The Europe-wide Festival of Museums returns this weekend with public museums throwing a variety of one-off events that bring history and heritage alive.
On Friday night, the Museum of Scotland hosts the third of its popular "Lates" with A Night in Wonderland, with music and pop-up surprises inspired by its collections.
Down at the National Gallery on the Mound, Saturday will see "A Little Bit of... Tosca". A 20-minute version Puccini’s famous opera, set in Rome, will be performed, in front of David Roberts’ panoramic painting of the Italian capital.
The free performance is described as such: "Based on a form of Japanese storytelling, ‘A Little Bit of…Tosca’ unfolds to a series of colourful illustrations, brought to life by a storyteller, singer and two players. The performance will be followed by a related art-historical talk by Dr Patricia Andrew, focussing on Rome: Sunset from the Convent of Sant’ Onofrio on the Janiculum by David Roberts."
Lauriston Castle, "Edinburgh's answer to Downton Abbey", hosts a sell-out murder mystery event called ‘Death over Dinner’ on Friday, and a Summer Venetian Masked Ball the following evening, with music from students of the City of Edinburgh Music School.
On Saturday the City Art Centre is hosting a day of creative workshops and tours around the theme of ‘The Enchanted Garden’, while on Sunday the newly refurbished Museum of Edinburgh will revisit the past with Crocant, Collops & Codsounds - an afternoon celebrating the music, food and costume of the 18th century.
People will also get an opportunity to see changes at the Museum of Edinburgh following phase 1 of its refurbishment.
The museum now encompasses both Huntly House and neighbouring Acheson House, with a brand new entrance, a refreshed layout, new shop and work to redevelop the gardens. An audiovisual exhibit charting Edinburgh's history - Foundation: The Story of a City - will go on display in the coming weeks.
Joanne Orr, Chief Executive of Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “Festival of Museums is about igniting imaginations while celebrating Scotland’s wealth of culture. The festival’s real victory is the sheer variety of museums taking part – the programme includes many events in the bigger museums as well as communities working together to offer a new experience at their local museum. This allows everyone to get involved and makes the weekend the perfect excuse to finally get around to enjoying a museum which you have been intending to visit or to simply pop in to your ‘local’ for a bit of fun and inspiration.”
Over 90 day and night activities are taking place across Scotland as part of Festival of Museums.