AROUND TOWN list.co.uk/aroundtown
HITLIST THE BEST FESTS, TALKS & EVENTS
✽ Horse: The Voice You, too, can sing like Horse. The Fife singer-songwriter with a
huge following presents a masterclass to help developing musicians. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Mon 9 Sep.
✽ New Perspectives on the Scottish Wars of Independence Get seriously
well-informed about the history of the Scottish independence debate at this day of lectures. Topics include ‘English Politics in Scotland’ and ‘Law and the Construction of Scottish Independence’. University of Glasgow, Fri 23 Aug.
✽ Edinburgh Mela Plenty of quality
music, dance, fashion, international fun and tasty food to try at the huge annual celebration of world cultures. See Big Picture,
page 11. Leith Links, Edinburgh, Sat 31 Aug & Sun 1 Sep.
✽ Moon Festival Edinburgh Zoo marks
the traditional Chinese Moon Festival to make the pandas feel at home. Gaze at the animals by moonlight, and enjoy a tasty mooncake or two. Edinburgh Zoo, Thu 19 Sep.
Edinburgh, until Sun 1 Sep.
✽ LUGG See preview, left. Various venues, ✽ Explore Brasil with STA Travel A tropical-themed evening of South American
drinks and salsa dancing. OK, so it’s a promotional event for a travel agency, but all the cocktails are £3.50 and you can win three nights in Brazil (a Latin American cookbook is one of the smaller prizes). Boteco do Brasil, Glasgow, Wed 18 Sep.
LUGG Edinburgh’s Swedish bars launch a new fringe festival, Scandinavia-style
T he Swedish bars of Edinburgh (that’s Boda, Hemma, Victoria, Sofi’s and Joseph Pearce’s, at the last count) want you to know that Swedes can do Fringe too. ‘Lugg’ is the name they’ve chosen for their extra-packed programme of events running throughout August and stretching into September. It translates directly as ‘fringe’, though the exact meaning is probably closer to the hair flopping over your eyes than it is to an international Scottish arts festival. Nevertheless, the range of exhibitions, music, movie nights, tea and cocktail evenings and foodie goings-on at the family of pubs across the capital are worth dropping in to see, especially if you can no longer stand the thought of anything officially Fringe-related.
The emphasis is on art, music and a casual, international outlook, and attending is all about dropping in rather than booking tickets. Wendy Helliwell’s exhibition of art, titled SINthetic, is a series of sculptures riffing on the seven deadly sins, and includes a supply of takeaway menus moulded into grotesque
34 THE LIST 22 Aug–19 Sep 2013
wall-mounted figures to illustrate the concept of gluttony – fingers crossed it doesn’t put you off your smörgåsbord platters during its run at Hemma until Mon 30 Sep. Meanwhile, at Sofi’s on Sat 24 Aug, fans of Tom Waits can wallow in his oeuvre as musicians play and poets recite their favourite pieces of his work, with tracks from the man himself on the jukebox all night long. At Victoria from Mon 26 Aug to Sun 1 Sep there’s a week- long exhibition of collaborative art, with an opening night of live performance, art workshops and skill-sharing on the Monday, while Sun 1 Sep also brings a Brazilian themed night to Joseph Pearce’s. It’s an eclectic range of arty events, staying close enough to the spirit of fringe originality that Edinburgh Lugg might just become yet another world-famous festival in the city before too long. (Charlotte Runcie) Lugg, various venues, 0131 553 5900, until Sun 1 Sep, times and prices vary, bodabar.com