AROUND TOWN

^{Paisley Food & Drink Festival}

Head on down to the University of Glasgow this weekend for their biggest charity event of the year. The 61st Annual GUVMA Rodeo (Saturday 22 April) is a day of animal-themed fun and entertainment for the whole family (pets included), which raises money for animal welfare charities. Highlights include a doggy dash, duck herding, a dog show and some horse sport demos.

Getting your tastebuds tingling, the Paisley Food & Drink Festival (Friday 21 & Saturday 22 April) is a culinary extravaganza bringing top street food to the streets of the city. More than 35 street food traders, artisan makers and licensed bars feature, with live music, entertainment and kids’ cooking workshops also on offer.

Celebrating some amazing locations and feats of endurance, the Scottish Outdoor & Adventure Film Tour (Saturday 22 April) swings by Edinburgh’s Dominion Cinema this weekend with its programme of inspiring shorts on subjects including mountain running, hard climbing and outdoor swimming.

MUSIC

^R.AGGS

Back with a bang, Made In Easterhouse (Saturday 22 April) marks the relaunch of Platform’s live music programme. It’s a curated day of music, visual art and performance that takes place across various spaces within The Bridge. R.AGGS, Town Centre, Bell Lungs, Brenda and Junglehussi are amongst the musical acts appearing.

Harry Potter fans still celebrating the TV series announcement can soak up the film scores in the meantime in The Magical Music Of Harry Potter (Sunday 23 April) at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Presented by an actor from the series and with music from the London Symphonic & Philharmonic Film Orchestra, it’s sure to be a spellbinding afternoon.

Blending folk, Americana, jazz and pop into something beautiful and unique, Blue Rose Code (Friday 21 April) sees Ross Wilson and his ensemble address universal themes in a personal way, making for a memorable and uplifting experience. Check them out at The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh as they celebrate ten years since the release of album North Ten.

STAGE

^{The Mousetrap}

Agatha Christie’s smash-hit whodunnit The Mousetrap (until Saturday 22 April) is taking its mystery on tour. The world’s longest running play sees seven strangers snowed in at a stately countryside guesthouse, with their secrets revealed one by one. See if you can solve it when it swings by Perth Concert Hall this weekend.

At the other end of the theatrical spectrum, box fresh comedy Sean And Daro Flake It ‘Til They Make It (until Sunday 23 April) is a low-key look at friendship from Laurie Motherwell which sees two entrepreneurial Glaswegian friends try to break into the ice cream business. Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre plays host.

The host of Modern Life Is Goodish returns with his trademark comedic format in Dave Gorman: PowerPoint To The People (Sunday 23 April) at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Expect humorous observations aplenty as Dave demonstrates that a PowerPoint presentation isn’t always a man in a suit standing behind a lectern saying ‘next slide please’.

SCREEN

^Missing

Nail-biting screenlife flick Missing is the anthology sequel to 2018’s smash-hit Searching and it’s every bit as good. It follows Storm Reid’s teenager as she hunts for her mother (Nia Long) online after she disappears on a Columbian holiday, with plenty of surprises in store.

Following its Glasgow Film Festival screening, ace indie thriller How To Blow Up A Pipeline gets a well-deserved theatrical release. Starring a cast of up-and-comers and directed by Daniel Goldhaber, it follows a group of environmental activists as they take their protests to the next, dangerous level.

Dropping on Prime this Friday is miniseries Dead Ringers, an intriguing, gender-swapped take on David Cronenberg’s 80s classic, with Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz taking on the Jeremy Irons roles, playing identical twin gynaecologists with very different personalities.

PODCASTS

^{The Debutante}

Gripping new podcast The Debutante, from the award-winning and inimitable Jon Ronson, sees the writer dig into the story of Tulsa debutante Carol Howe whose teenage rebellion involved her flirting with white supremacy before she turned government informant.

Winner of Best Series at this year’s BBC Audio Drama Awards, mystery thriller Exemplar makes ingenious use of its format, following Gina McKee’s maverick audio analyst as she and her new partner (played by Shvorne Marks) solve cases solely by scrutinising sounds.

Presented by NSYNC’s Lance Bass, The Last Soviet tells the strangely fascinating story of cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev. Sergei was manning the Mir space station in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed leaving him to choose between abandoning his post or sticking it out indefinitely.

VISUAL ART

^{Uprooted Visions}

Now showing at Edinburgh Printmakers is Uprooted Visions (until Sunday 2 July), a large-scale exhibition featuring the work of 30 international artists which showcases a multiplicity of practices and cultural reference points. Contributing artists explore the concept of home and notions of identity, experiences of war and much more.

Enter the world of dreams in enchanting art exhibition Robert Leishman – The Poet’s Dreams (until Saturday 24 June), appearing at the Tower Foyer Gallery at the University Of Dundee. Bringing together oils, watercolours and drawings, it’s the first significant exhibition of Leishman’s work for over 30 years.

Wrapping up this weekend at Edinburgh’s Patriothall Studios is Vigil – Janice Deary (until Sunday 23 April), which consists of large scale charcoal pieces by the South Africa-born, Scotland-based artist. It’s an imposing body of work that meditates on the idea of vigils as responses to life’s uncertainties.

Sign up to receive this column, complete with additional offers and gig news, delivered to your inbox every Thursday.