ATTRACTIONS
New Seabird Seafari Wildlife Watching Boat Trips
New Seabird Seafari wildlife watching trips are now sailing daily from North Berwick Harbour, East Lothian, in partnership with Seafari Adventures.
The round trip takes an hour and the new high speed RIBS quickly whisk you out around Craigleith Island, home to the puffins, and then on to the Bass Rock with its famous gannet colony, described by Sir David Attenborough as "one of the twelve wildlife wonders of the world". The adventure trips are fast and waterproofs are provided. The minimum age for children is 8. Tickets are £20 for adults and £17 for children the income from which helps to support the Seabird Centre's SOS Puffin project. Tickets may be purchased on the day, but it is strongly advised to book in advance by phone on +44 (0)1620 890202. (Seabird Centre members receive 10% discount, ie Adult £18 and Child £15.30)
www.seabird.org
The Picture House - Lothian Road, Edinburgh
The Picture House is set to open in mid-September in the old site of Revolution & Century 2000 nightclub on Lothian Road. This will be a major new music venue for the city after a £1 million revamp with a 1500 capacity. The Charlatans, Martha Wainwright, Travis and Feeder are just some of the bands set to play in the next few months.
www.mamagroup.co.uk/picturehouse/
Edinburgh’s Christmas 2008
This year, Edinburgh’s Christmas will begin with Light Night taking place on 27 November when 200,000 lights all over the city will be switched on.
Usual favourites will be there to form part of the Winter Wonderland scene – the 33m Big Wheel and the Princes Street Gardens Ice Rink, and this year in addition there will be a Spiegeltent in the gardens where there will be an going programme of activities including live music performances, etc. There will be a Nativity performance in East Princes St Gardens on 30 November and the Santa event (name tbc) will take place on either 13 or 14 December, exact date to be confirmed.
The full programme is likely to be launched in early November. According to the official website, Edinburgh’s Christmas officially ends on 25 December but the Winter Wonderland amenities such as the Big Wheel will be in place until 4 January 2009. Note however that The Christmas/German markets will close on 24 December.
www.edinburghschristmas.com
Edinburgh’s Hogmanay 2008
Hogmanay may be a shorter programme this year, as Council funding has not yet been confirmed. Official dates are currently being given as 29 December to 1 January, but may not start until 30 December – tbc
As well as the Street Party (note: street party passes going up to £10), events will include Concert in the Gardens, Ceilidh in the Gardens and a new event – details to be confirmed. At this point in time, it doesn’t look as if the Night ‘Afore event will proceed. There has been discussion about holding an event in the Grassmarket but organisers Unique Events seem keen to move the focus back toward George Street to allow for a larger capacity audience. Very little detail as yet as Unique are waiting for budget to be firmed up before pressing ahead with organising the event. Again the full programme is likely to be announced in early November.
Previously separate programmes were produced for each event, but this year cost savings are being made by producing 120,000 copies of a joint programme to cover both festivals to be distributed via EAE/Direct Distribution with a focus on Scotland and North of England.
www.edinburghshogmanay.com
2009 Edinburgh’s May Rugby Month
Next May 2009, Edinburgh will play host to 3 high profile rugby events at Murrayfield -
2 & 3 May 2009, a Rugby League ‘’Magic Weekend’’ with seven rugby league matches back to back over 2 days.
23 & 24 May 2009, the Heineken Cup Final – Europe’s biggest club rugby final and one of the must see events in the European sporting calendar.
30 & 31 May 2009, the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s will return to Edinburgh for a weekend Festival of Rugby.
www.scottishrugby.org
New Literary Edinburgh Podcasts
Edinburgh World Heritage and the City of Literature Trust are pleased to announce the launch of the Stories in Stone project.
Podcast journeys through the literature and landscape of Edinburgh are now live on www.visitscotland.com/guide/inspirational/galleries/edin_lothians/. Meet the authors, poets and storytellers whose words breathed life into the city, and explore the historic architecture of the medieval Old Town and Georgian New Town.
