🪩 Edinburgh Culture Minute: 9 - 15 April 2025
Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at the Festival Theatre, Summerhall updates, more local Record Store Day events + kids' art for adults
Welcome to the 84th weekly edition of the Culture Minute: a round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities.
If I’ve missed anything please get in touch.
👀 The most-viewed links from the last Edinburgh Culture Minute:
- 🖼️ Two new exhibitions at Edinburgh Printmakers.
- 🎭 Jodie Comer to bring Prima Facie to the Lyceum.
- 🎉 The JUPITER RISING x Edinburgh Art Festival line-up has been announced.
News:
🎸 Record Store Day is on Saturday. There are gigs hosted by VoxBox gigs at St Vincent’s Chapel and a Lost Map Records special at Good Vibes in Leith. - More details in Tallah Brash’s preview for The Skinny.
⮑ Crime writer and music lover Ian Rankin will be spinning tunes at Cockburn Street’s Underground Solution record shop alongside a packed day of DJ sets. - Full details here and their list of 240 special RSD releases is here.
⮑ The Record Store Day party will continue into the wee small hours at Leith Cricket Club with DJ sets from Arusa Qureshi and Jonathan Hamilton and live music from Health and Beauty. The night is a collaboration between Supper Club and Good Vibes Record Store. - More details and tickets on Eventbrite.
📌 “It’s Record Store Day on Saturday 12th April, so to celebrate all things vinyl we have a day of events planned with some of our good pals Bartek, Infinite Sounds,Twelve Original Players & Scottie Boy playing records during the day in the shop from 12noon until 5pm. In the evening we’ll be teaming up with our good pals Greenhouse Records & Barney's Beer for a Sound Clash at The Royal Dick in Summerhall. Doors open at 6.30pm and it’s free entry!” - Thanks to Laura from Umbrella Vinyl for sharing this.
🎵 Scottish Music Industry Association takeover at the EFI: Local musical artists, bands, managers, labels and industry professionals can learn ‘career-boosting skills’ at a series of workshops later this month at the Edinburgh Futures Institute. The workshops will be run by The Scottish Music Industry Association in partnership with Creative Tech Scotland Gathering, The Union, EmuBands and Wide Days. - Full details here.
🎨 Fruitmarket is hosting a ‘Kids Art for Adults’ event next week. Local multidisciplinary artist Frieda Ford will lead ‘a relaxing drop-in workshop for under 30s’:
“Working from a starting point of Portia Zvavahera’s use of the subconscious as an inspiration for the artistic process and a series of creative prompts inspired by her work, we will be using material play tactics to inspire a loose parts play workshop. Using traditional play materials for kids’ workshops – cardboard, tape, string, card, collage – we will take part in an open-ended making activity.” - It’s free. More details here.
🔊 This month’s EHFM Culture Show is here. Local art critics Katie Hawthorne and Katie Goh summarise a busy month into a jam-packed hour covering:
- Summerhall's ‘resurrection’, (side note: Edinburgh Acting School has just moved in),
- Scotland's only vinyl pressing plant,
- Festivals news,
- Plus books and poetry!
- Listen on Mixcloud or Soundcloud.
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
Here’s All Edinburgh Theatre’s Thom Dibdin:
It's another big week of musicals from Edinburgh's amateur and professional theatre communities with a spot of dance from the boundary-pushing Mr Bourne.
Two top tips. First: Forth Children's Theatre who consistently punch above their weight and are at Broughton High School for The Sound of Music (Wed-Sat: tickets).
Secondly: EdGAS, the Edinburgh Gilbert & Sullivan Society, take on early work The Sorcerer (Wed-Sat: tickets), and will no doubt bring plenty of clever attention to the details up at the Church Hill Theatre.
Down at the Loretto School in Musselburgh MAMA are stepping away from the usual formula for their annual Variety Show, with a production that reflects the 75 years of the company's existence (Fri/Sat: tickets).
The Lyceum's Wild Rose is entering its final fortnight (ends Sat 19: tickets) and briefs are becoming very scarce. Best availability is Thursday, although there are no complete sell-out nights. Yet.
Tickets are also scarce for Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake at the Festival Theatre (ends Sat: tickets). There are seats to be had, up in the back of the gods, but you might be best advised to rock up on the night and see if there are any returns.
Elsewhere in this packed week, both Amadeus (details) at the Pianodrome and Through the Shortbread Tin (details) at the Storytelling centre are sold out. While there are but a handful of seat-only, no-pie, tickets for this week's lunchtime theatre Night, Idiot, at the Traverse (ends Sat: tickets).
See Æ's various listings pages, all linked here for more details.
📌 Edinburgh Minute Community Noticeboard
📌 “Exhibition of new photography by Wojtek Kutyla; 'Fragments', St Margaret's House. Opening this Friday!” - Thanks to Wojtek Kutyla for sharing this.
📌 “Step into a vibrant fusion of cultures this April. The HelloArt Easter Fusion Market brings together the rich traditions of Asia and the festive spirit of Easter, creating a unique, fun-filled experience for all ages. Explore, create, taste, and celebrate—completely free at the Drill Hall (12pm - 5pm).” - Thanks to Out of the Blue for sharing this.
📌 “RECORD STORE DAY at UNDERGROUND SOLUTION - Record Store Day is back on Saturday 12th April and we'll be proudly presenting a mountain of exclusive vinyl releases plus a rather special selection of in-store performances celebrating some of the amazing artists we sell here in the shop. As always, we'll have all 400+ exclusive RSD releases on sale from 8am in the shop with live sets and DJ's including Ian Rankin, Blanck Mass, David Keenan, Philip Joseph Rae, Accident Machine and more. We hope you can join us for this worldwide celebration of Record Shop culture and all the good folk that make 'em special...music lovers unite!” - Thanks to the shop for sharing this.
📌 “Wheel of Fate and Sett Studios present ANTICIPATION: a group show celebrating the coming of the Spring! Join together at 127 Leith Walk on opening night for performances, readings, music, and drinks. Tickets are free, and everyone is welcome!” - Thanks to Tara McGilvray-Guard, Director, Wheel of Fate, for sharing this.
📌 “Music Lovers! REVERENCE supports New & Fresh Independent Alt-rock, / Metal / Post Punk local bands. We’re kicking off Easter Weekend on Good Friday with four awesome local acts, including REVELATION23, VEXATIONS, HEMLOCK and FREE MANTLE HYPOTHESIS at The Banshee Labyrinth Good Friday. Doors open 7pm. Grab your tickets 🎟️ now!! ” - Thanks to CVGV Events for sharing this.
📌 “Join a free exhibition tour of Jerwood Survey III at Collective: Thursday 10 April, 5.30-7pm or Saturday 12 April, 11am-12pm. We will visit works across the City Dome Gallery, Hillside Gallery and City Observatory to give you a snapshot of the contemporary art exhibition, which presents new commissions by 10 early-career artists from across the UK. Free but advance booking required.” - Thanks to Collective gallery for sharing this.