The Edinburgh Minute ⏰: Weekend edition 5 - 7 April 2024
Major revamp for Dalry, weather warnings, Taylor Swift Murrayfield ticket scams, science fest at the museum + Haymarket vs Waverley money-saving loophole
🌦️ Good morning Edinburgh. Here’s Friday’s Edinburgh Minute followed by the weekend events guide for paying subscribers.
☔️ The Met Office has issued weather warnings for heavy rain and wind this weekend. They are graded as ‘yellow’, the lowest of three severity levels. Gusty and wet conditions will be severe at times but not extreme, according to the Met Office forecast.
🎟️ Police say people have lost thousands of pounds to Taylor Swift ticket scams ahead of the singer’s Murrayfield Stadium gigs in June. - Cara Blackhall, Edinburgh Live.
🚶♀️ Plans to make Dalry ‘a more attractive place’ have been opened up for consultation. As reported in the Minute last month, the Dalry Living Well Locally scheme includes motor-traffic reduction plans. This would see a filter for cycles, buses and taxis just south of the Haymarket junction, operating between 7am and 7pm, guiding motor traffic to the West Approach Road instead of Dalry Road. - The consultation on the proposals is now open and will close on Wednesday 26 June.
⮑ The council published a summary of the plans here.
📚 Jenny Niven, the new director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, has warned Scotland is at risk of losing arts events ‘every other week’ without more public funding for culture and revealed that she would have had to scale back its programme if it had severed links with investment firm Baillie Gifford. - Brian Ferguson, The Scotsman.
🚄 An ‘extraordinary rail fare anomaly’ means rail passengers can save up to £34 by starting a journey at Haymarket instead of Waverley. The local transport ‘hack’ has made national news. - ‘Walk a mile to save £34 on an Edinburgh-London rail ticket’ is the headline on Simon Calder’s report in the Independent.
⮑ Meanwhile proposed strike action could impact LNER trains this weekend. - More details are here.
👀 Have you ever used the ‘Haymarket instead of Waverley’ trick? Do you know of any other local transport ‘hacks’? Please share them in the comments.
🏗️ Plans to demolish and replace the 10-storey Darwin Tower at King’s Buildings have been published by the University of Edinburgh. - Cara Blackhall, Edinburgh Live.
🏢 Revised plans for previously rejected student housing Dunedin Street in Canonmills have been lodged. - Brian Donnelly, The Herald.
🍽️ ‘Edinburgh fine dining restaurants: we took a gourmet tour’ - Wallpaper* travel editor Sofia de la Cruz.
🚫 There’s a good longer read by Euan McGrory in the Edinburgh Inquirer about ‘The Royal Mile and its struggles as it buzzes with tourists’. There’s particular focus on the forest of road street signs clogging up pavements.
🚗 A council car with a flat tyre has been framed as ‘poetic justice’ by a resident who claims it hit a pothole. - Jacob Farr, Edinburgh Live.
🛍️ Clothing brand Uniqlo has announced its Princes Street shop will open on 25 April. - Calum Loudon, STV News.
🍸 The brightly coloured House of Boe gin shop on the South Queensferry High Street has closed. - Kevin Quinn, Evening News.
🌴 The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has issued an appeal for donations to help with the refurb of its Palm Houses. The Botanics appeal says: “Nearly 200 years have taken their toll. The stonework has crumbled, the ironwork rusted, the glasswork broken and ineffective.” - Find out more here.
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📌 “Would you like to learn computer programming in a safe and supportive environment? codebar Edinburgh offers monthly workshops for people from groups traditionally underrepresented in the tech industry (women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ community, etc.) to develop their coding skills. Complete beginners are very welcome! Each workshop is held on the premises of a different local tech company, and the next event will take place on Wednesday 17th April from 6-8pm.” - Thanks to Kasia Banas, co-organiser, codebar Edinburgh, for sharing this.
📌 “Dune! The Musical; A one-man show retelling Frank Herbert's 1965 sci-fi novel Dune through a combination of song and storytelling. Written and performed by Edinburgh resident Dan Collins, the show has been travelling around the UK and the homecoming performance will be taking place on Saturday 27th April at Banshee Labyrinth. A word of mouth hit at last year's Edinburgh Fringe the show is also due to be featured at the Cymera Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival in June as well as the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow in August.” - Dan Collins; Musician, Writer, Actor, Comedian and Clown.
📌 “On Saturday 20th April, a fund raising ball will be held at Prestonfield to support the Scottish and overseas work of the Order of Malta, one of the world's oldest and largest humanitarian charities. Guests can enjoy an evening of fine dining and reeling to the Infamous Grouse Band. Their donations will support a project for severely disabled children in western Ukraine; Dial a Journey's ‘door-to-door’ transport service for people with mobility problems in central Scotland; and voluntary work with the homeless and disadvantaged here in Edinburgh. More details here.” - Andrew Milligan, Order of Malta Scottish Ball committee.
📮 Something missing? Share your local events here.
📆 Things to do this weekend:
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