AROUND TOWN

The brainchild of a team of young British Muslims who love their food, The Halal Food Festival (Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 January) will be setting up shop at Glasgow’s SEC this weekend, showcasing Halal cuisine from across the globe and welcoming Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

If you’re looking to enjoy some time in the great outdoors with spring on the way, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is hosting a series of weekend Snowdrop And Spring Interest Walks (until Sunday 22 February), as part of the Scottish Snowdrop Festival.

At Glasgow’s SWG3, they’ll be warming your cockles with the Scottish National Whisky Festival (Saturday 24 January), which combines live music with a celebration of modern spirits.

MUSIC

Taking place every Thursday from 2–3.45pm at Marchmont St Giles, Edinburgh, Tea Ceilidhs band leader Stan Reeves revives the tea dance craze in ceilidh style with an afternoon of live music and dancing. Tea, coffee and cake will be provided by the Butterflies Café.

Last Shadow Puppets and Rascals frontman Miles Kane (Saturday 24 January) will be treating audiences to the psyche-infused sounds of his recent solo album Sunlight In The Shadows when he rocks up at Glasgow’s O2 Academy this weekend.

At Glasgow’s Òran Mór, one of the globe’s greatest guitarists Orianthi (Sunday 25 January) will be marking her return to her rock-blues roots with a gig that also features the Nashville-based rocker James Bruner.

STAGE

In Red Tape: A Staged Reading (Saturday 24 January) at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre, a group of students deal with the pressure of exams and personal friction in this new work-in-progress play from Georgia Louise Luckhurst.

A fixture at every Fringe since 2003, legendary British comic Stephen K Amos (Saturday 24 & Sunday 25 January) will be bringing his latest stand-up show, Now We’re Talking!, to Edinburgh and Glasgow this weekend, when he swings by The Stand in both cities.

Ready to scare you senseless after its success in London’s West End, Susan Hill’s hair-raising ghost story The Woman In Black (until Saturday 24 January) returns to the stage at the Theatre Royal Glasgow.

SCREEN

Master South Korean director Park Chan-wook returns in sinister and satirical style with No Other Choice, in which a paper industry executive plots to kill his rivals. Squid Game’s Lee Byung-hun heads up the cast.

To celebrate the release of the above, Edinburgh’s Filmhouse is hosting a Park Chan-wook Season (Friday 23 January – Thursday 5 February) featuring the likes of Joint Security Area, Oldboy, The Handmaiden and Decision To Leave.

The 10th edition of film festival Fokus: Films From Germany (until Sunday 22 February) kicks off this week with screenings taking place at Glasgow’s Goethe-Institut and Glasgow Film Theatre.

PODCASTS

Winner of the first ever Best Podcast award at this year’s Golden Globes, Good Hang With Amy Poehler features more celebrities than you can shake a stick at, with recent guests including Sinners and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In The History Bureau: Putin And The Apartment Bombs, presenter Helena Merriman takes a look at a series of Russian apartment bombings in 1999 and what might have really happened. This new series returns to defining stories from recent history to re-examine the evidence.

Hosted by Cooper Moll, The Binge Crimes: The Crimes Of Margo Freshwater is a true crime podcast telling the story of a teen who went on a crime spree with an older man before disappearing for decades and building a life under a new name.

VISUAL ARTS

Edinburgh’s Royal Scottish Academy celebrates its 200th year in 2026, and among the new exhibitions marking the occasion are two opening this weekend Origin Stories (Saturday 24 January – Sunday 8 March), which looks at the influence of art teaching in Scotland, and Generation (Saturday 24 January – Sunday 8 March), which brings together the work of 16 architects, all of whom worked at the Edinburgh practice of Richard Murphy.

Closing this weekend at Edinburgh’s Modern One, Experiencing Colour (until Sunday 25 January) showcases the work of artists who harness the immersive power of colour, including Helen Frankenthaler, Corita Kent, Roger Brown and Josef Albers.

And finally, LGBTQ+ Tours At The Burrell Collection (Tuesday 27 January and various dates) will take you on a journey through the collection, delving into the hidden history, context and meaning behind some of the gallery’s most popular objects. 

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