Festival of Politics runs from Thursday to Saturday at the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood

More perplexing still is that, despite this being a Holyrood happening, the big hitters are billed as Ken Clarke and Harriet Harman, two Westminster MPs. Clarke is trailed as “one of the genuine heavyweights of the UK political world”. Well, he’s certainly portly.

When I add that one of the debates is about the television series Yes, Minister (complete with screening), you might start to wonder what any of this has to do with revolution and, indeed, Holyrood.

Fear not, there are plenty of jocks making up the various panels, and there’s some stuff about punk and yon Karl Marx, whose views on Scottish independence and the European Union would have been interesting to hear.

At this particular festival of fun, there’s plenty of greetin’ aboot Brexit, as you would expect from the Scottish liberal establishment, plus a panel on the “Death of the Expert”, a much desired prognosis first identified by Tory chancer and top Europhobe Michael Gove.

Of no less topical interest is “No Pasaran! – Scots and the Spanish Civil War”, coming at a time when the ghost of Franco is rearing its ugly head once more.

From the craggy mountains of Catalonia to the dairy-rich flatlands of Denmark, whence comes Uffe Elbæk, founder of the country’s new green, entrepreneurial party, The Alternative (heard that one before), to deliver the Kenyon Wright Lecture.

Mr Elbæk is described as a “Solution Finder” and certainly, presented with a box, he will proceed to think outside it. As long as his solution doesn’t involve that old chestnut about needing more business people in politics, he might be worth a listen.

Also worthy of an ear-flexing might be journalist and author George Monbiot, one of the few writers on London papers who doesn’t try to “metrosplain” Scotland to us. He found the 2014 independence referendum campaign inspiring and his wider hope is to re-engage people in the face of cynicism and apathy about politics.

That referendum campaign raised the profile of alternative media and, in “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, panellists will discuss the impact of tweeting, texting and so forth on our political views. These forms of communicating are, I’m told, particularly popular among young persons, and this year’s festival is embracing “the traditional teenage notion of challenging the norms”.

Fare for young people at the event includes a debate about The Summer of Love (1967), a film about The Ramones, a conversation with Richard Jobson of The Skids, and an exhibition about punk rock in Edinburgh 1977. So, a lot there for young people aged 50 to 70.

There’s also some “family friendly fun”, guaranteed to keep sensible people away, and a cafe-bar for anyone suffering an ideological headache or just needing to re-balance themselves chemically.

A balance between politics and fun is never going to be easy to achieve, though I’m sure the the politically engaged or constitutionally inebriated will find plenty here to tickle their principles and bring merriment to their manifestos.

The Festival of Politics runs from Thursday to Saturday at the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood, Edinburgh.