Aberdeen Jazz Festival

Across Aberdeen, until Sunday

One of the Aberdeen's biggest music festivals, back with five days of swinging jazz, funk soul and blues from a range of international and Scottish artists. Among those you can catch over the next few days are Average White Band's Hamish Stuart, solo guitar genius Martin Taylor, MOBO-winning Sons of Kemet, and Norwegian indie jazz act Pixel. Meanwhile, Saturday afternoon's Jazz on The Green, the city's biggest free admission music event, brings together 12 different bands across four stages around the Merchant Quarter. aberdeenjazzfestival.com

Great British Dog Walk

Pollok Park, Glasgow, Sunday March 22

A new event from disabilities charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, this fundraising dog walk promises a fun and sociable day out for animal-lovers in Glasgow's largest park. Starting out from Pollock House at 11am, there's the choice of undertaking either a 2.5km or 6km walk. And, as well as an array of gift and craft stalls, and kids activities, there will also be the chance to meet dogs trained by the charity and see the Hearing Dogs display team being put through their paces. Admission is £10 (children £5). www.greatbritishdogwalk.org/pollokhouse.php

Planet Oil: A History of Addiction

Perth and Aberdeen, Friday and Saturday

Geologist and presenter Professor Iain Stewart discusses his latest BBC documentary Planet Oil at the Station Hotel, Perth on Friday and the MacRobert Building, University of Aberdeen on Saturday. If you missed it, the programme offered a mind-boggling but characteristically accessible look at how oil came to define the modern world, touching on how it came to be discovered, why we've become reliant on it, and what happens when it runs out. Starting at 7.30pm both nights, tickets are available from £8-£15. rsgs.org/talks-and-events

KidO

Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow, Thursday and Friday

Having scored success with BabyO and SensoryO - groundbreaking shows introducing the sounds of opera and classical music to babies and toddlers - Scottish Opera now turn their attention to pre-schoolers for their latest mini-production. Aimed at children aged 3-4 and their carers, each 45 minute performance encourages play and make believe with a mixture of live singing, opera and specially written music using vocal and body percussion. With three performances at Cottiers in Glasgow today and tomorrow, the production also tours Edinburgh, Greenock, Inverness, Perthshire and Fife in coming weeks. www.scottishopera.org.uk/our-operas/14-15/kido

Festival of Silent Cinema

Hippodrome, Bo'ness, until Sunday

Scotland's only festival of silent cinema returns for a fifth year, and another exclusive round of classics and forgotten gems from the dawn of film. As well as a focus on World War One, there's a strong Scottish flavour, with Sunday's closing gala, which grafts epic Highland melodrama Annie Laurie - starring Lillian Gish - onto a new live score by award-winning fiddle player Shona Mooney. Out of the auditorium, events include Hollywood-inspired workshops, an open day at historic Kinneil House, and a photo exhibition of silent era stars from The Herald's archives. www.hippfest.co.uk

Buzzcut Festival

Pearce Institute, Glasgow, until Sunday

Something different for Govan, as this annual festival of experimental live performance returns to the Pearce Institute for a second consecutive year, showcasing more than 60 thought-provoking, playful, serious and fun pieces from a range of cutting edge artists. Admittedly, there's much here that's probably not suitable for kids, but older, open-minded theatre fans should find plenty here to interest and intrigue. There's also no booking for most of the performances, with the event operating an innovative pay-what-you-can policy benefitting the artists involved directly. glasgowbuzzcut.wordpress.com

Watching

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, until Saturday

Billed as a one-of-a-kind project exploring the science of sleep through music, theatre and history, Watching is a magical new promenade performance of taking place at dusk through the gardens and glasshouses of the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, specially decked out with glittering lights and beds for the occasion. On daily until Saturday at 7pm, tickets are £10 (£5 for children). There's also a free family drop-in event from 1pm on Saturday in the Palm House, where you can learn about the history of plants used to aid sleep. www.watching.eca.ed.ac.uk

Bach In the Subways

Glasgow Underground, Saturday

Celebrating the 330th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach, students of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland will be performing music by the Baroque composer on Glasgow's subway system from 10am-12pm on Saturday. Part of a global initiative founded five years ago by New York-based cellist Dale Henderson to bring live music to the masses, the no-collection tin 'busking' event has spread to 122 cities around the world. Organised in conjunction with subway operators SPT themselves, the musicians will have the run of the entire system, so the challenge will be on to track them down. www.rcs.ac.uk

Aberdeen Asset Management Universities' Boat Race

River Dee, Aberdeen, Saturday

Now in its 20th year, the north-east's answer to the famous Oxford-Cambridge row-off will see Aberdeen University taking on Robert Gordon University - winners for the last three years - at 2.20pm on Saturday. The hotly-contested event also includes warm-up races featuring alumni, second crew, and local media teams from around noon. For the best views, bag yourself a spot on the stretch of river near Duthie Park, or one of a handful of bridges along the 3.5km Bridge of Dee to Aberdeen Boat Club route. www.facebook.com/AAMBoatRace

VIP Record Fair

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Saturday and Sunday

For less digitally-minded musical types who still like to consume their purchases in the physical realm, there can be but one destination this weekend. Declared to be the biggest British event of its type outside of London, this two-day record fair features an abundance of vinyl record and CD traders from around the UK and overseas. So, if that pointlessly expensive 1972 mono pressing with the limited edition brown sleeve still eludes, now could be the time to strike. Open from 10am to 5pm on both days, entry is £3 on the door. www.vip-24.com