AroundTown

31 May, 7pm. Victoria, 265 Leith Walk, 555 1638. A meet-up for people looking for native speakers of different languages. The Big Edinburgh Bookshop Book Swap Tue 31 May, 7.30pm. £5. Henderson’s Vegetarian Restaurant, 94 Hanover Street, 225 2131. Swap a book and enjoy a glass of wine and nibbles. Writers’ Bloc presents Mr Big Society Wed 1 Jun, 8pm. £4 (£2). Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh College of Art, Lauriston Place, 229 1442. A light-hearted look at some serious questions as Writers’ Bloc explores David Cameron’s big idea. FREE The Aartvark Charity Auction Fri 3 Jun, 8pm. The Caves, Niddry Street South, 557 8989. Charity auction of work donated by young up-and-coming artists.

✽✽ Meadows Festival Sat 4 & Sun 5 Jun, times vary. Free. The Meadows,

Melville Drive, meadowsfestival.org.uk. Since 1974, the Meadows has hosted a lively weekend out. This is that. FREE All Dressed Up for Autism Sat 4 Jun, 11am–6pm. the gallery on the corner, 34 Northumberland Street, thegalleryonthecorner.org.uk. Fashion collection, Pure by Catriona Garforth, which will be auctioned off (silently) for charity.

✽✽ Trainspotting Tours Fri 10 & Sat 11 Jun & Thu 16–Sat 18 Jun, 7.30pm. £4 (£3). Port O’Leith, 58 Constitution Street Get the inside story on where Mark, Begbie, Sickboy et al used to hang out. Part of Leith Festival. FREE Bruncheon! Featuring The Sound of Muesli Sat 11 Jun, 11.30am–3pm. Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 30–36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, 555 7100. If you can have a dinner dance, why not a breakfast dance? Live music and food.

✽✽ Deco Dance Sun 12 Jun, 6pm. £6. Queen Charlotte Rooms, 56a Queen Charlotte Street Leith, 555 6660. Re-live the Jazz Age with music and dancing, courtesy of vintage party specialists Miss Fitz-Poste’s Modern Mixers. Part of Leith Festival.

✽✽ FREE Refugee Week Networking Night Thu 16 Jun,

6pm. The Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street, 243 2626. Networking event with guest speakers organised by the Refugee Survival Trust. Part of Refugee Week Scotland.

✽✽ FREE Seafield Cemetery & Crematorium Open Day Sat 18 Jun, 10am–3pm. Seafield Crematorium, Seafield Road. Morbid history and architecture buffs, assemble, for guided tours of the listed building. Part of Leith Festival.

✽✽ FREE Parklife Sat 18 Jun, 12pm–4pm. Dalmeny Street Park, Dalmeny Street, 555 7101. Community planting, art workshops, poetry sessions, sporting events and music in the park. Part of Leith Festival. Robots Live! Sun 19 Jun, 10am–5pm. £10 (£8.50; children £5 under 5s free). National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, 0300 123 6789. For fans of the halcyon Robot Wars days.

Edinburgh International Haggis Eating Championship Sun 19 Jun, 11am. £1. Art Roch Hostel, 2 West Port Grassmarket, 228 9981. Competition (and world record attempt) to see who can speed-eat lamb innards fastest.

✽✽ Leith Festival Tattoo Sun 19 Jun, 7.15pm. £tbc. The Piazza, The Shore

Leith, leithfestival.com. Annual Leithers’ riposte to that big noisy thing up at the castle. Part of Leith Festival. Traverse Theatre A&E Quiz Mon 20 Jun, 8pm. £1. Traverse Theatre, Cambridge Street, 228 1404. Perfect for artsy types who always struggle with the sports round. FREE Midsummer at the Botanics Tue 21 Jun, 6pm–10.30pm. Royal Botanic Garden, Arboretum Place, 248 2979. Celebrate the solstice and come frolic in the simmer dim the gardens are open until 10.30pm and are full of free musical performances, storytelling sessions and exhibition tours.

