What to do this weekend: 5-6 August

ALL WEEKEND

Festival is probably the most over-used word in the month of August in Edinburgh. Apart from Fringe, Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Art Festival, there are some smaller festivals also happening this weekend and you will certainly find your favourite - let it be food, drink, comedy or art related.

Foodies Festival

Foodies Festival comes to Inverleith Park for the whole weekend, so fingers crossed for decent weather! Believe it or not, this will be the first time we will be attending Foodies at Inverleith, thanks to the lovely @cazmonkeysaround scoring us some tickets! We are looking forward to checking out the Chefs Theatre with Jane Devonshire 2016 Masterchef winner and local chefs including Kaori Simpson of Harajuku Kitchen (our favourite sushi place!), Dan Ashmore of the Pompadour and Neil Forbes of Cafe St Honore.

Edinburgh Cocktail Festival

If you are into cocktails at New Waverly a brand new coctail festival will be shaking things up. You can get discounted cocktails for the whole month of August by purchasing your ticket via Eventbrite.

Summer Open Studios

Meanwhile in Leith, away from the festival crowds Coburg House will have their summer Open Studios event. Around 80 resident artists are participating including Emily Hogarth. The event is free and family friendly.

5TH AUGUST, SATURDAY

Bloom

The signature opening event of the 70th Edinburgh International Festival is called Bloom and the 'Bloom Arena' is located at St Andrew Square. As in previous years, the multi-award winning 59 Productions will be in charge of the incredible light projections. The event is free, but for priority access to the Bloom Arena you will need to register on the website.

P.L.A.N.T. at Salisbury Arms

Visit the Perilous Laboratory for the Absorbment of Natural Teachings (P.L.A.N.T.) this Saturday at Salisbury Arms. Wondering what this weird thing is I am talking about? Of course it is Hendricks gin related! P.L.A.N.T. will include an outdoor Hendricks gin terrace and cucumber inspired chef specials. Hendricks will also have a pop-up at George Square Gardens during the whole weekend.

Edinburgh Military Tattoo Flypasts

Although I do not have details of the exact aircraft types, we can expect a Tattoo Flypast this Saturday sometime between 6.15pm and 6.40pm. Bruntsfield Links are a pretty cool spot to photograph them if you do not have tickets for the Tattoo. Possible other flypast dates and times are between 7.45pm and 8.10pm on 9, 11, 15, 16, 18 and 25 August.

The Gathering

Gordon Millar of Scot Street Style is hosting The Gathering XV this Saturday in Leith. This year's sponsor is Naked Grouse. Having attended The Gathering VIII back in 2015 at the Biscuit Factory, this will certainly be another cracking event! Make sure to check our Instagram stories on Saturday at @edienthusiast and you can read a blog post on the previous event by Laura Crawford (@thelikelylady) here. But one question remains - what to wear?!

6TH AUGUST, SUNDAY

Rhinoceros

I booked this play based on the rhino poster and very much looking forward to it! The beautiful Royal Lyceum Theatre hosts this new Scottish-Turkish version of Eugene Ionescu's Rhinoceros and it is on until 12 August.

Have a nice weekend!
Oh, have you counted how many times I used the word 'festival'?

What to do this weekend: 1-2 October

ALL WEEKEND

Inspiring Impressionism

If you have not yet visited, this weekend is your last chance to see the impressionists at the Scottish National Gallery on the Mound. The exhibition focuses on three key artists: Daubigny, Monet and Van Gogh.

1ST OCTOBER, SATURDAY

Edinburgh Coffee Festival

After last year's success this Saturday Summerhall hosts Edinburgh's second Coffee Fest. There will be over 30 stalls of roasters and local cafes including Brew Lab, Cairngorm, the lovely Mr Eoin, Pekotea and others. You will also be able to get advice on specialist equipment - perhaps time to get your aeropress or V60 pour-over?

Project Wine

On the other side of the Meadows, Project Coffee will turn into a pop-up wine bar - just for one day. The event is hosted by Winetubemap and you can find the Facebook event here.

Volcano Fun Day

Who does not love our extinct volcano, better known as Arthur's Seat? Historic Scotland will host a Volcano Fun Day with geology walks at 12 noon, 1pm and 2pm, and you will be also able to create your own volcano model. Read more and find the Facebook event here.

