The Edinburgh Minute ⏰ Tuesday 16 December 2025

Tour de France Edinburgh costs revealed, Hogmanay sales soaring, community centre plans to open on Christmas Day + inside the new Fringe Central building

Michael MacLeod

16 Dec 2025 — 6 min read

Last night's pink sky, photographed by Tom Duffin.

🌤️ Good morning Edinburgh. The newsletter has been getting a bit too long recently. There's just so much going on. I've done my best to reign it in slightly this morning. Here’s Tuesday's Edinburgh Minute.

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🚴‍♂️ The cost of starting the Tour de France men's cycle race in Edinburgh in 2027 has risen to £10.95m, more than triple the council's initial £3.3m estimation. - Brian Ferguson has the exclusive in The Herald.

🚉 A suggestion that Dean Bridge could have a single-track tram line is reported by Ian Swanson in the Evening News this morning.

🎆 Overseas bookings for Edinburgh's Hogmanay events are up by 10%, while discounted tickets for local EH postcode holders are said to be 'on the verge of selling out', reports Brian Ferguson in The Herald.

🚖 An Edinburgh cab driver who hit a pedestrian with his taxi while trying to beat a red light on St John’s Road in Corstorphine has been allowed to keep his licence. - Joe Sullivan, Local Democracy Reporter, STV News.

⮑ Meanwhile a private hire vehicle was caught on camera reversing into railings at speed before colliding with a Tesla car at Edinburgh Airport yesterday. - Isla Storie, Edinburgh Live.

🏢 The future of Edinburgh’s tenements is a hot topic just now, after the Scottish Law Commission called for a new law to make owners associations in tenements compulsory. - There's more from Dennis O'Keeffe in the Spurtle.

🚔 A Gilmerton mother and daughter are facing prison after admitting posting extreme racist right-wing content on social media. - Lee Dalgetty, Edinburgh Live.

🎄 The team who run Southside Community Centre are planning to open on Christmas Day for people experiencing homelessness and isolation. - Rosalind Erskine, The Scotsman.

"Community buildings and community centres should be open when communities need them. Christmas can be a really difficult time for people for varying reasons so to get the chance to be able to open the doors and welcome people into the building at a time where they really need us is really important to the building, and it's really important to me personally as well as a professional working with the community." - Michael Traill, Chief Executive of the Southside Community Centre Association.

🍛 The 'resilient, adaptable, determined' family behind Khushi’s Indian restaurants are back at the top of Middle Meadow Walk on Forrest Road (formerly the Paolozzi bar/restaurant). - Donald Reid speaks to the Mohammed family about 78-years of serving locals and reviews their new eatery in The List.

🎭 A new video shows how a refurbishment is progressing at the new Fringe Central, in Infirmary Street's former Southbridge Community Resource Centre building. - It's on YouTube here and Instagram here. Yesterday the Fringe also published more details about its plans to continue working with local schools.

🖼️ The vast archive of artist and curator Richard Demarco - comprising artworks, photographs, documents, posters, and ephemera - is being relocated not within Scotland, but to the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, Poland. - Writing in Bella Caledonia, Charlie Ellis explores the complex, mixed feelings that this significant move has provoked, under the headline: A Cultural Evacuation: The Demarco Archive Leaves Scotland.

🗳️ A reminder of today's council meetings:

10am: Edinburgh Integration Joint Board, including a report on a projected year-end overspend of £13.5m, which the council says is "driven largely by growth in prescribing care at home services for the over 65s, slippage in savings delivery, high occupancy in the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and financial pressures in set aside services."
Also at 10am on Tuesday: Traffic Regulation Orders Sub-Committee, including discussions on the proposed Controlled Parking Zone for Portobello, A protest is planned by the 'Portobello and Joppa Residents & Businesses Against CPZ' group. - There's some background in this report by Donald Turvill in The Herald + an interview with some of the opponents in this report by Lee Dalgetty of Edinburgh Live.
- The meeting will also cover planned new one-way exemptions for pedal cyclists on streets including Rose Street and Thistle Street. - The full agenda, webcast link and background papers are here.
- On the possible introduction of two-way cycling along Rose Street, Mike Birch of New Town and Broughton Community Council got in touch with the Minute to share this statement, published with the Living Streets Edinburgh Group and the Edinburgh Access Panel. They say: "Increasing usage by cyclists of this already very congested shared space will increase the risks to pedestrians, especially those with impaired vision or mobility."
- ⮑ There's a deeper preview of the meeting in this week's edi.bike newsletter.

