Edinburgh Culture Minute 🪩 8 - 14 October 2025

Welcome to the 103rd 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. Big thanks to everyone who helps bring this all together into one place.

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

1. 👗 New exhibition at Dovecot Studios: The Biba Story: 1964–1975.
2. 🎸 The Cure announced for Ingliston Summer Sessions.
3. 🎨 Summerhall mental health art exhibition facing closure.
4. 🥣 From Leith Walk to the red carpet: Tracy’s Golden Spurtle documentary adventure.
5. 📕 Garth Marenghi at The Queen’s Hall next month.

🗞️ News:

🍻 Wasted: 7,000 litres of beer and thousands of bratwurst and schnitzel have been destroyed. The ‘organisers’ of Edinburgh Oktoberfest admitted they didn’t have insurance after the Princes Street Gardens event was cancelled due to Storm Amy last week. Tickets, which cost up to £110, will roll over to next year. - The firm made the insurance admission here and Jane Bradley has more context in The Scotsman.
⮑ Also postponed due to the weather was the annual Foik Folly procession organised by Sett Studios. - It’s been re-scheduled for this Saturday.

🎭 The Royal Lyceum theatre has confirmed Lyndsey Jackson as its new Executive Director. Lyndsey is the current Deputy Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and will join the Lyceum from January. - More details from the theatre here.

🎵 Local producer and pop artist SHEARS releases her debut album on Friday. She shared her powerful female influences in The Skinny.
⮑ Another new album from an Edinburgh-born singer-songwriter: Hamish Hawk has announced ‘Life in a Scotch Sitting-room, Vol 0’ will be out in December. It was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which shared more details here. - You can pre-order it here.

💰 A two-week window to apply for cash from the Scottish Government’s Culture Collective Fund opened yesterday. Any organisation in Scotland working in the arts, screen, or creative industries ‘with a strong track record of working with the communities they aim to support’ can apply for between £100,000 and £300,000. - Find out more and apply here before 22 October.
⮑ There will be an online info session on Monday from 10am. - Book a free place here.

🎭 A two-day Edinburgh Festivals Hackathon next month aims to ‘merge arts, culture & tech to solve challenges in accessibility, data & sustainability.’ - More details from the Edinburgh Futures Institute here and free spaces can be booked here.

🛶 Push the Boat Out, Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival, has announced its November programme, with the Pleasance as its new base. - The programme is here and there’s a look at the line-up of performances and workshops in this week’s Good Egg Project newsletter.

📝 What might happen when all this artificial intelligence technology goes wrong? A new interactive comedy-drama called Page Against The Machine will be staged at the Scottish Poetry Library just off the Royal Mile next month. It explores the potential dangers of AI adoption in various creative, legal and bureaucratic settings. - More details here.

📚 A display of banned books is currently in the window of The Edinburgh Bookshop in Bruntsfield. - It’s part of Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read.

🎨 If you fancy getting hands-on with print, there are more courses and workshops at the Edinburgh Printmakers studios this month. - Full details here.
⮑ There are also new weekend workshops and longer courses available at Leith School of Art.

👀 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?

With thanks as always to Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre for this week’s listings:

There’s a fascinating theatre programme this week, led by a low-key preview of a national tour at North Edinburgh Arts, previews of the Lyceum’s latest and some impressive touring work.

The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it top tip is for We Are The Lions, Mr Manager! from Townsend Productions at NEA (Sat only: tickets): the story of the great Grunwick Film Processing Factory Strike of 1976-8 and its inspirational strike-leader Jayaben Desai.

There is fair availability of £18 preview tickets for The Seagull at the Lyceum (Thurs 8- Sat 1 Nov: Tickets), the much awaited opening of new AD James Brining’s reign at the theatre, with Caroline Quentin leading a properly stellar ensemble.

Black Hole Sign, The Traverse’s NHS-set co-pro with the Tron and the NTS opens tonight (ends Sat 18: Tickets). Traverse AD Gareth Nicholls directs practising nurse Uma Nada-Rajah’s razor-sharp and hilarious look at the maligned by beloved institution.

War Horse (★★★★★ Exquisite) continues at the Festival Theatre (ends Sat: Tickets) with best availability on Saturday. While Riverdance 30 - The New Generation arrives at the Playhouse (Thurs - Sat: Tickets).

If the EUTC continue their current good form, their Antigone in Don Taylor’s translation at the Bedlam (ends Sat: Tickets) should be a corker - but wrap up warm!