National Museum of Scotland
National Museums Scotland are undertaking a £46million transformation of the Royal Museum building, part of the National Museum of Scotland. They plan to open up a whole new floor at street level maintaining the grand Main Hall in all its glory, doubling the number of objects on display, renewing half the galleries and creating a new learning centre. While all this work goes ahead more than half of the National Museum of Scotland will stay open with a packed programme of events and activities. A computer-generated 'fly-through' and artist impression on the following link offers a sneak preview of what the revamped museum will look like from 2011.
National Museum of Scotland website
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle now has its own official website to further enhance visitors’ experience of the iconic Castle. The website provides information on the many attractions (including a 3D Castle Tour) and events and for the first time, enables online ticket purchasing.
A new Edinburgh Castle Visitor Reception, complete with streamlined systems, replaces the old ticket office and final completion is due by Easter 2008.
www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk
RESTAURANTS
The Champany Inn
The Champany Inn restaurant, by Linlithgow, in West Lothian has joined the elite list of Scottish eateries to be awarded a Michelin star.
www.champany.com
ACCOMMODATION
New Hotels in the pipeline:
- Express by Holiday Inn / Royal Mile / Now Open
- Novotel / Hermiston Gait / Now Open
- Missoni House / Royal Mile / Opening tbc
- Hotel du Vin / Bristow Place / Opening tbc
- Apex / Waterloo Place / Early 2009
George Hotel, George Street, Edinburgh
Last year saw the £12m refurbishment of Edinburgh’s George Hotel. Now the construction of a brand new £5m extension on Thistle Street is well underway. The new building will seamlessly join the existing hotel and offer 50 new deluxe bedrooms, a hi-tech gym, sauna, steam rooms and luxurious treatment rooms. A first for the George will be a new executive club lounge on the 5th floor of the new building, with beautiful outside terraces providing panoramic views of Edinburgh Castle.
The new building will be open from October 2008 with the George now offering 250 refurbished rooms, flexible conference space and the stylish Tempus bar and restaurant.
www.principal-hotels.com
New Potential Hotel for Princes Street
A new 103-bedroom hotel, including a bar and restaurant looking towards Edinburgh Castle, could be the next hotel development planned for Princes Street (at 121-123 Princes Street).
Discussions still taking place on whether this project will move forward.
EVENTS
Mary Poppins
The popular West End Musical, Mary Poppins, is coming to Edinburgh and is the only Scottish season for this international smash hit.
2 October – 6 December 2008
www.edinburghplayhouse.org.uk
Heroes / Scottish National Portrait Gallery
This display is a collaboration with the National Library of Scotland. Central to the show is Samuel Smiles' 1859 work, Self-Help. The display presents the people who were promoted by Smiles as contemporary role models and critically re-examines what we mean by 'Victorian values'. Featuring portraits from the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the exhibition also contains a selection of some of the very best of the national art, library and archive collections, including material from the National Library of Scotland's recently acquired John Murray Archive. Much of the material will be on public display for the first time.
31 May – 7 December 2008
www.nationalgalleries.org
The Art of Italy in the Royal Collection: The Renaissance/The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
The highly-acclaimed exhibition of Italian art in the Royal Collection comes to Edinburgh in two parts. Part one brings together some of the finest paintings and drawings by many of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. The exhibition also celebrates the artistic legacy of the Stuart Kings, Charles I and his son Charles II. Agnolo Bronzino's Portrait of A Lady in Green and Parmigianino's Pallas Athene will be shown alongside drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.
25 April - 26 October 2008
www.royalcollection.org.uk
Tracy Emin/Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art
Tracy Emin is one of the most celebrated artists of her generation, yet remarkably this will be the first retrospective exhibition of her work to be held in the UK. Emin's work draws directly upon her personal experiences, and often refers to traumatic episodes in her early life. The forthcoming exhibition will occupy the entire ground floor of the gallery and will feature work from 1993 to present day.
Early August (tbc) - 9 November 2008
www.nationalgalleries.org