📮 A wonderful bit of hyperlocal neighbourhood shop appreciation in the Broughton Spurtle, which takes a look around what is 'possibly Spurtleshire's most useful shop'...

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📌 “Edinburgh Community Bookshop is hosting another crime Christmas kilo sale! £5 for a kilo of crime books, normally priced at £3-4 each (1 kg is about 4 paperbacks.) 4 - 7 pm on the 18th of December. See you there! ” - Thanks to Edinburgh Community Bookshop for sharing this.

📌 “Tuesday 16th December at St John's Church, Princes Street - The Scottish Wildlife Trust announced March 2025 its largest ever acquisition, the purchase of the Inverbroom Estate near Ullapool. Join us to hear about the purchase and some of the outline plans for the future of this amazing Estate. Includes seasonal refreshments.” - Thanks to the Scottish Wildlife Trust Lothians Volunteer group for sharing this.

📌 “17 December, 8.15 pm - Join us at Filmhouse for the screening of Still Pushing Pineapples + Q&A. Entertainment, working-class culture, human connection, and the power of pop align in Kim Hopkins’ moving and funny road movie following ageing pop star Dene Michael as he chases one more chart success.” - Thanks to the Scottish Documentary Institute for sharing this.

📌 “17/12/2025 GONG BATH at Edinburgh Therapy Centre in Leith. Discover the transformative power of gongs, using vibrations and frequencies to balance body and mind, reduce stress, and promote deep relaxation and inner harmony. Gong Practitioner Daniel Killeen support you into the journey with sound.” - Thanks to Daniel Killeen at Edinburgh Therapy Centre for sharing this.

📌 “Friday 19th December, 12.30-2pm at Stockbridge Church. Come and create a Stockbridge Carol with the assistance of composer Nigel Osborne. The text was created last week and now to create the music! Admission free, refreshments provided!” - Thanks to the organiser for sharing this.

📌 “107th Pentland Scouts are looking for Adult Scout Volunteers. Scouts Meet Fridays 1930-2130 at Craiglockhart Church, school term times. All training provided. There are programmes and activities available. Any prospective member will have to get a PVG as it is for the 10-14 year age group.” - Thanks to Peter Malone for sharing this.

📌 “Friday: TFEH believes that even those engaging in the invisible labour of being enthusiastic about experimental weirdo musics deserve a non-denominational festive-times office party. For yr consideration this month are WEE DJs, L, CAROLINE HUSSEY & OFF BRAND at Fruitmarket this Friday evening. Get tix now!” - Thanks to Ali Robertson, organiser at Tfeh, for sharing this.

📌 “Saturday: The Scottish Chamber Choir will get you in the Christmas spirit with Carols from around the World. Our concert in St John's Church in Edinburgh's West End gives you the chance to hear carols from Africa to Asia, Europe and the Americas. You can join in with some favourite carols too!” - Thanks to Choir member Milda for sharing this.

📌 “Wednesday 31st December: 🎉 Welcome to The Loft, Party Leith 🎶 Launching NYE25 with a spectacular lineup as we fly in one of our favourite DJ/Producers — MARCEL VOGEL 🔥 Bring in the New Year at what we believe is Edinburgh’s most sublime venue ✨ A natural fit… and we can’t wait to share it with you 🖤 🎟️ LAST FEW TICKETS.” - Thanks to Soul Heaven Records & Luvin'Leith Events for sharing this.

📌 “23 March 2026: A Night Under the Stars of the Dynamic Earth Planetarium with Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen, songwriting wonder Rachel Sermanni, and prize-winning poet Janette Ayachi. A one-off spectacular to launch the Pedersen's widely acclaimed Muckle Flugga paperback book featuring a pop-up from Argonaut.” - Thanks to Michael Pedersen, Edinburgh Makar, for sharing this.

📮 Anything missing? Please share your local news and events here.