A Creative's Guide to Edinburgh
What do to, where to go and jobs and opportunities to get stuck in!
Ahead of the biggest theatre happening in the world, we’re opening the doors to Edinburgh in our creative guides series.
We already share opportunities across the board on our roundups BUT this is your initial guide to the city, with spaces to go, opportunities, jobs and events to get stuck in.
📣 If you’re in or around Edinburgh and have things to add or want to meet people there, please drop it in the comments!!!!
Until then, join us online or IRL in London.
And we are still accepting pitches for newsletter contributors.
Edinburgh by Cynthia
Edinburgh has a reputation for being beautiful, very touristy, and…slightly intimidating.
On the surface, it’s all Georgian architecture, ancient closes and Scottish history, and visitors photographing every corner from every conceivable angle. Locals sometimes avoid the overcrowded city centre like the plague as soon as August and the world-renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe enter the scene.
ILN notes: Now’s a good time to find gigs during the festival season 🎭 Freelance Sauna Theatre host? Put a call out now to your connections! Find the venues and get in touch. Follow the organisations in this list. Get inspired with FULLHOUSE.
But if you spend some proper time here, you’ll discover something underneath: a pulsating layer packed with designers, writers, filmmakers, photographers, musicians, game developers, architects, and creative entrepreneurs.
Edinburgh’s creative scene isn’t defined by scale, but by proximity. My favourite thing is that it is small (and walkable!) enough that you’ll keep bumping into the same people, but large enough that new opportunities appear every week. The result is a creative ecosystem that feels surprisingly connected, and the key to making meaningful connections here is consistency over visibility or numbers. Show up regularly, contribute to the community, and people will remember you.
Living here, I’ve discovered that newsletters like The Edinburgh Minute (daily), Cinetopia (weekly), and The Good Egg Project are essential for staying on top of local news, new openings, all sorts of events, and job openings. Groups like Edinburgh Social! Discord and A Nice Day Out on WhatsApp are great for mingling with people with similar interests, and they tend to organise regular meet-ups on books, films, and fun stuff like playing baseball or learning sword fighting!
If you’re new to the city or simply looking to expand your network, here’s where to start.
Meet your guide: Cynthia Girardin is a bilingual writer and comedian born in Madrid and based in Edinburgh. After permanently leaving social media in 2024, she became interested in how creatives can build meaningful careers and communities beyond those platforms. She is taking on freelance writing commissions while developing long-form work through her newsletter, Sad Little Life, stand-up sets, short films, and local publications, including The Leither. She is currently procrastinating on her first novel.
CULTURAL SPOTS & VENUES
The Filmhouse and The Cameo. Two institutions for the film enthusiast. The Filmhouse reopened last year, with a new cafe where post-screening events and film festivals take place. The Cameo is a beautiful 1914 building with an atmospheric bar to spend some time before or after the movie, and also hosts a monthly film pub quiz (which I once won!)
Summerhall Arts. Dedicated to offering artist opportunities and programming outstanding exhibitions and events year-round, this art charity also offers residencies, artist development, and spaces for hire.
Argonaut Books. We are spoilt for choice with libraries in this town. Most of them host book clubs, writing workshops and book launches - but this independent bookshop in Leith is also well known in the creative community for recently having fought and won against the opening of a massive WH Smith just meters away from them.
Out of the Blue. A multi-disciplinary space in which you can visit an exhibition, have something to eat or drink, attend classes, film screenings and workshops, or enjoy their monthly flea market. There’s something for everyone.
Creative Scotland. They support the cultural and creative sectors across all parts of Scotland as a development organisation, a funder, an advocate, and as a public body that seeks to influence others to increase opportunity and maximise the impact their resources can offer. Apart from their job and opportunities board, they also publish The Illustrated Freelancer’s Guide, a complete and updated practical resource for creatives working freelance in Scotland that you can pick up for free in selected bookshops and venues or download.
Creative Edinburgh. Another must if you’re a creative living here. Their objective is to protect the welfare of the creative community through services for creative freelancers, sole traders and startups to allow them to develop and thrive. Their job board is also unmissable.
WHALE Arts. Since being set up by local people in 1992, it has firmly established itself as one of the cultural anchor organisations for Edinburgh. As a community-led arts charity and social enterprise, their mission is to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community. They also support a network of local community cinemas around town.
WHERE TO WORK & HANGOUT
Feeling artsy? Come to my neighbourhood, Leith, full of independent shops, good coffee, bakeries and the good old man’s pub with someone yelling on the door even if it’s just 11 AM.
Feeling fancy? The backstreets of the New Town have surprising galleries and delis, and they’ll lead you to another beautiful neighbourhood: Stockbridge. Fancy a bit of sea? You can choose between the fisherman’s Newhaven or just take a quick bus to Portobello, with its promenade, bookshops and charity shops. Marchmont and The Meadows can be quite studenty but also loved and very well maintained by their long-term locals.
All of these neighbourhoods are very well connected to each other and have lots of options for coffee shops to work from, local libraries and even parks (if it’s a sunny day and you feel like a change of scenery) to sit and write.
