Edinburgh Culture Minute 🪩 4 - 10 November 2026
Radical Book Fair, Zine Fair & Albion Open Studios weekenders, why jazz is thriving in Juniper Green, book events with Annie Macmanus, Laura Kuenssberg & Andrew Cotter + Argonaut vs Enshittification
👋 Hello dear subscriber! Welcome to the 148th weekly Culture Minute: a round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities. It's a busy week on the city's stages too. If anything's been missed please get in touch. Thanks to everyone who contributes! You are the best.
👀 Most-viewed links from the previous Edinburgh Culture Minute:
- 🎵 Acclaimed musicians to play medical fundraiser gig at Queen's Hall. (Thurs 12 Nov)
- 🎨 'Save Summerhall' petition (now at 13,000 signatures).
- 🪫 Uni experts unite to say AI data centres are NOT inevitable.
- 🏆 Meet the city's top 32 creatives ahead of Creative Edinburgh Awards ceremony (Fri 13 Nov).
- 🇫🇷 All this week: Events celebrating 80 years of the Institut français d'Écosse.
🗞️ News
📚 The Edinburgh Zine Fair is on this weekend from midday on Saturday and Sunday. It's due to be hosted at St Margarets House on London Road for the last time, if planned evictions go ahead for a student flats development. Organisers Typewronger Books say: "We are gutted that we, alongside all the other residents here, are getting evicted at the end of the year. Please show your support by coming along. We have 40+ tables showing a massive array of work and free risograph workshops all the way through the fair. Let’s show Saint Mags some love one last time." - Full details are here.
⚓️ ''Leith is great' says Sir Phil Redmond, the man helping decide if it will become the UK's first Town of Culture' - Jane Bradley, The Scotsman.
🖼️ It's a busy month across the National Galleries of Scotland. November's events include exhibitions, talks, markets, the Scottish Portrait Awards and family fun days. - Full details are here.
🍿 The 16th Edinburgh Short Film Festival begins on Friday. The programme is here and there's a preview along with many more local creative events in Naomi Head's The Good Egg Project newsletter.
📰 'Long Live Print: The Future of Scottish Journalism' - Jamie Dunn of The Skinny speaks to peers at Snack mag, EHFM, the Filmhouse, Fringe of Colour and Extra Teeth about how Scottish arts journalism can survive.
Feature by Jamie Dunn
📵 Are you sick of Enshittification? That is, when digital platforms are gradually made worse, mainly to increase profits? The term was popularised by writer Cory Doctorow, whose book 'Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Went Wrong and What To Do About It' is the subject of the next Topical Book Club at Argonaut Books on Leith Walk later this month. - More details here.
🎙️ Superstar DJ turned author and now Substack writer Annie Macmanus will be at The Portobello Bookshop on 2 February for a discussion of her forthcoming novel The Fox. - Tickets here.
📚 Upcoming book events from Topping & Co:
- Thursday: Irvine Welsh with Len Pennie - Can Nothing Save Us? - Tickets.
- Wed 2 Dec: Laura Kuenssberg - Pay Attention. - Tickets.
- Tues 9 Feb: Andrew Cotter - The Owl Carver. - Tickets.
👀 If this edition is too long and gets cut off in your inbox, read it online here.
🎟️ Big tickets this week
📚 The annual Edinburgh Radical Book Fair runs from Thursday to Sunday at the Assembly Roxy, featuring panel talks, book stalls, performances and workshops. - The programme is here and it's previewed by Alison Belsham on Edinburgh Shelfie:
Edinburgh Shelfie
💃 Usually a sell-out, the Porty Climate Ceilidh is at Portobello Town Hall on Saturday evening. Hud Yer Wheesht will be the band for an evening of music and dancing, along with a local bar and raffle fundraising for climate solidarity with funds split between Porty Community Energy and Nepal flood appeal. The opening act is due to be Charan Pradhan. - More details here + on The Ceilidh Collective Instagram.
🏴 Trad-rockers Skerryvore play the Corn Exchange on Friday night. - Tickets.
🎸 Elvana: Elvis Fronted Nirvana play the Corn Exchange on Saturday night. - Tickets.
🎟️ This week at the Usher Hall... Friday: RSNO Season 26-27: Verdi Requiem, Saturday: Scotland's Festival of Remembrance, Sunday: BBC SSO 26-27: Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, Tuesday: Prof Alice Roberts - From Cell to Civilisation + Wednesday: W*nkernomics Show_V4.1_FINAL_USETHIS.
