AROUND TOWN

WWE star Wolfgang will be wowing crowds in the wrestling ring as part of the eclectic antics at Alexandra Park Festival Day (Saturday 22 July). If wrestling isn’t your bag, this Glasgow event features plenty of live music, food and market stalls, inflatables, face painting and rides to check out instead.

Edinburgh’s largest free-to-enter food festival the Edinburgh Food Festival (Friday 21 – Sunday 30 July) kicks off nine days of foodie fun this weekend at George Square Gardens. There will be plenty of amazing street food, alongside a producers’ market and a wide range of cooking demos.

Get ready to geek out because Glasgow Film & Comic Con (Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 July) is back for a weekend of cosplay, trader stalls, fan bonding and special guests including Philip Glenister, Mandip Gill and Colin ‘Doctor Who’ Baker.

MUSIC

Iconic Southern Californian rockers the Red Hot Chili Peppers (Sunday 23 July) will be regaling Glasgow’s Hampden Park with the sounds of their two hit 2022 albums, Unlimited Love and Return Of The Dream Canteen, as they bring their global tour to a fittingly funky close.

The piano man and beloved broadcaster will be delivering a mix of boogie-woogie, swing, jazz and R&B when Jools Holland And His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra (Saturday 22 July) swing by Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre. Jools will be flanked by drummer Gilson Lavis, vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka and special guests Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson.

It'll be all about the incredible atmospherics when the Piccadilly Sinfonietta perform Vivaldi’s Four Seasons By Candlelight (Friday 21 July) in the glorious setting of St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, this weekend. Alongside this timeless classic, you can expect works by Mozart and Bach.

STAGE

With the Edinburgh Festival Fringe nearly upon us, this is the time comedians start ramping up their preview action. This weekend, Glasgow’s The Stand plays host to a double-bill of Fringe previews from Billy Kirkwood & Chris Thorburn (Sunday 23 July). Get in there quick for a sneak peek.

Disney’s iconic Winnie The Pooh (until Saturday 22 July) and friends spring to life in this acclaimed musical stage adaptation from Jonathan Rockefeller, featuring Grammy award-winning Sherman Brothers’ songs. It’ll enchant kids and should stir plenty of emotion in nostalgic grown-ups too.

Dragged Tae The Steamie (Saturday 22 July), the official authorised drag adaptation of Tony Roper’s classic Scottish stage dramedy The Steamie, is out on tour now. Catch these Glasgow washhouse ‘women’ this weekend at Carnegie Hall, when this hilarious show ‘drags’ itself to Dunfermline.

SCREEN

Indie darling and triple Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig brings her feminist smarts to Barbie, a deliciously entertaining, jubilantly meta and very pink comedy that combines satire with a celebration of the changing face of its iconic doll. Margot Robbie makes a pitch perfect Barbie, with Ryan Gosling stealing the show as an amusingly resentful Ken.

Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan applies his sense of cinematic scale and spectacle to the story of the father of the atomic bomb in the engrossing and brilliantly unnerving Oppenheimer. The film gets us into the head of the conflicted US scientist (mesmerisingly played by Cillian Murphy) as he develops the weapon in question, deals with the aftermath of its detonation and, years later, finds himself under savage scrutiny.

Returning for its second series is the show that was many people’s pick of last year. Set in and around a Chicago sandwich shop, The Bear follows an intense young chef (played by Jeremy Allen White) and his colleagues as they deal with strife in and out of the kitchen. It’s great to have them back on Disney+.

PODCASTS

Executive produced by Paris Hilton and hosted by Ultra Naté, The History Of The World’s Greatest Nightclubs explores how clubs revolutionised the way we party, providing places for us to lose ourselves, ushering in new musical genres and becoming hotspots for political activism.

Recently launched in the run-up to the prize itself, The Booker Prize Podcast casts its eye over nominated and prize-winning titles from the past and looks forward to this year’s longlist, which will be announced on Tuesday 1 August. It’s hosted by novelist Jo Hamya and broadcaster James Walton, with opportunities for listeners to get involved.

If you’re looking for a little life advice, then you could do a whole lot worse than How Do You Cope?... With Elis And John, a weekly podcast where Elis James and John Robins discuss their own, guests’ and listeners’ issues and how to deal with them.

VISUAL ART

Giving you the opportunity to admire some truly ancient art, Carving Out Connections: Scotland’s Rock Art (until Sunday 24 September) takes an in-depth look at one of Scotland’s greatest mysteries: prehistoric rock art. Drawing from the archives of Historic Environment Scotland, it traces its connections through time and place. Check it out at Stanley Mills in Perth.

Kicking off this weekend at Patriothall Studios in Edinburgh is exhibition The Cut Line (until Friday 28 July) which brings together work by artist Martha Ellis in her signature cut-out style. Inspired by natural and urban landscapes, these exhibits begin life as drawings in Martha’s sketchbook, before being hand or laser cut from sheet material.

In Ben Henriques: Showcase (until Saturday 22 July), the Oban-based, Chester-born artist presents a series of still life paintings in his carefully balanced, contemplative style. He describes the touch of paint on the canvas as being a ‘quest to find an ephemeral correspondence with nature.’ Edinburgh’s Open Eye Gallery plays host.