🪩 Edinburgh Culture Minute: 4 - 10 Dec 2024
Local artists' markets at Fruitmarket & OOTB, Local Cinema Project, drag-Shrek + gigs by The Twilight Sad, Mr Scruff + NZ heroes Fat Freddy's Drop
Welcome to the 69th edition of the Culture Minute, a weekly round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities.
If I’ve missed anything please get in touch.
Too long for email? View the newsletter online here.
The most-viewed links from last week’s Edinburgh Culture Minute:
- 🎨 Leith Creative Trail events this week.
- 🖼️ EAF Raffle: Fundraiser for Haven for Artists.
- 📆 The Good Egg Project newsletter.
📸 Let’s start today’s edition with an upcoming exhibition at Stills with a focus on sustainable photography. Artist Jess Holdengarde uses local Scottish seaweed, yarrow and plants to develop and print, exploring ‘the role of photography in the context of a crisis’. - It opens on Friday at 6pm and there are more details here.
🎭 Organisers of the Manipulate Festival have revealed a slimmed-down programme for 2025 that does not feature international work, blaming ‘stagnating funding’. - Fergus Morgan, The Stage.
🎨 The Warehouse at Fruitmarket is hosting 40 independent creatives for a Winter Makers Market on Sunday. Free entry. - A full list of the traders is in the caption here.
⮑ A new exhibition by Jill Smith called Zodiac Journey opens at Fruitmarket on Tuesday. - The launch event is free and more details are here.
🎧 The last EHFM Culture Show of 2024 features Katie Goh and Katie Hawthorn’s ‘Ins and Outs of culture in Edinburgh in 2024, and some big wishes for 2025’. - Listen here.
🎤 Cold Turkey, Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen’s 7th annual ‘scrumptious festive buffet of music, spoken word and arty weirdness’ returns on Friday. Special guests include Hollie McNish, Gemma Cairney and Withered Hand at Leith St Andrew’s Church on Friday from 7pm. - Tickets are here.
👀 The List magazine revealed its annual Hot 100 ‘most influential contributors to Scottish arts and culture from the past year’.
🍿 Local film screenings and events this week include: Mountains on Stage 2024 + a screening of ‘Save The Cinema’ by the Local Cinema Project at Duncan Place. - Sort your cinema plans with this week’s Cinetopia newsletter.
🪩 Mr. Scruff has announced a date at Sneaky Pete’s in March. The set is in support of the Music Venue Trust and Save Our Scene, with £1 from each ticket going to MVT and SOS’s Liveline Fund. - More details here.
🎵 This week at The Usher Hall: Tonight: Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol in Concert Live to Film. Thursday: Aylen Pritchin, SCO Prokofiev & Brahms. Friday: RSNO Season 24-25: Dvořák’s New World Symphony. Sunday: Children's Classic Concerts - A Christmas Carol. Tuesday: Love Actually in Concert - Film with Live Orchestra. And on Wednesday 11th, New Zealand’s seven-piece high-energy electric soul act Fat Freddy’s Drop return. Chur. Tickets are here.
🎸 This week at The Queen’s Hall: Tonight: Season four of the AMPLIFI gigs curated by Arusa Qureshi and Halina Rifai, featuring Groove Down, Juniper Lai and Nuna. On Thursday: Heidi Talbot & Boo Hewerdine. On Friday: The Skids and Spear Of Destiny. On Saturday: The Down for the Count Orchestra. On Wednesday (11th): The Twilight Sad.
📆 Local writing events this month include the Typewronger open mic night, The Chicken Coop Writing Group and the return of Sad Song Club at Sketchy Beats in Leith. - Loads more where these came from in Naomi Head’s latest post.
🎭 What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this week?
Here’s All Edinburgh Theatre’s Thom Dibdin:
There are big new openers this week as the panto season rumbles on, and some braw local companies with top notch shows, panto and otherwise.
The biggest opener of all is the return of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to the Playhouse again - but this time with Donny Osmond as the roof-raising Pharaoh (ends 29 Dec: tickets).
