We don’t wish to cause alarm, but it would seem that June has once again thrust herself upon us, bringing with her the return of Festival Season. Are you excited? Of course you are.
Now, everybody knows that the first week of June is National Volunteering Week. Stop looking so glaikit, it’s been fantastically well advertised. Tiny children bound home from school between the 1st and the 7th to exclaim that they want to help make the tea, mow the lawn, wash the car and generally contribute to the Big Society. But what you may not be aware of is the fact that this year, the Touch Rugby World Cup is being held in Europe for the first time. In Broughton? Well, no ... Peffermill. But they are looking for volunteers, so if you fancy being an event assistant or a changing room coordinator, have a look at the website.
Never content with the 900 other Edinburgh festivals, Leith like to go it alone by having their own one from the 10–19 June. And why not? There are sporting events, gigs, art and comedy, but some of our closest-to-home picks are the photography exhibitions in Joseph Pearce’s (23 Elm Row), and an adaptation of Blood Brothers set in Leith, to be hosted by The Yard (2 Bonnington Road).
Should you be daundering home at a fashionably late hour on the 11th, don’t be surprised if you run into a horde of ladies wearing their undies on the outside of their clothes like superheroes. They are doing the Moonwalk, starting from Inverleith Park at midnight and finishing in the same place ten or twenty miles later.
You may have heard of the Reduced Shakespeare Company, but now you must brace yourself for the questing alternative. On 13 June, the Vue (28 Greenside Row) is holding a Night of Adventure to raise money for Hope and Homes for Children. Travellers and adventurers – including cyclist Mark Beaumont and disabled mountaineer Jamie Andrew – have been invited to speak about their epic journeys, with a twist: they each have only 20 slides, and only 20 seconds to talk about each one.
If we’ve heard it once we’ve heard it a thousand times, the plaintive cry of ‘Hey, are there any good gigs on down the church tonight?' It’s clearly one of Pilrig St Paul’s (1A Pilrig Street) FAQs too, as this month they’ve got shows from the Southern Tenant Folk Union on the 17th, and Woodpigeon on the 27th.
Some of you might think that Father’s Day was made up to create revenue for cynical card manufacturing companies, and you may even be right. But unless you want to be accused of not loving your dad, you’d better stick a reminder for 19 June in your smartphone. Based on the First Rule of Dads (They all like Terry Pratchett), you might try popping into the Broughton Street Book Shop (44 Broughton Street) to find him something good.
We all miss Wet Wet Wet. It’s OK to admit it; it’s almost retro now. If by ‘miss’ you mean ‘barely notice they’re gone’. But fear not,
Sir Marti of Pellow has returned, reincarnated as some sort of musical theatre god. He will be appearing in Jekyll and Hyde at The Playhouse (18–22 Greenside Place) from 20–25 June.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking: ‘We don’t care about aging pop stars, you hack, we want to see some livestock!’ Well, never fear, The Royal Highland Show is here from 23–26 June in all its finery. We say ‘here’; we mean out by the airport. But you have to leave Spurtleshire once in a while, especially if you want to see a heilan coo. They beasties haven’t had the freedom of Broughton since an ill-documented incident that I think we’ve all worked very hard to forget.
Carry on.