AROUND TOWN

Getting all revved up for its UK tour Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow Party (Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 January) will be bringing its glow-in-the-dark, whole-family-pleasing action to Glasgow’s OVO Hydro, with a dance party, light shows and toy giveaways amongst the expected fun.

Keeping the party going, the Funky Booze Spirits Festival (Saturday 20 January) hopes to pep up your post-Christmas slump. Edinburgh’s Assembly Roxy plays host to this brand-new event, which will warm up your winter with its spirits, food and music.

If you’ve opted for a dry January instead and are looking for something more civilised, then why not try Edinburgh Castle’s delicious Afternoon Tea Experience (various times, daily), which also includes admission to the castle.

MUSIC

Bringing together a musical line-up of trad, folk, indie and more, Celtic Connections (until Sunday 4 February) is the UK’s premier celebration of Celtic music. Taking place in Glasgow, this year it’ll feature more than 300 events.

Edinburgh’s Usher Hall is the setting for a stirring Sunday afternoon concert: Sunday Classics 2023-24: Miloš With Arcangelo Ensemble (Sunday 21 January). Virtuosic guitarist Miloš Karadaglić is joined by the Arcangelo Ensemble for a celebration of baroque masterpieces.

Turning things up for a fresh take on the rave scene is DV8 Presents: MICH | ØC (Saturday 20 January) at Audio Glasgow. The headline DJs will be supported by A*B & D.MAC, SGM & Powell and Calzed&Lynchy, who will be spinning the best of techno, hardcore and trance tunes.

STAGE

In solo show Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age (Saturday 20 January), the legendary Scottish actor, presenter and writer will share some songs and his thoughts on subjects such as sex and death in what promises to be a very amusing evening at SEC Glasgow.

Bringing more hilarity to the stage this weekend is Man Like Mobeen’s Guz Khan (Sunday 21 January), who will be performing his latest stand-up show at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal.

Combining drag, burlesque, music, comedy and medical mayhem, Doctor Bonk’s Macarbaret (Saturday 20 January) marks the return of Scotland’s silliest surgeon, joined by an assortment of spooky performers. This madcap hour comes from the mind of comedian Eliott Simpson. Catch it at Edinburgh’s The Banshee Labyrinth.

SCREEN

Set over Christmas and as crabby as it is cockle-warming, The Holdovers is the superb new feature from Alexander Payne. It reunites him with his Sideways star, Paul Giamatti, who plays a grumpy classics teacher forced to babysit boarding school students over the festive season.

Jodie Comer is phenomenal in the troublingly credible dystopian drama The End We Start From, which sees her new mother trying to find her way back home when catastrophic flooding forces her out of London.

Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya makes his debut as writer-director in impressive style with Netflix film The Kitchen, a heartfelt sci-fi starring Kane ‘Kano’ Robinson, which makes a passionate plea for the importance of social housing. It’s co-directed by Kibwe Tavares, with a script by Kaluuya and Joe Murtagh.

PODCASTS

Jon Ronson is back with strange stories from the culture wars in the second series of his award-winning Radio 4 podcast Things Fell Apart. This time round he focuses on the battlefronts that engulfed us during lockdown, which brought heightened suspicion of our neighbours and institutions.

Taking you inside the dressing rooms of some of the sport’s best-ever teams, Football’s Greatest sees host Jeff Stelling sit down with footie icons (and old pal Chris Kamara) to discuss those who have made the biggest impact on the beautiful game.

Taking a fascinating look at the beginnings of life, new podcast Child tells the ultimate origin story as it rolls things back to where we all began. It takes us from fertilisation to first birthdays through the lens of society, history and science.

VISUAL ART

William Gillies: Modernism And Nation (until Sunday 28 January) looks at one of the most influential Scottish painters and tutors of the 20th century, who redirected European modernism through art that was intimately connected to his life.

Over at Edinburgh’s Scottish Storytelling Centre, they’re looking at Art In Healthcare: Stories Of The Collection (Friday 19 January – Sunday 18 February)), in an exhibition which explores the wide variety of artworks that have been placed in healthcare settings across Scotland.

If you fancy getting crafty with the kids and making your own art in an environmentally friendly fashion then Creative Creatures (Saturday 20 January) is a drop-in workshop where you can find out how to turn your junk into funky animals.