1 BBC Good Food Show Scotland
SECC, Glasgow, Fri-Sun
Possibly the weekend’s tastiest destination, mixing three days of local produce, shopping, and live entertainment. Visitors can browse, sample and buy from hundreds of exhibitors, try speciality food and drink from around Scotland, discover the secrets of cakes and baking, and feast in a pop-up restaurant showcasing three of Glasgow’s top eateries. Meanwhile, an all-star cookery theatre line-up includes GBBO’s Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood, Saturday Kitchen host James Martin, and former Masterchef judge Michel Roux Jr. Tickets from £16.25 (under 16s free). www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com
2 French Film Festival
Across Scotland, from Thu
A great excuse to hunker down against the gathering gloom for the 23nd edition of this Francophone celluloid celebration. Bringing another round of award-winners, classics and new releases, highlights include a celebration of film company Gaumont, Spectre Bond girl Lea Seydoux starring in period piece Diary of a Chambermaid, and a restored version of Luc Besson’s free-diving tour de force The Big Blue. Running until December 13, the main venues are Glasgow’s GFT and the Edinburgh Filmhouse, with additional screenings in Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, Kirkcaldy and Hawick. www.frenchfilmfestival.org.uk
3 MoRunning
Edinburgh and Glasgow, Sat-Sun
Fun, friendly, and just a little bit silly, this annual running series is organised in partnership with men’s health charity Movember. Hitting Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park on Saturday, and Glasgow Green on Sunday, men and women of all ages can sign up for either 5K or 10K distances. The emphasis is on dressing up and having a good time, but each race will be properly timed, so there’s plenty of incentive for more serious competitors. Online registration is closed, but a limited number of on-the-day entries will be available from £18. www.mo-running.com
4 Bonfire Night
Across Scotland, from Thu
By the time you read this, Glasgow’s huge bonfire night fireworks display will have already happened. If you missed it, never fear - on-the-night alternatives include events in Drumchapel, Strathclyde Country Park, Dalmuir Park in Clydebank, GHA Rugby Club in Giffnock, and Kay Park in Kilmarnock. Elsewhere, there’s also Edinburgh’s annual Meadowbank display, Dundee’s Baxter and Lochee Park event, the Inverness display at Bught Park, and Aberdeen’s usual beachfront spectacular. On Saturday, look out for further displays in Paisley, Dunfermline, and Strathaven - as well as one of Scotland’s swankiest bonfire nights at Hopetoun House in West Lothian, an evening of family entertainment and food stalls followed by an explosive choreographed firework finale. Tickets are £6.50-£13 from www.hopetoun.co.uk
5 Craft Fair
Haddo House, Aberdeenshire, Sat-Sun
Get a head start on this year’s gift buying at this festive fair in the grounds of historic stately pile Haddo House. After a leisurely browse through a large selection of handcrafted products ranging from jewellery and toiletries to confectionery and woodwork, there’s also a range of seasonal refreshments on sale to warm you up and get you in the festive mood. Open both days from 10am-4pm, tickets are £3, with under 12s free. www.nts.org.uk
6 Summerhall Beer FestivALE
Summerhall, Edinburgh, Fri-Sat
The craft beer renaissance continues apace at Edinburgh arts hub Summerhall, where the latest in a series of seasonal happenings is hosted over three weekend sessions. Joining in-house micro-brewery Barney’s and artisanal gin distillery Pickerings will be guest brewers Williams Brothers plus a rum bar, a rolling roster of top DJs, and a ‘bizarre bottle’ bar, intriguingly described as an experimental curated selection of extraordinary flavours. Tickets are £8. www.summerhall.co.uk
7 NEoN Digital Arts Festival
Dundee, from Sun
Something for the brain as well as the eyes, as Scotland’s only digital arts festival returns for another weird and wonderful week of exhibitions, installations, audio works and performances. This year’s programme focuses on emerging and established new media artists from Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan - many of whom have never exhibited or performed in Scotland. Events include an unusual internet-inspired fleamarket, a special outdoor wall projection on Groucho’s record store, and a six hour audio visual finale next weekend at Bonar Hall. www.northeastofnorth.com
8 Cambolicious
Cambo Estate, Fife, Sat
This small, family orientated craft beer festival might be slightly out of the way, but it more than makes up for it in rustic charm. Protected from the elements in a fairy-lit courtyard bar, patrons can try a range of cask ales, ciders and locally produced gins and malts from the likes of Knops, St Andrews Brewing Co, and Eden Mill. Keeping everyone fed and entertained will be live music, food stands, a craft fair, and a home-brew competition - plus a range of old fashioned games for kids and adults. Tickets from £10. www.cambolicious.com
9 Modern Scottish Women
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, from Sat
Subtitled ‘Painters and Sculptors 1885-1965’, this new exhibition is the first major showcase of work by women artists held by the National Galleries of Scotland. Encompassing more than 90 paintings and sculptures, the exhibition documents an 80-year period in the not-so-distant past which saw an explosion in the number of Scottish women training and working as artists. Presenting familiar masterpieces alongside important yet rarely seen works, artists represented include Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, Dorothy Johnstone, and Phyllis Bone. On until June, tickets are £7-£9. www.nationalgalleries.org
10 Aberfeldy Festival
Aberfeldy, Fri-Sat
Now in its sixth year, this small but perfectly formed weekend of events in Highland Perthshire promises much in the way of music, poetry, drama, entertainment, and food. Music-wise, Friday’s folk-tinged bill features Lau and Blue Rose Code, while Saturday includes SAY Award winner Kathryn Joseph and modern jazz act The Neil Cowley Trio. Gig tickets are £25, with a weekend pass available from £40. Elsewhere, access to Saturday’s Market in the Square, live drama strand, and poetry event in Birks Cinema is free. www.aberfeldyfestival.co.uk
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