If you’re looking for something special to see-in the summer, how about taking advantage of the year's longest day by spending an evening in the Botanics. The Edinburgh Botanic Gardens are staying open till 11pm on June 21st, with the café open until 9pm and there are a number of special events being held, including a plant auction; a musical promenade performance called ‘Dialogues of Wind and Bamboo’ and, continuing the Chinese theme, ‘Talking Trees Stroytellers’ around the garden telling Chinese tales. There’s also a late evening walk, ‘Roaming in the Gloaming’ and art installations involving bamboo and music playing plants which respond to human movement!
Sounds like a midsummer night’s dream to me, and over in the Glasgow Botanics you can actually enjoy a bit of Shakespeare over midsummer with ‘Bard in the Botanics’, a rare opportunity to see live Shakespeare performed outdoors in Scotland’s only annual outdoor Shakespeare festival. The festival runs from the 25th of June to the 2nd of August and this year they’re showing ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Love’s Labours Lost.’
For more information on the Edinburgh Botanics midsummer events see here.