A journey through space and time by Professor Brian Cox, set to a soundtrack performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, is one of the online events taking place over the next seven days.
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Summerhall’s Online Christmas Market
Shop from over 60 independent Scottish designers and makers at Summerhall’s beloved Christmas Market, which goes virtual for the first time this year. Items include art, jewellery, textiles, knitwear, plants, food and drink, homeware, artisan soaps and much more.
Daily, until Thu December 24. Times vary, free.
GSC At Home: The Christmas Extravaganza
Glasgow Science Centre’s helpful elves host this festive online show wherein they explore the science behind the Christmas season, including how Santa makes it to every house around the world in one night, and how to build your own structurally sound gingerbread house.
Fri December 11, 7pm, by donation.
Scottish Falsetto Socks: Christmas Special
The popular ensemble of singing socks returns with a seasonal special, live on Zoom. This time they’re joined by special guest, singer-songwriter Dean Friedman.
Fri December 11, 8pm, £9.90.
The Cinematic Orchestra
The electronic jazz trio performs from the Royal Festival Hall, featuring songs off their latest album To Believe, as well as other classic tracks.
Fri December 11, 8pm, £13.
Tae Sup Wi’ A Fifer
The acclaimed gig series curated by James Yorkston continues in an online format. December’s performance features a healthy dose of seasonal cheer, featuring songs and stories from Kris Drever, Withered Hand and Yorkston himself.
Fri December 11, 8pm, £12.
Children’s Classic Concerts: The Night Before Christmas
Children’s Classic Concerts teams up with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to perform a concert of festive family favourites, featuring a special arrangement of the iconic Christmas poem for the orchestra, as well as appearances from the RSNO Junior Chorus.
Sat December 12, 12pm, free.
Andrea Bocelli: Believe in Christmas
The world-famous Italian opera singer, songwriter and tenor performs an exclusive live streamed concert from the Teatro Regio di Parma opera house.
Sat December 12, 8pm, £20.
Nine Lessons and Carols for Socially Distanced People
The Cosmic Shambles Network hosts this 24-hour live streamed variety night, covering the gamut of science, art, music, poetry and comedy. Hosted for the entirety by Robin Ince, the show will also feature guests such as Brian Cox, Josie Long, astronaut Chris Hadfield, Eric Idle, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Eddie Izzard, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Mark Watson and many, many more.
Sat December 12, times vary, free.
Super Market Virtual Christmas Market
Virtual Christmas market with over 150 Scottish brands to browse, as well as a programme of creative workshops for kids and adults.
Sat December 12 and Sun December 13, times and prices vary.
The McDougalls: Virtual Christmas Party
The McDougalls are broadcasting festive fun straight into our homes this year with their Virtual Christmas Party. Max, Auntie Aggie and Morag the Rabbit will be decking the halls and hosting plenty of games, songs, dances and musical mayhem for the whole family to enjoy. Expect interactive sing-a-longs of classics like ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ and ‘The Hokey Cokey’, and tune in to find out whether the big man in red himself will show up to the party.
Sat December 12 and Sun December 13, Sat 2pm & 6.30pm, Sun 10.30am & 4pm, £10.
Mustard
Award-winning playwright and performer Eva O’Connor presents this one-woman show about heartbreak, madness and how condiments are the ultimate coping mechanism.
Fri December 11-Mon December 14, times vary, £8.
Play-Doh Presents: A Festive Doh-Along
To celebrate their 65th anniversary, Play-Doh hosts an online family festive workshop in making seasonal colours and shapes, hosted by Rylan Clark-Neal.
Sun December 13, 10am, free.
Scottish Opera: Così fan tutte
Filmed at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal, Scottish Opera’s digital concert performance, directed by Roxana Haines, reimagines Mozart’s comedy of infidelities as a game for today, in which lovers’ loyalties are put to the ultimate test.
Sun December 13, 6pm, free.
U Belong: Joy
Glasgow Zine Library hosts this new multilingual platform which offers a safe space for BPOC, LGBT+ and disabled poets, artists, musicians and comedians to perform and showcase their creativity.
Sun December 13, 6.30pm, free.
Off the Kerb Presents: Like Minded Friends Christmas Special
Leading comedy agency Off the Kerb hosts a live Christmas stand-up gig featuring Tom Allen and Suzi Ruffell.
Sun December 13, 8pm, £5.55.
The Cosmos with Professor Brian Cox and BBC SO
Eminent physicist Professor Brian Cox guides audiences on a journey through space and time, drawing on images and discoveries from 21st Century cosmology, and set to a soundtrack performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Sun December 13, 8pm, £12.50.
Hidden Door Live
Edinburgh multi-arts festival Hidden Door hosts a second series of online shows highlighting the best of Scotland’s emerging creative talent. Curated by Edinburgh-based music act MALKA, this week’s episode features Scottish musicians Pictish Trail, Carla J. Easton and Kapil Seshasayee exploring how they can creatively overcome the restrictions currently limiting the live music community in the country.
Tue December 15, 7pm, free.
Bombay Bicycle Club: I Had the Blues…
The English indie rockers perform the entirety of their 2009 debut album, I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose, at this special one-off live streamed concert.
Tue December 15 8pm, £5.50.
Soundabout Virtual Christmas Concert
The Soundabout Inclusive Choirs in Bristol, Oxford, Peterborough and Wiltshire host a virtual Christmas concert, raising funds for their Make Music Change Lives Christmas Appeal. Special guests at this year’s event include Lost Voice Guy, The Voice’s Andrea Begley, Noriko Ogawa, Lily Bartlett and The City of Oxford Silver Band.
Wed December 16, 6pm, £15.
Edinburgh International Magic Festival
Enjoy a dose of winter wonder as the Edinburgh International Magic Festival returns in a digital format, including close-up conundrums, mind-boggling illusions, comic cabaret and other feats of the impossible. Highlights include the likes of Elliot Bibby, Kevin Quantum, Vincent Gambini, Magic Gareth and more.
Wed December 16-Thu December 17, until Sun December 20. Times and prices vary.
Makar to Cracker
The National Poet for Scotland Jackie Kay’s popular online show returns for a Christmas special. Kay hosts a lineup that includes the former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Jen Hadfield (the youngest poet to win the T.S. Eliot Prize) and Imtiaz Dharker, with music provided by Mercury Music Prize-nominated singer-songwriter Kathryn Williams.
Thu December 17, 7pm, free.
The Rankin Files: Lifting the Lid
Famed crime writer Ian Rankin and National Library of Scotland curator Rosemary Hall discuss Rankin’s remarkable archive which he donated to the library in 2018.
Thu December 17, 7pm, free.
Courtney Barnett: From Where I’m Standing
The acclaimed singer-songwriter from Oz performs a special show from Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building. Barnett will perform tracks off her previous two albums, as well as new songs she’s written over the course of the pandemic.
Thu December 17, 8pm, £14.
A Gambler’s Guide to Dying
Online premiere of Gary McNair’s intergenerational tale about one boy’s granddad who won a fortune betting on the 1966 football World Cup and, when diagnosed with cancer, gambled it all on living to see the year 2000. The new theatrical presentation was filmed on location around Glasgow and Traverse 1.
Thu December 17, 8pm, pay what you can.
Music for Winter Solitude: Duncan Chisolm
A new series of intimate music performances filmed in tiny venue An Tobar on the Isle of Mull, with the cameras being remotely controlled from afar. Scottish fiddle and composer Duncan Chisolm is joined by multi-instrumentalist Hamish Napier for this week’s special performance.
Thu December 17, 8pm, free.