🎟️ This week at The Queen's Hall... Wednesday: Turkish rockers mor ve ötesi, Thursday: Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Manze leads the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's Tchaikovsky Serenade, Friday: Celtic music heroes Duncan Chisholm, Michael McGoldrick, Gerry O'Connor and Tony Byrne, Saturday: Across The Universe - The Beatles '66-'70 (promising no wigs and no costumes), Monday: Czech act Martinů Quartet make a rare visit to celebrate 50 years since their inception. Wednesday 11th: AMPLIFI featuring Jaz Riley, Khalid Al Khajah and Tayoh. Thursday 12th: A Night for MAP (Medical Aid for Palestinians), featuring Aidan O’Rourke with Graeme Stephen, Dean Owens, Harben Kay with Stephen Henderson, Beth Malcolm, Iain Morrison, Cahalen Morrison and Kathleen Macinnes, with speaker Humza Yousaf. Friday 13th: Horse: Band & Strings.
🎸 Dr John Cooper Clarke brings his distinctive pithy punk poetry to The Queen’s Hall on Friday 27 November. There are a few tickets left. - Full details in Vic Galloway's preview in The List.
Vic Galloway
🏟️ Sam Fender this week announced a second concert at Murrayfield stadium on Saturday 10 July, alongside his first date on Thursday 8 July. Tickets are on sale at this link, with both dates marked as 'low availability'.
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
⭐️ Here's Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre:
It's all eyes on the prize biggies this week, but with so many sell-outs it's worth looking a bit deeper to find a whole bunch of fledgling, Edinburgh-based talent - all attaining their own big prize of a live performance.
First though, a couple of great productions from local amateur companies. EPT are staging Yasmina Reza's Art at the Scottish Storytelling Centre (ends Fri: tickets) and Hugh was hugely impressed with an extremely successful, "★★★★☆ Artful" production, signally well acted and directed.
Then EGTG are up at the Bruntsfield Pianodrome with a proper treat: the theatrical premiere of Dead Souls, Dan Rebellato's adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s satire of Russian aristocracy (ends Fri: tickets).
Ending on Saturday, this week's sell-outs are Operation Mincemeat (★★★★☆ Inventive. Kings: details) and Man to Man (★★★★★ Hugely unsettling. Traverse: details), while there are only a few tickets left for 1984 (★★★★☆ Chilling. Lyceum: tickets).
At the more capacious Festival Theatre, there's good availability for the new tour of Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man (ends Sat: tickets). Loosely based on Bizet’s ever-popular opera, it's something of a sensual scorcher.
And now for something from the opposite end of the development spectrum, with another great clutch of new writing at various stages of progress.
Tonight is the final of the Gateway New Writing Festival at the Studio (tickets), with ULTRAVIOLENCE! By Will Osbon and Steam by James Stedman. It's also the opening night of the EUTC's Candlewasters at the Bedlam (ends Fri: tickets) with a team of 24 actors staging 10 minute excerpts from eight original plays.
In Dalry at The Space, Kieran Lee-Hamiltonin is putting on a rehearsed reading of The Usual (Fri: tickets), a three-hander set in a Glasgow greasy spoon, the opening of which was first seen at Saltire Sky's Big Blether.
And then there is Her Witching Hour from Luna Mageia at Summerhall (Fri/Sat: tickets), an immersive cabaret, "bursting with powerhouse vocalists, magical musicians and hard-hitting spoken word".
Dance fans have Dance Horizons: Innovations the regular showcase of new work from four choreographers at the Studio (Fri/Sat: tickets).
And to get back on to the mainstream tip, if all you really want is an evening of pure escapism, there are still a few (mostly solo) seats at the Playhouse on Saturday night for Voulez Vous – The Music of ABBA (tickets).
⭐️ Full details of these and all future productions on Æ's listings pages, all linked here.
📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard
🎨 Leith Creative Trail Returns for its Biggest Year Yet - 'Explore 33 venues showcasing hundreds of local artists and makers. Discover open studios, exhibitions, markets, workshops and handmade gifts. Pick up a trail map at participating venues or download a copy online. From 27 November to 13 December.' - More details here, shared by Edinburgh Open Workshop.
🚀 Edinburgh board game Aster funded on Kickstarter in 25 minutes - 'Aster, a hand-illustrated space strategy game from Edinburgh studio Midnight Trading Co, hit its Kickstarter goal in 25 minutes and has now raised nearly £30,000. Edinburgh is the campaign’s top city for backers. Campaign runs until 24 November.' - More details here, shared by Midnight Trading Co.
