AROUND TOWN

Sponsored by The List, GIE IT! (until Friday 12 June) is a festival from Edinburgh College’s creative industries students featuring exhibitions, live music, a games expo, film screenings and more.

Enjoy a spring trip to the beautiful Glasgow Botanic Gardens this weekend where it’ll be hosting its monthly book fair Books At The Botanics (Saturday 23–Monday 25 May), at which you can pick up vintage and antiquarian books, specialist volumes, novels and kids’ reads, alongside art and postcards.

At The Briggait, Glasgow Zine Fest (until Sunday 24 May) is back with a range of enthusiastic events, including an opening night party, walking tour, zine fair, poster club and cookzine workshop.

MUSIC

Best known as part of The Rezillos, punk legend Fay Fife returns with her band The Countess Of Fife (Thursday 21 May) for the launch of their album, New Phone, New Car, New Man, at Edinburgh’s Voodoo Rooms.

Get ready for Scotland’s World Cup adventure with Skerryvore’s World Cup Warm Up Party (Saturday 23 May) at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom. Also featuring The Laurettes and host Paddy Gunning.

The city’s Hug And Pint is the setting for a gig from the Toronto-based Charlie Houston (Friday 22 May), an upcoming figure on the indie pop landscape, whose debut album, Big After I Die, was released last year. Sara Rae and Girl Upstairs are in support.

STAGE

The world’s biggest festival of hip hop theatre takes over Glasgow’s Tramway in Breakin’ Convention (Saturday 23 May). Curated and hosted by artistic director Jonzi D, it features the Olivier Award-winning TRAPLORD, Femme Fatale, ILL-Abilities and plenty of local talent.

Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall is the setting for An Audience With Mark And Lard (Tuesday 26 May), in which the former radio and comedy favourites reunite 22 years after their final Radio 1 show together.

Following her Fringe success and supporting slots for the likes of Joe Lycett and Sophie Duker, Molly McGuinness (Sunday 24 May) is taking her acclaimed debut show, SLOB, on tour. Catch it at The Stand in Glasgow.

SCREEN

Following on from the successful Disney+ series, Pedro Pascal and his little green pal return in Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu, a big screen outing in which the titular odd couple is tasked with rescuing Rotta The Hutt (voiced by The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White), with no less than Sigourney Weaver in support.

Edinburgh’s Filmhouse has two screenings of Agnès Varda’s Golden Lion-winning classic Vagabond (Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 May) this weekend, starring Sandrine Bonnaire in the tragic title role. It’s part of their loose ‘We’ve Got A Cinema And We’re Not Afraid To Use It’ strand.

Glasgow Film Theatre’s ‘Coen Brothers Of The Month’ is 2009’s A Serious Man (Monday 25 May). Introduced by The Scotsman’s Alistair Harkness, this 60s-set black comedy drama stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind and Fred Melamed.

PODCASTS

Journalist Siân Pattenden is lifting the lid on London Records in Hit That Perfect Beat: The London Records Story, a tumultuous tale that features the likes of Bananarama, Fine Young Cannibals, East 17, Goldie, All Saints and Sugababes.

If sensational smuttiness is more your style then Rivals: The Official Podcast features host Pandora Sykes getting her hands dirty digging into all the wonderful Rutshire drama with the cast and crew.

Attitude Presents: Out With Suzi Ruffell celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community through chats with queer legends, with Ruffell talking to her guests about coming out, being out, finding your place and queer joy.

VISUAL ART

The social, medical and cultural impact of blood is under the microscope in exhibition Rag: A History Of Blood (until Friday 16 October), which combines illustrations, textile art, interviews, and more. The Royal College Of Physicians Of Edinburgh are your hosts.

At Edinburgh’s Out Of The Blue Drill Hall, the Gretna 111th Anniversary Pop-Up Exhibition (until Saturday 23 May) commemorates the Gretna train disaster and features a diorama of Larbert Station and a Tree Of Life, containing the names of all who died.

And finally, Glasgow’s The Alchemy Experiment is the setting for photography exhibition Lens On Gaza: The Sun And Moon Still Rise (Friday 22 May–Friday 5 June), an intimate visual narrative of life, resilience and humanity in Gaza, from Fadi A Thabet.

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