Elsewhere, Turan Ali’s Queer Folks’ Tales at the Scottish Storytelling Centre is always a blast (Thurs: Tickets); there’s fun for the weens with The Paper Dolls at the Studio (Thurs - Sat: Tickets); and Katy Dixon’s promising but flawed lunchtime offering Cheapo (★★★☆☆ Promising) at the Traverse (ends Sat: Tickets) has a few tickets left tomorrow only.

Full details on Æ’s listings pages: all linked here.

📝 If you’ve got thoughts, ideas or questions about the future of Scottish arts journalism, come along to CodeBase on Monday evening for a Creative Sectors discussion. On the panel:

- Rachel Ashenden (facilitator), Art Editor, The Skinny
- Kevin Fullerton, Online News Editor, The List
- Katie Goh, Project Manager, Equal Media and Culture Centre (EMCC)
- Michael MacLeod, Founder, The Edinburgh Minute (👋)
- Arusa Qureshi, Editor, Fest Magazine
- Brian Ferguson, Arts Correspondent, The Herald

🎟️ Gig tickets this week:

🎸 Idlewild introduce their new album at The Liquid Room this evening. - Tickets.

🍊 Edwyn Collins brings his Testimonial Tour to The Queen’s Hall on Thursday. - Tickets are running short and if it’s sold out you can call the box office to join the returns list.

🔊 Broadcaster Jo Whiley is at the Corn Exchange for a night of 90s anthems.

🎸 Double Grammy winner Jason Mraz plays The Queen’s Hall on Friday night. - Tickets.

🎤 WET WET WET play the Usher Hall on Saturday. - Tickets.

🎼 The Doric String Quartet plays The Queen’s Hall on Monday evening. - Tickets.

🎻 Tuesday next week: An Evening with Nicola Benedetti at the Usher Hall. - Tickets.

🔊 The AMPLIFI gig series returns to The Queen’s Hall on Wednesday 15 October with performances by Theon Cross, Azamiah and Gaia. It’s curated by Arusa Qureshi and Halina Rifai. - Tickets.

📌 Edinburgh Culture Minute Community Noticeboard

📌 “Join us for the Edinburgh College of Art 2025 PhD Showcase, where we will celebrate the work of 25 postgraduate students. The showcase this year includes a symposium of talks and screenings from 14:30-15:30 as well as a reception and exhibition from 18:00-20:00.” - Thanks to the ECA PhD Showcase Committee for sharing this. It’s on Wednesday and Thursday next week.

📌 “Wednesday 22 October - Comedian and star of Spinal Tap II, Kerry Godliman is in Edinburgh for one night only at The Queen’s Hall, with her show ‘Bandwidth’. As seen on Afterlife, Whitstable Pearl and Taskmaster.” - Thanks to Off The Kerb Productions for sharing this.

📌 “Under a Moonlit Sky opens in Morningside Gallery on Sat 11 Oct, with 40 new paintings from artist Gordon Wilson. The show brings together Gordon’s most iconic subjects - poppies, boats, beloved ‘biddies’ and Belted Galloway cattle are all there, as well as instantly-recognisable Scottish landmarks.” - Thanks to Carrie for sharing this.

📌 “Su-a Lee & Hamish Napier in Concert at Portobello Town Hall on October 19th at 3pm. Two amazing musicians who don’t often get the chance to play together.” - Thanks to Mark Tweedie for sharing this.

🤝 This week’s local creative jobs and opportunities. Find your future here!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Funding of up to £10,000 per project is available via the ‘Protection Through Connection’ project. It’s for ‘communities to record, showcase and safeguard their own cultural traditions’. - More details via Museums Galleries Scotland. - Apply before Friday 10 October.

🎬 Applications are open for Through the Lens, a free, hands-on filmmaking course for adults (18+, no upper age limit) living in North Edinburgh. Funded by Screen Scotland, The Robertson Trust, and City of Edinburgh Council, Through the Lens is designed to open doors to filmmaking in underrepresented areas, build creative confidence, support personal and professional growth, and ‘reflect the diversity of our communities’. - More details via Screen Education Edinburgh.

💰 Assembly Festival is hiring a Finance Officer. Salary: £27,300 per annum/pro rata. Deadline: 24 October. - Apply here. (They’re also hiring Elves. That’s right. Elves as in multiple elf people.)

📘 The Scottish Book Trust is recruiting for a Design & Marketing Co-ordinator. Starting salary: £26,250. Deadline: 14 October. - Apply here.
⮑ The SBT is also looking for someone to be its Head of Reading Communities. Salary: £40k. Deadline: 13 October. - Apply here.