Edinburgh Culture Minute 🪩 22 - 28 October 2025
Paolozzi sculpture’s new home, Storytelling Festival begins, Creative Edinburgh Awards finalists, theremin workshop + Johns’ Boys Welsh Male Voice Choir at The Queen's Hall
Welcome to the 105th 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. And thanks to everyone who contributes!
👀 It’s a HUGE edition. It the newsletter is too long and gets cut off in your inbox, read it online here.
👀 The most-viewed links from last week’s Edinburgh Culture Minute:
- 🎆 Plug pulled on Scotland’s biggest Bonfire Night event in Edinburgh.
- 📚 Banned Books display at The Edinburgh Bookshop.
- 📸 New at the Portrait gallery: Alfred Buckham, Daredevil Photographer.
- 🎨 Leith Creative Trail venues revealed.
- 📚 Scottish International Storytelling Festival programme.
🗞️ News:
🏗️ Eduardo Paolozzi’s one-tonne Master of the Universe sculpture has a new home outside Scotland’s National gallery, having been moved from Modern Two near Dean Village.
⮑ “We wanted to bring the art outdoors and into the gardens at the National to spotlight that we are a gallery from the moment people arrive in the gardens. Paolozzi seemed like a perfect choice for this spot, he was very much an artist who looked to the past as well as to the future, which is very much what we are about at the National Galleries of Scotland. He was also from Edinburgh, which seemed very fitting as he will now be looking out over the city and facing towards his hometown of Leith.” - Dr Patricia Allerston, Deputy Director & Chief Curator of European & Scottish Art, National Galleries of Scotland.
🏆 The finalists for the 2025 Creative Edinburgh Awards have been announced. Find them all here.
⮑ The winners will be revealed on Friday 14 November at Central Hall in Tollcross. Last year’s event was a genuinely joyous celebration of local talent. Tickets are here.
- 💰 Too often I write about the struggles Scottish creatives face. So I’m happy to say that (for the second year in a row) The Edinburgh Minute has invested a four-figure sum to sponsor this year’s awards. As a small but mighty charity, Creative Edinburgh is helping local artists overcome some of those hurdles to set their imaginations wild and make dreams come true. It supports community, mentorship and skill-sharing at a crucial time. I couldn’t do this without readers supporting the newsletter, so huge thanks to all Minute subscribers for helping me put my money where my mouth is and supporting local creatives. By subscribing to this newsletter, you’re helping in so many ways. I am also donating an even bigger amount to the Edinburgh Food Project (again) this year. More details on that to follow.
🎧 Before writing the Culture Minute, I always listen to the EHFM Culture Show. Presented by local arts critics Katie Hawthorne and Katie Goh, this month’s edition has a segment dedicated to the Scottish International Storytelling Festival, which begins today and runs until 1 Nov. The theme this year is Lights of the North and here’s the explainer:
- “The 2025 Scottish International Storytelling Festival explores Scotland’s northern identity, sharing tales, songs and myths from the world’s northern arc, which bridges Finland to Iceland and connects Germany to Norway, with Scotland in between. Over 11 days, some of the North’s most celebrated storytellers will join leading voices from Scotland to bring a feast of world-class storytelling, music, workshops, and shared experiences to Edinburgh and venues across Scotland.” - Find the full festival programme here.
📆 Another local book festival for the calendar: The Lighthouse Radical Book Fair returns to Assembly Roxy from 5 to 9 November. - Browse the events here and find a digital programme here.
📸 A new exhibition opening at Stills Centre for Photography (on Cockburn Street) questions the storage of photographic works ‘under cloud capitalism’. - Read more about Felicity Hammond’s installation here.
🖼️ This weekend at Fruitmarket: a two-day showcase of the year-long Future Makers programme, with talks and events including: a coin jewellery workshop with Morven Mulgrew, a ceramic cup workshop with Rosa Park and and intro to darning with textile specialist Second Cashmere. - More details and bookings here.
👀 If this edition is too long and gets cut off in your inbox, read it online here.
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
Here’s the man-in-the-know, Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre:
It’s something of a classics week - but the big event of note is at the city’s most-haunted pub, the Banshee Labyrinth, where the Edinburgh Horror Festival is starting Halloween early.
