Festival Around Town

Telephone Booking Fringe 0131 226 0000 International Festival 0131 473 2000 Book Festival 0845 373 5888 Art Festival 07500 461 332

Activities & Events The Edinburgh Military Tattoo Until Thu 26 Aug (not Sun), Mon–Fri 9pm; Sat 7.30pm & 10.30pm. £16–£50 (Saturday 10.30pm shows £19–£53). Castle Esplanade, Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, 225 1188. A unique blend of music, ceremony, entertainment and theatre featuring bands from across the globe, set against the magnificent backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. Saturday 10.30pm performances are followed by a fireworks display. Booking essential. Mary, Queen of Scots and the Birth of James IV Fri 20 Aug, 11am, 11.30am, noon, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm & 3pm. Included in admission: £14 (£11.20; children £7.50; under 5s free). Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, 668 8858. Hear about Mary, Queen of Scots and the birth of her son, James, who was to become the first King of a United Kingdom of England, Ireland and Scotland. Highland Wildlife Park Tour Sat 21 Aug, 8.30am–6.30pm. £32 (£23 members). Edinburgh Zoo, Corstorphine Road, 314 0350. A trip up north to the Highland Wildlife Park, home to Mercedes the polar bear, with a drive around the reserve followed by a walking tour. Depart from Edinburgh Zoo. FREE Remembered Remedies Sat 21 Aug, 10am–noon. Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. We all know dock leaves take the nip out of a nettle sting, but how else do we use plants as remedies? Ethnomedica want to know how you use plants for their archive. FREE Things That Go Squeak in the Night Sat 21 Aug, 8–10pm. Holyrood Park, Holyrood Lodge, 652 8150. Join the Ranger for a bat hunt and find out about their clever methods of navigation in the dark. Booking essential. FREE Arthur’s Seat Challenge and Family Fun Ride Sun 22 Aug, 8.30am. Arthur’s Seat, www.findabetterwaytowork.org. A lap challenge for the hardcore cyclist. See how many times you can circle the Seat in an hour and a half; alternatively take the 5km route at your own pace. There will also be a bouncy castle for the kids and a chance to show off your local knowledge in a cycle quiz trail. Free breakfast included, which is nice. Life in a Medieval Castle Mon 23 Aug, 11am, 11.30am, noon, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm & 3pm. Included in admission: £14 (£11.20; children £7.50; under 5s free). Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, 225 9846. Learn about the oft-ignored topic of life for a young girl in Medieval Scottish society, with a focus on the life of a young girl of noble birth, Isabella, who placed the crown on the head of Robert the Bruce in 1306. FREE LGBT Glee Club Tue 24 Aug, 8–10pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Meet new people or come with friends to learn some songs and recreate the magic of the TV phenomenon. Email intern@lgbthealth.org.uk for more information. Prisoner of the Crown Tue 24 Aug, 11am, 11.30am, noon, 12.30pm, 1.30pm, 2pm, 2.30pm & 3pm. Included in admission: £14 (£11.20; children £7.50; under 5s free). Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, 225 9846. Meet an American prisoner held within the mighty walls of Edinburgh Castle during the War of Independence. FREE Meet our Trees Until Tue 24 Aug, 10am–6pm. Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. Find out about the many trees that inhabit the 86 THE LIST 19-26 Aug 2010

Highland Wildlife Park Tour Fed up with staring at comedians baring their teeth inside hot rooms? You need some fresh air, my friend. Edinburgh Zoo have very sweetly

put on a bus to take parties interested in getting out of Edinburgh (an impulse we can kind of understand, by this time) up north for a daytrip to the Highland Wildlife Park, where you can witness tigers, deer, and Mercedes the relocated polar bear ambling happily about the park (within their own enclosures, obv.) It’s like everything another comedy show is not. Bus leaves from Edinburgh Zoo at 8.30am on Sat 21 Aug. Phone 0131 314 00350 to book a place; tickets cost £32 (£23 for zoo members).

Gardens with the Garden Rangers. Under 16s must be accompanied. Family Guided Tours Wed 25 Aug, 11am. Family ticket £15 (£10). Georgian House, 7 Charlotte Square, 0844 493 2118. Tour the Georgian House and discover how rich families of yesteryear lived and the less privileged life led by their servants. Booking essential.

✽✽ FREE Edinburgh Interactive Thu 26–Mon 30 Aug, 10am–10pm.

