CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL
Join us for our Japan Sakura @ Lauriston Castle – a festival spanning 2 weekends (Sat 18/Sun 19 & Sat 25/Sun 26 April), celebrating the blossom at Lauriston Castle.
Full details of #Japanese#cultural events here: https://cultureedinburgh.com/…/japan-sakura-at…
Free and drop in. #Edinburgh#Scotland
This year, as part of our Lauriston Castle Lecture Centenary Programme, we have 24 fantastic and varied lectures to tempt you.
Explore them here:
Join us for the Festival of Fermentation & Pickle Party at the farm …
Saturday 28 March 1:30 – 3:30pm
Book your free ticket on Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/ycxtcdc2
For thousands of years, people around the world have used fermentation and pickling to make and preserve food, handing the knowledge down through generations.
Whether you are a total beginner, or already surrounded by bubbling jars, come along to this celebration of human x microbe collaboration.
Edinburgh Agroecology Co-op, Grass Roots Remedies and Rhyze Mushrooms are hosting a fermentation and pickling Tasting Fair, tours and workshops, and opening our brand new food processing space.
The food processing space, and this opening event, is kindly funded by Edinburgh Communities Climate Action Network Greenlight seedgrant fund.
Thank you to ECCAN and to everyone who voted for us to receive this grant.
The funding means we can make this event free – but spaces are limited, please book a ticket to attend.
To celebrate 100 years since the Castle was gifted to the nation by the Reids, this year’s programme has a strong 1920s theme.
The centenary programme was officially launched with a visit from Councillor Margaret Graham, Culture and Communities Convener, who joined colleagues and volunteers at the castle to mark the beginning of a year-long celebration.
Featuring an exciting and varied selection of events, the programme will include talks, creative workshops, film screenings, and family fun activities. Highlights include:
A highlight of the year will be the original murder mystery plays, composed and performed by Edinburgh Living History, where guests can use their sleuthing skills to uncover the culprit.
In August, the 1920s-inspired scavenger hunt, reflecting popular leisure activities of the era, will have guests following the clues to meet some characters from the past whilst enjoying the beauty of the grounds.
Visitors will be able to enjoy the return of much-loved Japan Sakura, offering another weekend of fun, with the opportunity to take part in traditional crafts and hands-on activities for all ages.
To mark the centenary, guests can also watch a series of film screenings of titles both made and set in the 1920s starting with ‘The General’ (1926).
Many events will be free to attend, with some ticketed experiences available through advance booking. Details of all events are listed on the Culture Edinburgh website.
Culture and Communities Convener Margaret Graham said: “Lauriston Castle is one of Edinburgh’s most treasured sites, and the centenary is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate both its past and its future.
“This programme brings together heritage, creativity and community in a way that reflects the spirit of Mr and Mrs Reid’s generous gift.
“We look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors to discover everything that Lauriston has to offer in 2026.”
Our Lauriston adult creative workshop programme for 2026 is now live and bookable.
16 fantastic adult creative workshops for you to explore your creativity in our supportive relaxing setting.
Explore here:
https://cultureedinburgh.com/search?q=Adult%20Creative%20workshops
SUNDAY 1st MARCH 11am – 1pm
Ever wanted to grow your own potatoes?
Come along to Tattie Day to get low-cost seed tatties, plus growing tips, and share soup & bread and other seeds for free…
Sunday 1 March 11am -1pm
Drop in to the Welcome portacabin in farmyard
We will have low-cost sets of seed tatties available for you to buy to get planting, as well as people on hand to advise you on your tattie growing.
Please bring your own bags if possible
Access Notes
There is one step up into the portacabin. It is a rough compacted stone path from the Toby Carvery car park. The cabin is set on rough grass, just off this path. This will be an informal and chatty gathering, in a relatively small space.
Assistance dogs welcome of course.
There is a spacious, level access, single cubicle, gender neutral toilet in the Community Allotments that participants can use. This is on rough grassy ground, no steps.
There is no on-farm parking, but we can make arrangements for disabled people who need to drive in for access reasons.
Please email us if you have any access requests or questions.
CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF LAURISTON
We are delighted this week to launch our centenary programme, celebrating 100 years since the Reids left Lauriston Castle to the nation.
We have over 120 events for you to explore and book, and for you to enter our magic. This year we have a strong nod to the 1920s to celebrate 100 years with lectures, talks, tours, creative workshops, family events and festivals, film screenings, theatre, Murder Mysteries, accessible days, community days and costumed events.
Here is a link to explore all the events:
https://cultureedinburgh.com/our-venues/lauriston-castle
We have a fantastic new website and booking system this year, so things may look a bit different! 
SATURDAY 7th FEBRUARY 11am – 1pm
Interested in supporting local biodiversity whilst spending a great morning outdoors? Join us for our next tree planting event, where we will be planting together and learning all about the importance of supporting local nature in our communities.
Let’s plant some trees and have some fun! 
When: 7th February from 11 to 1pm
Where: Lauriston Farm, Edinburgh EH4 5EX
Registration: http://eventbrite.co.uk/…/tree-planting-event-tickets…
NEN PUBLISHED OUR FIRST BLOG POST ON THIS DAY IN 2011
The very first NEN blog post was published on this day in 2011. The post read:
Hello, and welcome to the brand new NEN blog.
For those of you not already familiar with the newspaper, we are a local community paper serving the North Edinburgh community. We’ve been here for over thirty years.
This blog, along with our new Facebook page and Twitter stream, represents our first foray into the world of social media. We really want to encourage more participation, more questions and ideas from the North Edinburgh community – both online and offline – and hope that these new tools will help us to do that.
We already have a good website, where you can always find the latest edition of the printed newspaper. The blog won’t be replacing that, but will instead be there to show people the latest news about the area, and also to help us cover the current funding crisis we are facing as an organisation.
Above all, we want to include your input on the blog – be it ideas for stories, comments, pictures and events. So get in touch!
The NEN’s website was sadly deleted when funding ceased but our social media presence continues on both Twitter and Facebook and the blog is still going strong with 10 – 12 posts daily.
2025 was the NEN blog’s busiest ever year with 36,000 visitors. As I write this we’ve published more than 38,000 posts – all of these remain accessible online – and we’re currently on a run of publishing on 2749 consecutive days.
When the NEN office in Crewe Road North closed much of the NEN archive material was lost, but thankfully some of our picture library was salvaged and can now be found at granton:hub (Madelvic House), where the volunteer archive team has also collated all remaining hard copies of the North Edinburgh News newspaper.
Hopefully, between the physical archive and the NEN blog, you can find all you need to know about our community’s rich history – and we’re adding to that history every day!
Drop-in Gardening starts again on Thursday 15 January, and Tuesday 20 January 1pm-3pm …
If you’re looking for a way to learn about growing food …
or to share the knowledge you have…
or for community…
or for some fresh air and gentle exercise…
or to feel like you’re making a difference…
or for a reason to get out the house – try coming along!
Newcomers and beginners always welcome. Please try to arrive 10 minutes before the start time on your first day (12:50pm) – after that, it’s drop-in anytime during the opening hours.
You can get involved with growing fruit and veg in the shared plot, wildlife habitat enhancements, and taking care of the wildflower mound and Community Orchard.
Just come along on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon and you’ll be welcomed in.
We’ve got outdoor work kit you can borrow, plus gloves, and we supply all the tools. Just bring yourself.
Access notes and FAQs are on our website here:
http://www.lauristonfarm.scot/…/drop-in-gardening…/
If you have any questions or need some support to get started, please contact us!
