1 Scottish Bike Show
1 Scottish Bike Show
Emirates Arena, Glasgow, Saturday and Sunday
This annual cycling showpiece has dozens of exhibitors, loads of activities, and a profusion of workshops, talks, and demonstrations. Attractions include test tracks and challenges, stunt displays from The Clan cycle team, and bio-mechanical consultations for more serious riders. You can also have a go on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome track, with the man himself set to appear on Saturday. Tickets are £4.50 to £10.50, with under 12s free - and there's a free shuttle bus from Buchanan Street to the venue all weekend.
www.thescottishbikeshow.com
2 Fife Comedy Festival
Fife, until April 13
If you didn't make the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, here's a chance to catch a clutch of its biggest performers in Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, and Glenrothes. Along with stand-up from the likes of Omid Djalili, Jerry Sadowitz, and Hardeep Singh Kohli, there's comic theatre and musical fun from The Showstoppers Improvised Musical and The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre - as well as an evening celebrating Scottish humour hosted by Grant Stott, plus The Confessions of Gordon Brown, an Edinburgh Fringe hit satire based on a certain local MP.
www.onfife.com/comedy
3 Big Dance Day
Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling, Saturday
Part of the Macrobert's Let's Dance season, Big Dance Day offers special performances, pop-up events and workshops designed to get your feet moving. As well as exclusive stagings of a number of pieces, there's a city-wide dance trail, screenings of film favourites such as Billy Elliot and Cuban Fury, and the chance to learn a new routine created by Scottish Ballet for the Big Dance Pledge, an initiative geared towards two unique performances which are happening simultaneously across the world next month.
www.macrobert.org/big-dance-day.htm
4 Inverness Whisky Festival
Bogbain Farm, Inverness, Friday and Saturday
Sample the wares of more than a dozen distilleries and learn more about how the finest malts are made at this weekend celebrating Scotland's national drink. Along with demonstrations, masterclasses, food, music, and a charity auction, BBC Scotland's Tom Morton will be performing his Malt and Barley Review - an hour of stories and songs about whisky. Starting tomorrow night with a whisky-themed tour of some of the city's oldest pubs (tickets £30), the main event starts at Bogbain Farm at noon on Saturday (£25). www.invernesswhiskyfestival.com
5 Edinburgh International Science Festival
Across Edinburgh, from Saturday
The first of the capital's annual festivals lands this weekend, just in time for the school holidays. With two weeks of events, workshops, exhibitions, and experiments in 30 venues, it's one of the largest science and technology showcases in Europe. The focus this year is on exploring how science is at the centre of everyday life. Among the highlights are food, drink and science strand GastroFest, the Late Lab series of evening social events, and Making It, which salutes the inventiveness of the DIY makers movement.
www.sciencefestival.co.uk
6 Aye Write!
Mitchell Library, Glasgow, from tomorrow
Glasgow's literary festival returns for a ninth year, with another packed programme of talks, discussions, and author events. Among this first weekend's offerings are a panel about Commonwealth literature featuring Booker Prize-winner Eleanor Catton, events celebrating the legacies of Nelson Mandela and Ian Banks, and a discussion on Glasgow 2014 chaired by commentator Archie Macpherson. For younger book fans, Saturday's session with Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson is sold out, but CBeebies presenter-turned-author Cerrie Burnell will also be reading from her first book Snowflakes.
www.aye write.com
7 Commonwealth Water Polo Championships
Aberdeen Aquatic Centre, from Saturday
Considered one of the world's toughest sports, water polo is physical, fast paced and high scoring. Although an Olympic event, it's not part of Glasgow 2014, so this round-robin competition with seven men's and five women's teams from eight nations offers a one-off chance to catch some elite performers in action. Preliminary matches are free, while tickets for the finals are £3-£5. Meanwhile, Glasgow's Tollcross International Swimming Centre continues it's Commonwealth countdown over the next two weekends by hosting the Scottish and British Swimming Championships. www.scottishswimming.com
8 Doug Allan - In the Company of Giants
Touring, tonight and Sunday
The Dunfermline-born BAFTA and Emmy-winning wildlife cameraman brings his latest speaking tour home to Scotland. At Langholm's Buccleuch Centre tonight and Aberdeen Art Centre on Sunday, he returns for dates in Stirling and Edinburgh next weekend, and Greenock and Dunfermline over Easter. A highly experienced diver who specialises in shooting big animals in inhospitable environments, Allan has been hailed as one of the best and toughest in the business by Sir David Attenborough, who has worked with the Scot on numerous projects.
http://dougallan.com
9 Dumfries and Galloway Wild Spring Festival
Across Dumfries and Galloway, from Saturday
With more than 100 events running until early May, this family friendly wildlife festival is another good bet for the Easter break. The programme makes the most of the region's expanses of countryside, forest and coast with a range of walks, days out, and wildlife-spotting events hosted by local experts. So, along with badger watching and bat-spotting, you could wind up foraging for wild food, hunting for Easter Eggs in Logan Botanic Garden, or star gazing in Galloway Forest Park.
www.wildseasons.co.uk
10 Glasgow International
Across Glasgow, from tomorrow
This huge, internationally renowned festival of contemporary art is on for just over a fortnight every two years, but appropriately enough for a city that has produced a staggering number of award-winning artists over the years, it manages to cram an awful lot in. This year, some 52 exhibitions and 90 events are being staged across Glasgow. Featured artists include Bedwyr Williams, Aleksandra Domanovic, Sue Tompkins, and Simon Marton, while a Homecoming Scotland strand showcases work by Jordan Wolfson, Charlotte Prodger, and Anthea Hamilton.
glasgowinternational.org
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