Festival Square, Lothian Road, www.edinburghinteractive.co.uk. Edinburgh Interactive offers free gameplay on some of this year’s biggest titles before they even hit the shelves. With two full days of videogame play and titles and technology showcased by the likes of PlayStation, Train2Game, Musematik and Codemasters. The event is linked to the industry conference happening on Wed 25 and Thu 26 Aug (see http://www.registrationline.org.uk/eif/ event342/reg.asp to register), and also includes free public screenings at Filmhouse (Wed 25 Aug 6pm–9pm and Thu 26 Aug 7pm–9pm). FREE Different Strokes Thu 26 Aug, 4–6pm. Glenogle Swim Centre, Glenogle Road, Stockbridge, 343 6376. All transgender people can enjoy the sole use of a swimming pool, steam room and sauna in a new event scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month. Email emma@lgbthealth.org.uk or telephone the LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing on 0131 523 1100 for info and to sign up.

Books FREE Getting Started at NLS Thu 19 Aug, 10.30am–noon. National Library of Scotland, George IV Bridge, 623 3918. Find out how to register, seek out specific books and peek inside the Reading Rooms, then enjoy a lifetime of reading books for free.

✽✽ FREE Courtyard Readings Until Sat 21 Aug, 2pm. Scottish Poetry

Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 557 2876. An open event for all poetry lovers, hosted by the School of Poets. All are invited to come and read their own poems or personal favourites of other writers in the language of their choice. Readings are held outside if it’s fine or inside in summer rain. See Hitlist. Havers and Blethers Until Sat 21 Aug, 7.30–8.30pm. £2. Captains Bar, 4 South College Street. A spoken word- based festival show from the Captain’s Bar featuring writers, poets, actors and musicians performing short snippets from their works. Free acoustic folk sessions every night after the show. See picture, page 87.

✽✽ FREE Edinburgh Book Fringe Until Mon 30 Aug, times vary. Word

Power Bookshop, 43 West Nicolson Street, 662 9112. Word Power’s very own Book Fringe, featuring readings, discussions and book signings from top names, including comedian Stewart Lee and Edinburgh Makar Ron Butlin. Russian Writing Today Sat 21 Aug, 7.30pm. Scotland-Russia Institute, 9 South College St, 668 3635. £5 suggested donation. Meet the winner of the Russian Booker prize, Olga Slavnikova, Glasgow editor Natasha Perova, young writers from all over Russia, and other literary visitors for readings, signings, discussions and chat. Advance booking essential. Nothing but the Poem @ The Book Festival Wed 25 Aug, 11am–12.30pm. Scottish Poetry Library, 5 Crichton’s Close, Canongate, 0845 373 5888. £15 (£12). An informal book group which removes the pressures of review, criticism and hype, to focus instead on the reader’s response to the text. No background knowledge is necessary. FREE Rich Fulcher Thu 26 Aug,

5.30pm. Waterstone’s West End, 128 Princes Street, 226 2666. Author and comedian Rich Fulcher (aka The Mighty Boosh’s Tim Fossil) signs and reads from his 2009 book Tiny Acts of Rebellion: 97 Almost-Legal Ways to Stick it to the Man, a bible for those for whom all-out revolution/doing time is just a smidge too far.

Exhibitions FREE Lewis Chessmen Until Sun 19 Sep, 10am–5pm. National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, 225 7534. Thirty of these mysterious historic chess pieces have been reunited from their homes in Edinburgh and London for an exhibition that delves into the intrigues surrounding them and what they tell us about the times in which they were made.

✽✽ FREE World Press Photo Exhibition 2010 Until Sat 28 Aug

(not Sun), Mon–Fri 10am–5.30pm; Sat 11am–5.30pm. The Scottish Parliament, Holyrood Road, 473 2000. The World Press Photo Award highlights the best press photography from around the world. This exhibition displays the short list, whittled down from over 90,000 images, on display in Edinburgh as part of a global tour. The winning photo by Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo, of women on a rooftop in Tehran, is also on show. Part of the Festival of Politics 2010. FREE From Another Kingdom: The Amazing World of Fungi Until Sun 21 Nov, 10am–6pm. Audio guides £2.50 (children £1.50). Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. The UK’s first major multi-media exhibition to focus on the fascinating world of fungi and the relationship of the fungal ones with humans and the planet. FREE Persian Art and Rug Exhibition Until Mon 30 Aug, 10am–noon & 2–4pm. Persian Rug