Libraries: Edinburgh has some beautiful public libraries to work, read, or simply admire their architecture, the most renowned being the Edinburgh Central Library. I am a big fan of public libraries as third spaces, and all the activities they offer to their communities, so having a library card has become essential for me.
SWURF. A free coworking app founded by Edinburgh local Nikki Gibson that has since expanded its “work-surfing” network across the UK. The app helps remote workers, freelancers, and digital nomads find welcoming, vetted venues to work from, offering benefits such as guaranteed Wi-Fi, plug sockets, and exclusive food/beverage discounts.
Tribe Porty. A creative coworking space in the heart of Portobello’s seaside community. They also run creative and entrepreneurial mindset events, perfect for anyone reimagining their working life.
Custom Lane. Located in The Shore, one of the most scenic areas of Edinburgh, this coworking space is nestled on the ground floor, adjacent to the public-facing exhibition space and café. Their custom desks offer a base for focused work in a welcoming, creative environment.
The Melting Pot. A membership-only space, it offers co-working spaces but also very interesting events to connect with other creatives and propose new ideas.
Edinburgh Futures Institute. One of the most beautiful and dark academia buildings in the city, the Edinburgh Futures Institute is housed in the former Old Royal Infirmary, which was originally built and completed in 1879. I’ve heard this place mentioned a lot amongst people looking for a nice and quiet space to work.
EVENTS
Coffee mornings and co-work add-on with Habits. Brown’s of Leith is already one of Edinburgh’s newest and coolest spaces, and so this isn’t a formal networking event. Think of it like starting your morning in a room full of interesting people. 18 June
Digital Creativity and Fair Access: Edinburgh Workshop. This hands-on workshop brings together artists and creative practitioners to reflect on how they present and promote their work in digital spaces. Rather than teaching fixed methods, the session focuses on real experiences. 22 June
Coffee Connections Edinburgh Start your morning with great coffee, good conversations, and even better connections. This is one of Edinburgh’s most popular in-person networking events. 24 June
Cinetopia Film Networking Night. 25 June
Co-Work Club Edinburgh. Hosted by SWURF, perfect for solo work or bring a colleague/friend for a collaborative vibe. And they promise unlimited coffee and pastries! 30 June
Creative Circles: Pitch Yourself - Personal Branding for Creatives. This event is a free, casual monthly meetup for creative freelancers who want to learn, grow, and connect. The theme this month is to help creatives overcome “the ick” in self-promotion, to get noticed, book the work they want, and get paid their worth. 7 July
JOBS, OPEN CALLS & OPPORTUNITIES
Events Coordinator - Edinburgh Printmakers. The Events Coordinator is the first point of contact for all prospective clients, meeting groups and individuals, and takes care to consider their needs and the logistics of each unique event to ensure they run smoothly. It offers an exciting opportunity to help grow Edinburgh Printmakers as a vibrant cultural and business hub for Fountainbridge, as the area around us continues to develop. Salary: £26,228
Director of Programming and Engagement - Dunard Centre. The Dunard Centre is a once-in-a-century building, and this is a unique opportunity to shape its programming, both on and off the stage. Our vision is to create a ‘Hall for All’, and to dothis by building our learning, community and education initiatives into our programming from the outset. Everything is engagement, and everyone is our audience. Salary c.£60,000 FTE per annum, full-time.
Co-ordinator & Director - The Traverse Theatre. The Traverse is looking for an experienced Co-ordinator for its flagship Class Act programme to oversee the delivery of the project and provide effective leadership and efficient project management. Pay: £16.50 per hour, part-time for 100 days a year.
Communications Officer - Built Environment Forum Scotland. Leading on the communication activities of the organisation, BEFS Communications Officer will work closely with the team to strategically amplify the sector’s policy interests and ensure their role as a trusted and informed sector voice is reflected visibly across all our communications channels. Salary: £30,000 FTE, part-time; 30 hours per week
Creative Producer / Associate Producer - Singing willows. A new creative company in development working across theatre, art, and music. They create books, music, performances, workshops, and theatre shows for young audiences. They are currently developing a new inclusive children’s musical theatre show, with a professional work-in-progress performance planned for July, followed by performances at Fringe. Rate: £18 per hour with potential to review as the project develops. Part-time.
Programme Coordinator - Astar Media. Astar Media is recruiting a Programme Coordinator to support the delivery of multiple national screen and creative programmes, working with trainees, production partners and stakeholders across Scotland. This role will work across a portfolio of projects, including Opening Shot, a new national screen sector initiative, and elements of FilmG, supporting delivery at different stages of each programme. Salary: £29,000 – £36,000, full-time.
Push the Boat Out, Edinburgh’s International Poetry Festival, is looking to support the creation of three new poetry-led performance pieces, responding to this year’s festival theme: The Space Between. Artists will be paid £1,500 for their commission, including presentation of their work at the Festival, and additional bespoke support to develop the work will be provided by NTS.
Edinburgh City of Literature is accepting submissions to ‘Six Minute Reads’, a flash fiction competition marking Scotland’s National Year of Reading. The prize is £150. Deadline: 19 July.
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