St Giles' Cathedral

01/06/2026

Worship Information for Sunday 7th of June, Trinity +1:

9:30am - Holy Communion with The Rev Anne Logan, Canon
11am - Morning Worship and the Kirking of the Council, with The Rev Dr Scott Rennie the Minister of St Giles’ Cathedral

Please note that the 11am service is also the Kirking of the Council, so parking in West Parliament Square will not be possible.

For over 900 years, St Giles’ has been a place of worship, music, and community. St Giles’ is a Church of Scotland congregation and worships according to the Presbyterian tradition.
We welcome people of all faiths and none to enjoy the peace of the building and participate in our services.

Come and worship, absolutely everyone is welcome in St Giles' Cathedral.

29/05/2026

We're delighted to present the Phoenix Duo, presenting an eclectic programme of music for cello and piano, blending classical repertoire with Scottish traditional music.

🗓️ Tuesday 2nd June, 8pm
🎟️ £15/£10, available on Eventbrite or on the door
📍 St Giles’ Cathedral, High St, Edinburgh

15/05/2026

Come and hear our magnificent Rieger Orgelbau organ, played by our Assistant Organist, Jordan English! A spectacular programme, including Franck, Alcock and Fela Sowande 🎵

🗓️ Saturday 16th May, 5:30pm
🎟️ £10/£6, available on Eventbrite or on the door
📍 St Giles’ Cathedral, High St, Edinburgh

06/05/2026

This week at St Giles' at Six Pianist Matteusz Rettner performs a programme of Schumann, Scriabin and Fauré.

The recital will take place at 6pm on Sunday the 10th of May, in St Giles' Cathedral.

Mateusz Rettner’s performance career as a soloist and chamber musician has taken him to some of the most prestigious venues in the UK as well as Poland, Germany and Spain, such as: Wigmore Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, the Royal Over-Seas League, Warsaw Philharmonic, Ambika P3, Lodz Philharmonic, Victoria and Albert Museum, Gdansk Philharmonic, Chopin Museum in Warsaw, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall in London and others. In 2016 he made his concerto debut with the Lodz Philharmonic.

Tickets are free, and are available on Eventbrite:
https://buff.ly/YpT3Lja

05/05/2026

Last week, St Giles' Cathedral hosted the Scottish Youth Hustings, in partnership with the John Smith Centre and the Scottish Youth Parliament.

The event reflected on the findings of this year’s John Smith Centre UK Youth Poll, and featured six young candidates who are standing at the Holyrood elections.

Thank you to the SYFF Team for the photos, and to Marisa Piccininni, Tim Pont, and Sam Flynn from The Panic Room Podcast who wrote up the event and will shortly be discussing it on their podcast.

04/05/2026

SOUNDS ON SATURDAY - 9th May, 3:30pm
This week's Sounds on Saturday recital will be given by Jack Oades, Organist and Master of the Music here at St Giles' Cathedral.

The programme includes De Grigny, Duruflé and a 50th anniversary performance of Leighton's Six Hymn Fantasies on our magnificent Rieger organ.

https://buff.ly/knhI2cz

We are grateful to the Scottish Federation of Organists for sponsoring this performance.

27/04/2026

St Giles' Cathedral is looking forward to hosting the Scottish Hustings for Young People, organised by The John Smith Centre and the Scottish Youth Parliament, on Tuesday 28th of April, at 6pm.

Six young candidates who are standing at the Holyrood elections will set out their views in front of an audience of 300 young people in the beautiful surroundings of St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Young people too often are ignored on the campaign trail – here’s a chance to talk about the issues that matter most to you and your friends. If you want to be part of this event, it’s FREE – just sign up here and be part of the election campaign.

Hosted by the John Smith Centre and the Scottish Youth Parliament

26/04/2026

How did Christianity become global? Join Paula Fredriksen for six fascinating lectures on its early rise.

The University of Edinburgh is to hosting Professor Paula Fredriksen for the 2026 Gifford Lectures Series. Tickets are available on Eventbrite:

https://buff.ly/GbOTchz

Please note that the Gifford Lectures are taking place in the University of Edinburgh Informatics Forum.

24/04/2026

Introducing A Moment for Reflection: a rolling exhibition in St Giles' Cathedral.
We are currently exhibiting 'Sacred to Love and Sorrow' by Lys Hansen.
Diptych with oar and small sculptures, 1998.

About Lys Hansen:

Lys Hansen was born in 1936, in Falkirk, Scotland. Lys is a figurative artist whose main interest lies in the human condition and the challenges of human relationships.

Recent painting projects and research have taken her to Berlin, to Bornholm in Denmark, to Ireland and to Northern France. Hansen’s major themes are interlinked. So, her expression of family is cognate with her works on Identity; her attention to heritage links to her theme of Denmark: her concerns with conflict encompass experience of the 20th/21st century seen through place. These in turn relate to the family relationships of the common man, and in her range of treatment of them, the artist drawn us to the ecstatic, to the mundane and to the desperate. She leads us always by either catharsis or our empathy to resolve the emotions we encounter.

Notes from the artist:

Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, and it is the island my grandfather came from. The painting is both my response to, and homage to, the island. On the left, two large fish can be seen, and within them, the images of a man and a woman, symbolising dependence upon the fish and gratitude for them, rather than power over them.

To the right is a group of figures: early settlers and ancestors. There are also images drawn from the medieval font in the church — the swaddled child, the clergy in red, and other imagined figures. A partial boat appears with standing stone, carved runes, and sheep. Tears abound for love and sorrow, and for the sacrament of life itself.

I used a very fluid technique with the oil paint, as though the spirits of these early settlers were rising from the sea.

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'Sacred to Love and Sorrow' will be exhibited in St Giles' Cathedral throughout April and May.

23/04/2026

This week at St Giles' at Six: Young Virtuosi – The Students of BingBing Li

We are excited to welcome students from the Royal Northern College of Music, who are going to perform a programme including Bach, Beethoven, Granados, and Lieberman.

The concert begins at 6pm on Sunday the 26th of April, in St Giles' Cathedral.

BingBing Li, is a leading Chinese pianist whose artistry has graced the world’s finest stages. She’s renowned as a soloist, chamber musician, and has left an indelible mark as a recording artist with China Records, Universal Music and Naxos.

Her performances are celebrated for their imaginative brilliance, earning acclaim like “Vigour and authority” from the London Times. A child prodigy, BingBing won numerous recitals and major wins. She entered Central Conservatory of Music Primary School at age 11, four years later, she received a full scholarship to the Purcell School in the UK.

Tickets are free, with reservations available on Eventbrite:
https://buff.ly/ZK5dja6