Kicking off with the classics: Aaron Sorkin demonstrates his signature sharpness with his adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, in a thoughtful and uncompromising production directed by Bartlett Sher at the Festival Theatre (Ends Sat: Tickets).
Chekhov’s The Seagull continues at the Lyceum (ends Sat 1 Nov: Tickets) and comes highly recommended (★★★★☆ Impressive) for a brilliant ensemble in an accessible production which “does just about everything right”.
And the EUTC take on Marisha Chamberlain’s adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women at the Bedlam (ends Sat: Ticket). With a cast of 11, here’s hoping the students carry on their excellent recent form.
So to the Edinburgh Horror Festival, (Thurs 23 - Fri 31: Full details and ticket links). Celebrating its 10th anniversary there are 16 pieces of theatre amidst a healthy 41 different productions over the nine nights - including 21 from Edinburgh companies. There are a lot of clashes in the theatre programme, but many play for more than one performance, so plan wisely!
The Traverse has the return of two shows this week. Quite Riot’s BATSHIT (ends Sat: Tickets) is a deeply intimate reckoning with the myths and misconceptions of female madness, playing as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.
So Young, first seen at EdFringe 2024 (★★★★☆ Pointed) and winner of Best New Play at the CATS, returns briefly (Thurs-Sat: Tickets) before heading West to the recently re-opened Citizens (Details).
Contemporary circus fans are in for a treat at Assembly Roxy with travelling contemporary circus ensemble Cirqulation and JOURNEY (Fri: Tickets).
And finally, hybrid work Super Connected, from the Tim Arnold Company is not quite theatre but a “live film drama taking on Big Tech” at the Pleasance (Fri: Tickets).
Full details on Æ’s listings pages: all linked here.
🎟️ Big tickets this week:
🎵 Coming up at the Usher Hall: on Thursday: Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels, on Friday: RSNO Season 25-26: Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, on Friday 31 Oct: RSNO Season 25-26: Ghostbusters in Concert & on Sunday 2 November: Ross Noble - Cranium of Curiosities.
🎶 This week at The Queen’s Hall: Thursday: SCO 25/26: Haydn’s Drum Roll with Alina Ibragimova, Friday: stand-up comedian Jen Brister: Reactive, Saturday: contemporary folk act Breabach on their 20th-anniversary tour + Sunday: An Evening with Johns’ Boys Welsh Male Voice Choir.
🎶 The theremin is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact. Two local experts are hosting an introduction workshop that’s proven so popular, they’ve had to put on a second night. It’s at Leith Depot this weekend. Saturday is sold out but Friday tickets are still available here.
🎤 BAFTA-nominated writer and comedian Mark Steel is at the Assembly Roxy on Saturday night. - Tickets are here.
🇯🇲 Also on Saturday, Leith Depot hosts a Reggae Got Soul fundraiser Medical Aid for Palestinians. - Tickets are here.
🍿 Settle in for ‘a new vampire classic’ on Sunday evening as Leith Kino presents ‘A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night’. - Tickets are here.
🎸 A founding member of critically acclaimed Scottish band The Delgados, Emma Pollock plays The Cabaret Voltaire on Sunday. - Tickets are here.
🎨 Leith Makers hosts a Postcard Collage Lab as part of the ongoing Postal Exchange exhibition. - Details about this and many more local events than I can fit into the Minute are in Naomi Head’s always-excellent The Good Egg Project newsletter.
📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard
📌 “Thursday 23 October – still drawing. still life drawing club – draw a cute selection of thrifted/antique items in a cozy space with creative folks in Leith. Borrow supplies there or BYO your faves. Tickets essential via @stilldrawing.edi insta bio.” - Thanks to Viv Hu, host at still drawing. for sharing this.
📌 “‘Above Ground’ at Upright Gallery: An exhibition of Scottish artists Andrew Radford and Susie Redman. Andrew reuses food packaging to create simple, rhythmic tiles, stained with clay slip and natural colouring. Susie grows and gathers her own fibres along with natural objects to create intricate woven vessels and panels.” - Thanks to Ian Farmer of Upright Gallery for sharing this.
