎸 Gig tickets this week:
🎟️ This week at the Usher Hall: Thursday: Tide Lines, Friday: RSNO Season 25-26: Gershwin & Rachmaninov, Saturday: Wrest, Monday: Rat Pack - A Swingin' Christmas at the Sands, Tuesday: Christmas with Anton Du Beke, Wednesday: Disney's The Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert - Live to Film + Sunday 30 November: Blazin' Fiddles with Julie Fowlis.
🎟️ This week at The Queen's Hall: Wednesday: Art of Andalucia FLAMENCO DANCE, Thursday: Simon & Oscar of Ocean Colour Scene, Saturday: Nouvelle Vague, Sunday: SCO 25/26: Carmina Gadelica + Monday: New Town Concerts presents Timothy Ridout & Federico Colli.
🔊 Chart-topper Dizzee Rascal is at the Corn Exchange on Monday night. - Tickets here.
🎤 Happy Mondays dancer Bez is back in town on Friday. He'll be discussing his 'nine lives' in conversation with Vic Galloway at La Belle Angele on Friday. - Tickets.
⮑ 🎸 Another ‘Madchester’ movement act, Inspiral Carpets play the Liquid Room on Thursday 27 November.
🪩 Hot Mess returns to Fruitmarket on Friday night. - Tickets via Sneaky Pete's.
📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard
📌 “Thursday 20 November - Scott Lawrie Gallery opens NEW COLLECTORS 2025 a showcase of unique artworks by outstanding local and international artists – all at accessible price points. Opens 5-7pm at 2 Chuckie Pend (lane off Morrison St). All welcome!” - Thanks to Scott Lawrie Gallery for sharing this.
📌 “November - January: “Land of Light and Colour”, a new exhibition by Edinburgh artist Susie Collingbourne, is on display in the whisky snug at Hotel du Vin, Bristo Place. Expect vibrant Scottish landscapes from the Highlands and Islands to the windswept beaches of the East Lothian coast.” - Thanks to Susie Collingbourne for sharing this.
📌 “Tue 25 - Fri 28 Nov: 🐶 EGTG presents the multi award-winning 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' at Assembly Roxy for four nights only. Richly theatrical and touching, don't miss this incredible adaptation from one of Edinburgh's most well-respected amateur theatre companies.” - Thanks to Hannah for sharing this.
📌 “27th Nov; 6 - 7.30pm. 28th Nov; 12 - 2pm. The Torrance Gallery is delighted to be hosting the sale of an incredible private collection of original paintings; we're delighted to invite you to the two viewings at the Boland Group Office on Northumberland Street. Please RSVP to torrancegallery@mail.com” - Thanks to Fiona at The Torrance Gallery for sharing this.
📌 “27th–29th November: Fruitmarket’s festival of new music, Deep Time returns! Curated by Raven Chacon it's an acknowledgement of current urgencies of ecological, civil & political unrest through the liberation of loud noises. Over three nights artists will respond to these with voice, sound & noise.” - Thanks to Fruitmarket for sharing this.
📌 “Online Winter Writing sessions for all. Write Nights is a welcoming, informal online space for reflection, creativity and deep writing… perfect if you are nervous about your creativity. Back for online morning meditations, evening writing sessions & joy. Free/ pay what you can - £60. All welcome.” - Thanks to Julie Drybrough, Write Nights Founder, for sharing this.
📌 “Applications are now open for Summerhall Arts Spaces – supported & free opportunities for performative artists looking for space & time to develop work in the early/mid stage. Spaces includes 5 day access to a venue space without the pressure of public sharing. Applications close on 7th December.” - Thanks to Summerhall Arts for sharing this.