AROUND TOWN

You know things are getting properly festive when the Perth Christmas Lights Switch On Weekend (Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 November) comes around. There’s plenty of free fun for all the family, with dance legends Cascada among the live acts, plus kids’ entertainment, a Christmas parade and Santa’s grotto.

Poetry, performance and art are the focus of Push The Boat Out (Friday 22 – Sunday 24 November), a festival celebrating words and creativity with 50 Edinburgh-based events featuring more than 120 artists. Get stuck in at The Scottish Storytelling Centre, Dance Base, Dovecot Studios and the Pleasance.

Hear all about how authors have captured the dark side of Edinburgh’s history in Hauntings & Heritage In Edinburgh Literature (Saturday 23 November), a talk from Alex Howard and The List’s own Lucy Ribchester in a spooky candlelit cellar above Blair Street Underground Vaults.

MUSIC

Bristol post-punks IDLES (Saturday 23 November) will be bringing their brand of artful, socially conscious anarchy to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro this weekend as part of their Love Is The Fing tour.

This year’s Dundee Jazz Festival (until Sunday 24 November) promises five days of fabulous jazz and jazz-adjacent music from the likes of Jacqui Dankworth, Tao and many more.

If you love to dance but late nights aren’t for you then why not check out Boogie Days (Sunday 24 November), a day disco at Glasgow’s Oran Mor from DJ Yogi Haughton. Yogi and guest DJs will be playing real deal disco, proper house, modern and northern soul, and the odd club classic.

STAGE

Faye Tozer, of Steps and Strictly fame, is the dastardly Cruella de Vil as the classic canine caper heads to the stage for a musical take on 101 Dalmatians (until Saturday 23 November), which follows the adventures of Pongo and Perdita and their lovely litter of pups. Check it out at the Edinburgh Playhouse.

If spooky stories are more your style then Birnam Arts’ A Warning To The Curious (Friday 22 November) is a one-man show featuring Robert Lloyd Parry recounting two chilling ghost stories by master of the genre, MR James.

In Marc’sism, Scottish Comedian of the Year winner and host of the Some Laugh podcast Marc Jennings (Friday 22 November) brings his acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe show to his hometown of Glasgow. Blackfriars Basement is the setting.

SCREEN

Finally making its way from stage to screen, Wicked should satisfy fans with its polished and impeccably performed take on the beloved musical. Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo and pop princess Ariana Grande are spot-on as Elphaba and Galinda, with Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey in support, while In The Heights’s Jon M Chu confidently takes the helm.

Acting as a love letter to the Queer community, the East London-set Layla is the debut feature from writer-director Amrou Al-Kadhi. It follows a non-binary Muslim drag queen (played by Bilal Hasna) as they fall in love and try to hide their true self from their conservative family.

Now streaming on Paramount+, Landman sees Billy Bob Thornton head up a tale centred on the West Texas oil rig industry from Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan. Demi Moore, Jon Hamm and Ali Larter provide the support.

PODCASTS

Brought to you by BBC Radio Ulster and presenter Susan Lynch, six-part investigative podcast Assume Nothing: Murder At The Stables delves into a crime that rocked Northern Ireland’s equestrian community.

In season two of Why? With Emma Kennedy the actress, comedian and author looks at the science and psychology of why people join cults, have romantic types, are so interested in true crime, and much more.

Season 13 of the sensationally popular Serial podcast tells the genre-bending story of The Good Whale, a captive orca named Keiko, famed for starring in Free Willy who, following the movie’s release, ended up sick and living in a tiny pool in a Mexican amusement park.

VISUAL ART

Maud Sulter: You Are My Kindred Spirit (Saturday 23 November – Sunday 30 March) is an immersive exhibition by the Scottish-Ghanaian poet, artist, photographer and more. It showcases her rarely seen moving image and spoken word archives. Catch it at Glasgow’s Tramway.

Kicking off this weekend at the RSA Edinburgh and featuring works by Royal Scottish Academicians, including affordable options, That Christmas Show (Saturday 23 November – Sunday 22 December) provides an opportunity to shop for Christmas gifts or to treat yourself to some new art.

And finally, now showing at Edinburgh’s Portrait Gallery, Celebrating 40 Years Of Scotland’s Photography Collection (until Sunday 16 March) is an eclectic exhibition combining historical highlights, famous faces and new, boundary pushing work.

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