📌 “Edinburgh based artist Crystal Bennes is crowdfunding her new photobook, We Eat the Earth, on the global fertiliser industry and how our collective appetite reshapes the Earth. The book preorder campaign runs until 2 November and all contributions are match funded by Creative Scotland.” - Thanks to Crystal Bennes for sharing this.
📌 “Sun 26th Oct - The Coven: Nicole Smit, Kat Brooks & Cat Loud bring jazz, blues & tarot cards to The Jazz Bar. Each card has been assigned a song that best represents it’s energy & meaning, and you the audience shuffle the deck and pull the cards - whatever you pull will be performed...” - Thanks to Kat for sharing this.
📌 “Friday 24 - Sunday 26 October 2025, 10am-4pm each day: St Columba’s Hospice Care hosts its Annual Art Exhibition this weekend featuring over 80 local artists. 10am-4pm each day, admission free. At least 50% of all proceeds from sales will go directly to supporting the Hospice.” - Thanks to St Columba’s Hospice Care for sharing this.
📌 “Filmhouse: Wednesday 29 October | 6pm - A wildly original, punk odyssey from a truly visionary (and delightfully unconventional) director. Doppelgänger is a documentary out of this world, literally and figuratively, exploring the idea that madness and imagination is essential to how we discuss space.” - Thanks to the Scottish Documentary Institute for sharing this.
📌 “Wed 29 to Fri 31st Oct - Next week, join our immersive Halloween Special at the Pitt! Shoot beasties projected larger than life, create ‘acid bangers’ with a giant synth, control interactive artworks with your own phone! Tickets £8.5/£12 + booking fee available on Citizen Ticket.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 “Saturday 1 November at The Bongo Club: Hailing from the Netherlands, Selene brings her own flavour of hypnotic techno to Edinburgh this Halloween. Selene will be supported by ona:v and Enaen, with Kairogen in Room 2 bringing her eclectic and gentler selections. Yet another UK debut brought to you by EPiKA. ” - Thanks to EPiKA Edinburgh for sharing this.
📌 “Monday 3 November - Beyond the Sea - a celebration of singing inspired by Bobby Darin’s classic of the same name featuring music by Brian Wilson & Paul Simon, sea shanties, Gaelic song & Welsh folk song. 450 voices will be joined by special guests from Heart of Newhaven Dementia Meeting Centre.” - Thanks to Love Music for sharing this.
🤝 This week’s local creative jobs and opportunities. Find your future here!
📚 The Edinburgh International Book Festival is hiring a new Brand Assistant. The team says: “This is an exciting opportunity for someone seeking to work in arts marketing and who wants to help contribute to the success of our 2026 Festival. We’re looking for relevant skills, but most important is showcasing the right attitude and bags of drive and initiative.” Salary: £23,000. Deadline: 5 November. - Apply here.
📕 Another job in books: Fruitmarket is looking for a Bookshop Manager. Salary: £28,000 – £32,000. Deadline: 3 November. - Apply here.
🎵 The Edinburgh-based Love Music inclusion and education charity seeks a new Choirs Producer. It’s three days per week, employed on a permanent contract. Salary: : £23,400 per year (£39,000 pro rata). Deadline: 10 November. - Apply here.
🖼️ National Galleries of Scotland is hiring a Records Manager. Salary: £34,944 - £38,128 per annum pro rata. It’s permanent and part-time. Deadline: 30 October. - Apply here.
⮑ The galleries are also hiring a new Communities & Families Learning Coordinator for 24.5 hours (3.5 days) per week. Salary: £34,944 - £38,218 per annum pro rata. Deadline: 27 October. - Apply here.
✍️ Award-winning poetry-led arts charity and festival, Push the Boat Out, seeks a new Chair and Board Members. Deadline: 3 November. - Find out more and apply here.
🎨 Networking and learning opportunity: This month’s Creative Mornings talk is from designer and Edinburgh College of Art Product Design tutor Isla Munro (biog here) on Friday 31 October. - Free tickets are available at this link from 11am this Friday.
👍 STILL OPEN ↴