Shows to see today: Edinburgh Festival Bulletin, 10 August - Ceilidh Trail, Manran & more

Ceilidh Trail / Manran There’s a strong Gaelic presence at the Edinburgh International Festival tonight. At 7.30pm, Ceilidh Trail celebrates 25 years of Feis Rois, which has played a key role in promoting Gaelic music and song’s revival over the past few decades. Tonight’s anniversary event brings together emerging musicians and established artists who participated in the Ceilidh Trail when they were younger. Then, later in the evening, there’s a concert by one of the younger generation of Scottish trad music bands, Manran, who perform in Gaelic and English and have built up an international following over the past decade. The Hub, 7,30pm and 10.30pm

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Edinburgh International Book Festival This year has been a turbulent one for the Book Festival – forced to part company with key sponsors Baillie Gifford after a very public protest (conducted, ironically, largely on platforms supported by Baillie Gifford) – but expect a celebratory atmosphere as the festival gets under way today. University of Edinburgh Futures Institute, today until 25 August​

Within Reach A short run at Dance Base for this new solo dance performance by Alan Greig, which combines movement and spoken work to create a piece that “looks at the ageing body and plays with gender, identity and LGBTQ+ icons including Quentin Crisp, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Tennessee Williams”. Assembly @ Dance Base, today and tomorrow, 1.20pm

Looking for laughs on the Fringe? You’ll find a list of all our four and five star comedy reviews here

Looking for the best theatre at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe? Here are all the shows our critics have loved so far

And here’s a small sample of what you’ll find in the Edinburgh Festivals section of the website today…

We were extremely honoured, on Friday morning, to welcome the inimitable Miriam Margolyes to our Week One Fringe First Awards at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar as our special guest presenter. After she and our chief theatre critic Joyce McMillan had handed out plaques to the six winning shows, and after Joyce had persuaded actress and singer Charlene Boyd, star of June Carter Cash: The Woman, Her Music and Me, to lead the audience in an impromptu singalong of Ring of Fire, Joyce asked Miriam what she thought of the event. "F***ing marvelous," came the reply. "It's such a spur and encouragement for the future, and that's what the Fringe is all about." You can watch the entire ceremony, and read all about the winning shows, here.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and as always our resident bibliophiles David Robinson and Susan Mansfield will be bringing you daily dispatches from the event. In the meantime, however, you can read David's guide to this year's must-see sh​ows here, and you can read our arts correspondent Brian Ferguson on the festival's impressive new home here. If you're planning to be at the EIBF's opening weekend, we also have some recommended reading for you: Gaby Soutar's interview with Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson (appearing tomorrow at 7.20pm), who have a new book out titled Victor & Barry's Kelvinside Compendium: A Meander Down Memory Close; and Susan Mansfield's interview with Lesley McDowell (also appearing tomorrow, at 5.45pm), whose latest book is all about Mary Shelley's rebel step-sister Claire Clairmont.

Elsewhere this weekend, you can read all our latest reviews form the EIF, including a five-star rave for Djibouti-born guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre from David Kettle; take part in our latest free ticket giveaway, which includes a delicious meal for two; and, of course, catch up with all our Fringe reviews.

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