🎷 First birthday for grassroots jazz club Juniper Green Note: 953 tickets and a UK Jazz News review - 'Juniper Green Note, a grassroots jazz club at Baberton Golf Club, sold 953 tickets over 13 gigs in its first season. Reviewing its October gig, UK Jazz News said such jazz is "still alive, even thriving". Next: Marianne McGregor, 26 Nov.' - More details here, shared by Juniper Green Note.
Sebastian Scotney
🎨 Hot Snakes Mini Exhibition: "Lucky for Some" by Paula Beakes [Until Sun]
Fri 06 November - 'Hot Snakes Studio Presents "Lucky for Some". This exhibition showcases Paula Beakes work under the theme of luck & superstition, portrayed through a diverse range of mediums from paintings, riso, digital illustrations to tufting (yes actual rugs!).'
6pm to 10pm | Custom House Leith · Leith | FREE - More details here, shared by Paula Beakes.
😂 The Portobello Comedy Night
Fri 06 November - 'Stand Up Comedy by the sea starring Billy Kirkood, Steven Davidson (mc), Chris Thorburn, Richard Pulsford, Thirsty Campbell & a special guest!'
8pm to 11pm | Beach Lane Social Club · Portobello | £16 - More details here, shared by Momentum Entertainment.
🎨 Albion Open Studios [Until Sun]
Sat 07 November - 'Over 30 artists and makers will be opening their doors, meet artists and makers, have a wee look inside the studios, see what we've been up to and perhaps find something special to take home, all while supporting Edinburgh's creative community.'
11am to 5pm | Albion Business Centre · Abbeyhill & Meadowbank | FREE - More details here, shared by Albion Studios.
🌿 "Nature Was Always Queer"-Radical Book Fair event
Sun 08 November - 'A panel of writers, artists, activists, and garden historians will chat about queer ecology: Daisy Hildyard, Jenny Chamarette, Carle Gent, and Nish Doshi. They will be chaired by Frances Cannon, editor of the anthology 'Queer Flora, Fauna and Funga'.'
3.30pm to 4.45pm | Assembly Roxy · Old Town | FREE - More details here, shared by a Minute reader.
🎥 Leith Kino presents: Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass by Quay Brothers
Sun 08 November - 'Join us for a rare screening of the Brothers Quay's Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, a mesmerising fusion of live action and handcrafted stop-motion puppet animation.'
7.30pm to 10.30pm | Leith Depot · Leith | £6 / £0 - More details here, shared by Leith Kino.
📚 Liv Little's Bitter Melon: A Novel Launch
Wed 11 November - 'What a joy to bring you the hotly anticipated second novel from Liv Little, founder of gal-dem and author of Rosewater!'
7pm to 8pm | Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop · Old Town | £4/free - More details here, shared by Lighthouse - Edinburgh's Radical Bookshop.
🖼️ The Bugle: Past and Present [Until Sat]
Thu 12 November - 'An exhibition celebrating the art and writing of Bethany Christian Trust's long running creative arts group and magazine, featuring work by current contributors and from the archive.'
10am to 4pm | Custom House Leith · Leith | FREE - More details here, shared by Bethany Christian Trust: Creative Expressions.
👹 Walking Amongst Gods & Monsters
Thu 12 November - 'An evening of traditional storytelling and music that delves into tales of myth & legend and finds the humanity within.'
7.30pm to 9.30pm | Leith Depot · Leith | £12 / £10 concession - More details here, shared by Kate.
🙏 Edinburgh Medical School & the Scottish Chamber Orchestra thank the people of Edinburgh!
Tue 17 November - 'The Prof. of Anatomy & tutors of Clinical Skills present an event of thanks to the people of Edinburgh - without whom the work of Edinburgh Medical School wouldn't be possible. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra will play a newly commissioned piece.'
6pm to 7.30pm | Edinburgh Futures Institute · Old Town - More details here, shared by Edinburgh Medical School.
📚 The Scottish Christmas Book Fair
Fri 20 November - 'The Scottish Christmas Book Fair is back! Bigger and better than before! The perfect occasion for Christmas gift shopping. Your favourite genres for adults & children. Chat with Scotland's indie publishers. Author events and signings!'
10am to 4pm | Edinburgh New Town Church · New Town | FREE - More details here, shared by Vikki Reilly, Publishing Scotland.
🎨 Young Artist Competition Now Open! - 'Are you aged 12–16, living in Scotland and love to draw, paint or create? We’re inviting young artists from across Scotland to design the artwork for the official Edinburgh Tartan Parade 2027 poster. WIN £250 IN ART SUPPLIES VOUCHERS! T&C’s Apply (Deadline: 02 Jan)' - More details here, shared by Tartan Parade Scotland.