2ND OCTOBER, SUNDAY

Suppliant Women

Watch one of the world's oldest plays by Aeschylus at the Lyceum - you can book your tickets here. As per techniques of the ancient Greek theatre, the title roles are played by recruited and trained Edinburgh citizens.

Have a nice weekend!

What to do this weekend: 27-28 August

ALL WEEKEND

Edinburgh Art Festival

It's the last weekend of the festival month so make sure to make the most of it! We plan to visit some Art Festival venues which are not normally open to the public, for example the Burns Monument, the Old Royal High School or the Trinity Apse. Another cool outdoor project we checked out during last Thursday's Art Late event is called the Rust Garden - it's located at Castle Mill Works in Fountainbridge and it's going to be the home of Edinburgh Printmakers from 2019.

Richard III

Last weekend we went to see Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in Russian. Now Richard III is on at the Lyceum so I can practice my German (or rather practice reading the supertitles). The production by Berlin's Schaubuhne Theatre has pretty good reviews and you might still get lucky to get the odd ticket to one of the weekend shows.

27TH AUGUST, SATURDAY

Walk in Dean Village

Last weekend we had a lovely architectural walking tour by Olga of Cobble Tales in Dean Village. The weather was not perfect but the rain did not scare us away. After nearly 5 years of living in the 'burgh she still managed to show us hidden spots we did not know about! The walk is part of this year's Festival of Architecture events and the last festival tour will run this Saturday from 11am. If you can't make tomorrow's walk you can always book a private tour by contacting directly Olga.

28TH AUGUST, SUNDAY

Blondilox & Lululemon

Celebrate the launch of the Blondilox online store this Sunday from 10.30am at Lululemon's George Street store. Never heard of Blondilox? Better check her out if you're into porridge. Read Laura Kate's story and sign up for the Facebook event here. 

Have a nice weekend!

What to do this weekend: 16-17 April

ALL WEEKEND

Spring Festival

Spring has finally sprung! Join the Spring Festival fun at the Botanics and check out how the rhododendrons are doing. You can find other seasonal highlights in the Alpine House and the British Art Show 8 is still on at Inverleith House.

16TH APRIL, SATURDAY

EIF Public Booking Opens

Source: The Edinburgh Enthusiast (C)

You'd better clear your calendar for 10am as the 2016 Edinburgh International Festival events are finally open for public booking. Our favourites this year include:

• Opera: Norma with Cecilia Bartoli singing the title role - note that for Norma booking has opened earlier and all dates have only limited availability.
• Theatre: Measure for Measure aka a Shakespeare play in Russian at the Lyceum performed by Moscow's Pushkin Theatre.
• Dance: Scottish Ballet at the Festival Theatre as we do love ballet.
• Classical music: our weakness so we have several on our list including Daniil Trifonov at the Usher Hall, George Li and Daniil Trifonov and Friends at the Queens Hall. Trifonov's name is guarantee for a quickly sold-out performance and we thoroughly enjoyed him playing Rachmaninov a few years ago.
• Contemporary music: Sigur Ros is back to Edinburgh, this time they have two concerts scheduled at the Playhouse. We were at their concert a few years ago at Usher Hall, fantastic performance.
• Opening event: Deep Time is free but ticketed, reservation opens on 20 June. The Harmonium Project last year was amazing, expect something similar but this time centred around the Castle.

Edinburgh Beer Festival

Stewart Brewing is having a beer fest at Loanhead between 3-11pm. There will be live music and they will even have gluten free beers (and not only). Get your tickets via Eventbrite - Midlothian residents get discounts and the price includes two beers. Get there by bus 37 - approximately 40 minutes from Princes Street.

Fallachan Nights

We love foodie pop-ups and often end up travelling for an interesting event. This weekend one of the most talented young chefs in the UK, Ian Scaramuzza and Fallachan's Craig Gozier will cook you a six-course seasonal tasting menu at Glasgow's Studio 93. Missed out? It is worth keeping an eye on Fallachan's website for similar future events.

17TH APRIL, SUNDAY

Last day of Build it!

It is the last day of the Build it! LEGO exhibition at the National Museum of Scotland - make sure to visit if you have yet not checked it out. If it is a sunny day, you can also admire the city views from the secret balcony as presented in Instagrammer (@exploringedinburgh) Shawna's vlog.

Have a nice weekend!