✽✽ FREE Tug O’ War Sat 11 Jun, 3pm. Leith Links, Leith,

leithfestival.com. Local pub teams compete for macho glory. Part of Leith Festival. Cycle Forth for Stroke Sun 12 Jun, 10am. £10 (children £5; family £30). Hopetoun House, Shore Road South Queensferry, 555 7243. Bike ride along the banks of the Forth.

✽✽ FREE Ex-Hibs Players v Leith Athletic Sun 19 Jun, 2pm. Leith

Athletic Football Pitch, Leith Links. Divided loyalties for Leith residents. Part of Leith Festival. Talks FREE RBGE Show and Tell: South

Refugee Week

American Savannah Wed 8 Jun, 1.30pm. John Hope Gateway Centre, Royal Botanic Garden, 20a Inverleith Row, 552 7171. Find out what capybara like to eat, among other things. FREE Microstories About Microstoria Sat 11 Jun, 5pm. Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, 650 2210. Nick Currie gives a talk about the current exhibition.

✽✽ Pirates and Privateers of Leith Tue 14 Jun, 7.30pm. £tbc. Leith

Community Education Centre, New Kirkgate, leithfestival.com. Leith History Society enlightens us as to Leith’s real-life buccaneers. Part of Leith Festival.

Fairs & Markets Fashion Fundraiser Fri 27 May, 3pm. £12. Mansfield Traquair, 15 Mansfield Place, 555 8475. A high-class affair in aid of two local schools, with food stalls by Valvona & Crolla and local independent designers showcasing their wares. Gardening Scotland Fri 3 & Sat 4 Jun, 10am–6pm; Sun 5 Jun, 10am–5pm. £14–£16 (£12–£14; children free). Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, 333 0965. Green-fingered heaven. FREE Morningside Makers Market Sat 4 Jun, 11am–4pm. Columcille Centre, 2 Newbattle Terrace, 447 7404. Monthly boutique craft and design market.

✽✽ FREE Leith Festival Gala Day and Pageant Sat 11 Jun,

11am–4.30pm. Leith Links, leithfestival.com The Leith Festival comes to its annual climax, with stalls, music and fun, plus the annual pageant (from noon). Part of Leith Festival. Edinburgh Book Fair Sat 18 Jun, 10am–5pm. £1. Radisson Blu Hotel, 80 High Street, 557 9797. Second hand books, maps and prints.

✽✽ FREE Out of the Blue Flea Market Sat 18 Jun, 10am–2.30pm.

Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 30–36 Dalmeny Street, Leith, 555 7100. Bargain buys. Part of Leith Festival.

Sport Challenge Scotland Sun 5 Jun, 9am–5pm. Prices vary; spectators free. Holyrood Park, 0845 260 0789. A day of fundraising events for Alzheimer Scotland. To take part please register online.

✽✽ FREE Edinburgh’s World Naked Bike Ride Sat 11 Jun,

3pm. The Meadows, Melville Drive. A naked bike ride down Edinburgh's Middle Meadow Walk to point out the vulnerability of cyclists on our car- clogged roads. Full nudity leaves you liable for arrest, so remember to cover up with a few tassles or suchlike.

This year, Scotland’s ever-expanding programme of films, performances, music events, exhibitions and club nights celebrating the contribution that refugees have made to our society is marking a very important anniversary: it’s 60 years since the UN Refugee Convention was signed, and it has saved millions of lives ever since.

They’re celebrating with their biggest line-up to date, and many of this year’s events have taken ‘courage’ as their starting point, exploring ideas through poetry, plays, exhibitions, dance pieces and workshops. Refugee Week works with Scotland’s best venues to create mini-festivals: look out for a really good line up of theatre and comedy at the Tron in Glasgow, poetry readings and performance at the Trongate in Stirling, exhibitions by the excellent photojournalist Angela Caitlin at Glasgow’s Platform and Paisley Museum, and a special feature exhibition charting 60 years of stories from refugees in Scotland at Kelvingrove Gallery & Museum.

Full listings will be at refugeeweekscotland.com from Thu 2 Jun.

Various venues across Scotland, Mon 20–Sun 26 Jun.

NORTH BERWICK 8-14 AUGUST 2011

www.fringebythesea.com Scotland’s festival by the beach

64 THE LIST 26 May–23 Jun 2011