Edinburgh Culture Minute 🪩 29 Oct - 4 Nov 2025
New concert hall breakthrough, The Charlatans return, Bombskare’s Skalloween, slimy good vibes with Pictish Trail + James Acaster at Monkey Barrel & Connor Burns at The Stand
Welcome to the 106th weekly Culture Minute: a round-up of Edinburgh’s local creative news, events, jobs and opportunities.
If I’ve missed anything please get in touch. Big thanks to everyone who contributes!
👀 The most-viewed links from last week’s Edinburgh Culture Minute:
🎆 Plug pulled on Scotland’s biggest Bonfire Night event in Edinburgh.
📚 Lighthouse Radical Book Fair returns to Assembly Roxy from 5 to 9 November.
🗞️ News:
👀 Firstly this week, I’m encouraging you to check out The Edinburgh Edit. It’s a new newsletter dedicated to the city’s hospitality community, featuring new openings of cafes, bars and restaurants, new menus, deals and events. It’s written by Chloe Archibald-Ansari who I met at a Creative Edinburgh event earlier this month. There is a huge amount of original work in here and I highly recommend it:
💰 Just announced: 21 Edinburgh-based creative projects are among those sharing a pool of £1.3m in the latest Open Fund Awards from the National Lottery through Creative Scotland. - The full list is here.
🎭 Broadcaster, actor and author Graham Norton has been announced as the newest Ambassador of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. “As an Ambassador he will be uniquely positioned to help inspire the next generation of artists, and we’re excited to be working with him on this mission,” said Fringe boss Tony Lankester. - The Fringe published more details here. Norton said:
“My connection to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe dates back nearly 35 years. As an emerging comedian back in the early nineties, everyone in the industry knew that you had to make the journey to Edinburgh and its Fringe for the opportunities that you have to develop your craft with a live audience, but also to meet and network with the thousands of industry that go there to look for talent. I’m delighted to be announced as an ambassador of the Edinburgh Fringe and look forward to visiting the festival next August.”.
🎵 A £20m Scottish Government deal means construction can re-start ‘within weeks’ on the Dunard Centre concert hall. It’s on a site between St Andrew Square and the St James Centre. The cash was matched pound-for-pound by arts philanthropist Dr Carol Colburn Grigor. - The new venue posted an update here.
⮑ ‘Will the cost of Edinburgh’s new concert hall be worth it?’ - Brian Ferguson looks at the Dunard Centre plans in The Herald.
🎭 More local venue news: a possible future for the mothballed Brunton Hall. East Lothian Council has issued a Preliminary Market Consultation in an attempt to find suppliers, funders, or developers who are capable of delivering a new theatre. - Thom Dibdin has the details in All Edinburgh Theatre.
🎅🏻 The Red Hot Chilli Pipers will play at the Ross Bandstand to headline a free day of Edinburgh’s Christmas events on Saturday 29 November. - More details here.
📚 The Scottish International Storytelling Festival continues into the weekend. - Find the full festival programme here.
⮑ Here’s a selection of five things to see at the Scottish International Storytelling Festival by Lauren McKay in The List.
🎨 Networking and learning opportunity: This month’s Creative Mornings talk is from designer and Edinburgh College of Art Product Design tutor Isla Munro (biography here). Creative Mornings events have become a must-attend event for local creatives, so do get along if you can and see who you meet! The event is on Friday morning. - Free tickets are available at this link.
🏆 Ahead of next month’s annual Creative Edinburgh Awards, the organisers have started putting the spotlight on the nominees, starting with its Development Award. Find all the nominees here.
⮑ The winners will be revealed on Friday 14 November at Central Hall in Tollcross. - Tickets are here.
🎭 Creative Edinburgh is among those backing a new campaign aimed at ensuring fair pay and conditions become the norm across the sector. - Brian Ferguson, The Herald.
💰 Talk of the town among folks in the local creative industries: A basic income scheme for artists in Ireland. - Naomi Head takes a look in The Good Egg Project newsletter, which also has more of this week’s event listings
👀 If this edition is too long and gets cut off in your inbox, read it online here.
🎭 What's on Edinburgh's stages this week?
With your weekly listings, here’s Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre:
It’s hot stuff for Edinburgh’s stages this week, with the Birmingham Royal Ballet holding their Black Sabbath Ballet (Thurs-Sat: Tickets) at the Festival and Miss Saigon at the the Playhouse (ends Sat: Tickets) in a tour so new they haven’t even got production shots yet.
But the hottest tip of all is to get to the Lyceum before The Seagull closes on Saturday. (Tickets) It comes highly recommended (★★★★☆ Impressive).
The other big local production is up at the Church Hill Theatre where increasingly excellent local amateurs Blackout are staging Come from Away (ends Sat: Tickets), the musical about the planes diverted to tiny Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001.
The students of the EUTC have Oliver Lansley’s Immaculate at the Bedlam (Ends Fri: Tickets), about Mia who is young, free, single and pregnant - but hasn’t slept with anyone for a year.
Local company Strawmoddie celebrate their first decade with a Scratch Night at St Brides on Thursday (Tickets) for which we have a preview with founder Jonathan Whiteside.
This week’s Lunchtime PPP at the Traverse, The Fisher King (ends Sat: Tickets) is returns only (★★★☆☆ Jarring), but Metagama: An Atlantic Odyssey (Fri/Sat: Tickets) - about mass emigration from the Hebrides to Canada in 1923/24 - has a cast well with traveling to see.
And finally gig theatre Half Man Half Bull, which combines the myths of Thesus and Icarus, is at the Studio Theatre (Fri/Sat: Tickets).
There is plenty else opening next week before the Culture Minute drops, check out full details on Æ’s listings pages: all linked here.
🎟️ Big tickets this week:
🎸 Indie icons The Charlatans have announced a concert at the Corn Exchange on 6 May next year. - Tickets go on sale at this link on Friday.
Florence + The Machine will play the Royal Highland Showgrounds at Ingliston as part of the Edinburgh Summer Sessions on 24 August 24, supported by Self Esteem and Jacob Alon. - Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday at this link.
📆 The Lighthouse Radical Book Fair begins next weekend at Assembly Roxy: from 5 to 9 November. - Browse the events here.
🪩 Pictish Trail plays Leith Cricket Club on Friday for Lost Map Records’ Halloween party. - Details and tickets are here.
⮑ Then on Saturday at Good Vibes Neighbourhood Store, there’s a pop-up shop / slime workshop / live performance by Pictish Trail. - More details here.
👻 On Saturday at the Liquid Room: Local heroes Bombskare are joined by Quiet Years for this year’s Skalloween. - Tickets here. The band says: “Wear costumes and expect chaos, brass, and more dancing than you thought possible.”