1 THIS is the week to book your tickets to Playground Festival where there will be people, music, food and dancing all at Rouken Glen park. The dates have had to be changed and the line up slightly jigged which now includes The Libertines, Culture Club, Nile Rodgers and Chic, James, Orbital, Macy Gray and Martha Reeves and the Vandelas. Go on, you know you want to…September 24-26. The sexiest weekend of the year. For all the details and to buy tickets head over to www.playgroundfestival.co.uk
2 SADLY whilst we still live under the cosh of the horrific immigration policies of Priti Patel and her mob we will constinue to see immigration vans roaming our streets at dawn and dusk. As some of our refugee citizens and citizens from other European countries need help with settled status ahead of the deadline at the end of June, Central Scotland Equality Council is holding an all day event in Falkirk on May 29 at 11am at Howgate shopping centre to help with any issues. Please pre-register at www.eventbrite.ie/e/free-support-with-settled-status-application-falkirk
3 THE National Museum of Scotland in the very heart of Auld Reekie has reopened, and cannot wait to welcome you back. Get yourself along and see the newest exhibition, the Galloway hoard, a host of Viking treasures. Pre-booking and registration is needed to keep the venue and yourself safe. Please head over to www.nms.ac.uk for information and booking details. Free.
4 FANCY some super crazy golf with the family? Of course you do. Well M&D’s is opening with a special devils island pirate themed crazy golf day, multiple dates available. Enjoy some fun in the rain or sun. The cafe and gift shop is now open and the experience costs less than £5 and for that you can explore the pirate galleons, the underwater caves and the sunken bridges, for booking head to www.scotlandsthemepark.com. Oh and did I forget to mention the beer garden…?
5 OUR LGBT+ community have always been a big part of Scottish society but their stories haven’t always been told.However, join this three-hour walking tour of old Edinburgh with qualified guide Hannah and you’ll discover the LGBTQ+ history that shaped modern Scotland. From a 16th-century king to a pioneering trans doctor and a pair of revolutionary booksellers in the 1980s, LGBTQ+ people have been a driving force through the centuries. Explore the places they lived, worked and studied around Edinburgh and rediscover the stories that history tried to erase. www.scotlandwithhannah.com for all the details.
6 LOCKDWON has affected all of our mental health and the Scottish Association of mental health has been at the sharp end. Now, to raise necessary funds to continue their vital work, they are throwing a “big night in”. Loads of fun online entertainment is planned, a gin making workshop, a raffle, a quiz, bingo and what’s more its byob. So charge your glasses, shell out a £5 and let this fab charity refill their coffers for your amusement. All details at www.eventbrite.com and www.samh.org
7 CELEBRATE 40 years of Lanark, the seminal work of the late, great Alasdair Gray and book which transformed the landscape for so many Scottish writers working today. A discussion between Alan Bissett and Sorcha Dallas of the Gray archive and Dr Rodge Glass, Gray’s biographer will look at some of Gray’s most valuable and rarely seen writing. From personal diaries to correspondence, the archive is a treasure trove. For details go to www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/celebrating-40-years-of-lanark
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