Map festival

National Library of Scotland Causewayside building on top of a world map showing geographical zones for different animals.

Ever wondered what secrets lie in a map? Or wanted to go behind the scenes of a major collection? Do you just love maps?

Join us for the Map Festival, a day dedicated to all things cartographic. Discover the amazing maps and aerial photographs held by:

Edinburgh City Archives
Historic Environment Scotland
National Collection of Aerial Photography
National Library of Scotland
National Records of Scotland
University of Edinburgh

This is a hands-on event for everyone. Get a temporary map tattoo, try map-based games and puzzles, or chill with cartographic crafts and colouring. There will be an opportunity to go behind the scenes to see our maps collection first-hand. Or get a selfie with our trig point (a replica of the concrete pillars you find on top of mountains that were used to improve the accuracy of mapping in Great Britain).

This is a free drop-in event.

Our programme of bookable talks about some of the amazing maps held by local libraries and archives will be announced shortly.