AROUND TOWN

Wherever you are in Edinburgh you can hardly miss the sight of Arthur’s Seat, but how much do you know about its history? Arthur’s Secrets (Saturday 2 September) is a guided walk which aims to unlock the volcano’s past, from the fire and ice that created it, to the people who lived there 7000 years ago. 

There are loads of different events to dip into at the Clydebuilt Festival (Saturday 2 & Sunday 3 September) at Glasgow’s Riverside Museum. Celebrating the Clyde and all its different purposes, you can have a go at land rowing, watch Scotland’s biggest open water race, or check out local products at the market. 

If you’re in possession of a curious gem or fossil you’d like to know more about, the Rock Doctors at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow (Saturday 2 September) are here to solve your geological mysteries. As well as inviting you to bring your own stones for inspection, the event will feature fossil rubbing, ammonite-making, and the Bearsden Shark. 

MUSIC

Put on your tiny round sunglasses and peace out with some trippy vibes at the inaugural Edinburgh Psych Fest (Sunday 3 September) at Summerhall, celebrating psychedelic music. Headlining is New York’s Bodega, and local talent includes The Kundalini Genie. While you’re at it, why not delve into the past and present of Psychedelia in our September cover feature.

Soprano Anush Hovhannisyan made her debut with Scottish Opera, and has since been in huge demand across Europe. In An Evening Of Opera & Song (Saturday 2 September) at The Queen’s Hall, she’ll be joined by players from Scottish Opera for a programme that takes in Puccini to Gershwin. 

Stow away on the Riverside Museum’s Tall Ship at the Glasgow Shanty Festival (Saturday 2 September). It’s hard to imagine a more atmospheric place to tap your foot along to tales of the seven seas. 

STAGE

Sound the 90s nostalgia klaxon for Greatest Days (until Saturday 2 September) at the Edinburgh Playhouse. The official Take That musical stitches together 15 of the group’s songs in a story about a reunion of five boy-band obsessed friends.  

Watch the acting heavyweights of the future in the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland’s MA production of Caryl Churchill’s The After Dinner Joke (until Saturday 2 September), Glasgow. 

There’s nowhere quite like Glasgow’s Panopticon, the Victorian music hall still going strong after 160 years. Catch some vaudevillian vibes with a 21st century twist, in Drag-opticon: Broadway Baby (Friday 1 September), which features show tunes from the golden age of musicals. 

SCREEN

The Cinema Despite festival (Friday 1 – Sunday 3 September), at Glasgow’s Tramway brings together 29 filmmakers and artists whose work spans 70 years, and aims to explore links between works from different eras.

New film Mercy Falls, from Scottish director Ryan Hendrick is released tomorrow. Things turn nasty in the Highlands for a group of friends who have set off to search for a long lost cabin. At Edinburgh’s Cameo the screening (Friday 1 September) will be followed by a Q&A. 

Recently screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, much-anticipated Ira Sachs movie Passages is released tomorrow (Friday 1 September). The French-made drama follows a filmmaker (Franz Rogowski) and his husband (Ben Whishaw) as one of them embarks on an affair with a woman. 

PODCASTS

The unappealingly named Who Shat On The Floor At My Wedding has gathered momentum to become a word-of-mouth hit. It’s a winning combination of true-crime satire and genuine mystery, presented by the married couple of the titular nuptials and their newly ‘qualified’ private detective pal. 

Do you know your Napoleon from your Pol Pot? If you’ve ever harboured a fascination about what makes tyrants tick, new BBC podcast Real Dictators, could provide the answers. It calls on experts, from historians to those who served under dictatorships, to explore the psychology of autocracy. 

Dana Schwartz’s long-running podcast Noble Blood, delves into the gruesome history of aristocratic families. Recently dropped episodes include a deep dive into the death of Elizabethan heartthrob Robert Dudley’s first wife and a re-examination of literary porn’s favourite bad boy, the Marquis de Sade. 

VISUAL ART

Turner-prize winning artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s video installation at Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice, was our must-see of the Edinburgh Art Festival. Called the 45th Parallel (until Saturday 30 September), it uses the world’s only cross-border library as a lens through which to examine national boundaries. Read our 5-star review. 

Free exhibition The Ladies Of Edinburgh (until Saturday 2 September) at Out Of The Blue Drill Hall, showcases the work of various artists with disabilities, bringing together prints, paintings and mixed media to examine different perspectives on life. 

Kinetic sculptures by Eduard Bersudsky (best known for the Millennium Clock) are on display in Promenade (until Sunday 1 October) at Glasgow’s Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre. The show encourages you to walk among Bersudsky’s macabre and mechanical creations, including Titanic, Master & Margarita and Time Of Rats.