There are two bona-fide panto openers. Up at Goldenacre, at the Inverleith St Serf's Church Hall, the St Serf's Players have their Aladdin (ends Sat: tickets), while along at Portobello Town Hall there is Jack and the Beanstalk (Fri - 29 Dec: tickets) from Stage Door Entertainment with an exceptionally strong local professional cast.
Strawmoddie bring their latest Steve Briggs' adaptation of Terry Pratchett, Going Postal, to the Pleasance Theatre (ends Sun: tickets). Up at the Church Hill Theatre, the Balerno Theatre Company turn to the world of Musicals for this year's treat with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (ends Sat: tickets). Both companies have strong reputations - get those tickets asap!
Prize for Bizarro Christmas fare of the season goes to Edinburgh's Christmas, with 16+ rated Swamplesque at the Assembly Hall (Thurs - 4 Jan: tickets) which seems to be drag Shrek. We will report back.
Local writers group 4Play have already sold out their two show, four play, four night run at the Trav (Wed - Sat: returns only) but there are tickets for the Napier Drama Society's winter show at the Scottish Storytelling Centre Capture the Flag (Sun/Mon: tickets).
And finally: the glittery Cinderella, with Grant Stott, Allan Stewart and Jordan Young on top form, continues at the Festival Theatre (ends 31 Dec: tickets); Duncan McLean’s new version of RL Stevenson’s classic swashbuckler,Treasure Island is at the Lyceum (ends 4 Jan: tickets) and Kevin Quantum continues to do magical things in Edinburgh Magic at the Caledonian Hotel (Fri/Sat: tickets)
Full details on Æ's Preview & Listings to Sun 8 Dec and On Stage Next Week. And click here for Æ's Panto Preview and Listings 2024.
📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard
📌 THIS FRIDAY: “LISTENING PARTY End of Year event - Listen and Draw session with DJ sets of textured ambient music to prompt our evening of collective mark-making- with a focus on looseness, experimentation, playfulness and responding to music intuitively through gesture. Introducing music to our interdisciplinary practices can bring about new approaches to creating. (no drawing abilities required) Pay what you can ticketed event.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this. Location: Dissenter Space, 1 Ocean Drive, Leith, EH6 6JB.
📌 “Join Loud Poets at 7:30pm this Friday at the Scottish Storytelling Centre for their final spoken word poetry showcase of the year! This month's event features Ben Macpherson (the Nottingham-based poet, not the Leith MSP!), EmmaClaire Brightlyn, Tom Bird, and Mike Yuill. Expect hilarious, heart-wrenching, moving spoken word, with live musical accompaniment.” - Thanks to I Am Loud CIC for sharing this. - Tickets.
📌 From Out of the Blue Drill Hall in Leith: “Across three market days, over 100 of our hand-picked local independent artists and makers will be selling their work, with different stallholders each day. As well as our usual Saturday and Sunday markets, due to demand there will be an extra market on Friday 6th December (5pm - 9pm). From paintings, prints and homewares through to jewellery, textiles and ceramics, there’s something for everyone. Friday 6th December (5pm - 9pm), Saturday 7th December (11am - 5pm), Sunday 8th December (12pm - 5pm). Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Leith.” - More details here.
📌 “Join us on Saturday, December 7th, for a Creative Monoprinting and Collage Workshop with Georgie Fay at The Heart of Newhaven from 1:30–4:30 PM. Led by an experienced printmaker, this session will guide you through experimental techniques using your own sketchbook ideas, found images, and step-by-step demonstrations. Perfect for beginners or those refining their skills, this workshop offers a hands-on opportunity to create layered, textured prints in a supportive environment.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 “The Atelier Gallery are looking for the next Young Emerging Commercial Artist of 2025, if you are studying Higher, Advanced Higher or A level Art in an Edinburgh School this competition is for you! We are asking for one piece of original art to be submitted for your chance to win, with the success of this years winner Annabel and her hit feature show earlier in November you wont want to miss this competition. For more information on how to enter and details of the competition please email info@theateliergallery.co.uk.” - Thanks to the gallery for sharing this. More details here.
💌 Share your news, events or opportunities here.