Everything you need to know about Edinburgh's JK Rowling Pub

Eagle eyed Edinburgh residents recently noticed a change in one of the city's most famous watering holes
The Conan Doyle pub on Broughton Street/Picardy Place has been renamed the JK Rowling.
Picture: Alan JenkinsThe Conan Doyle pub on Broughton Street/Picardy Place has been renamed the JK Rowling.
Picture: Alan Jenkins
The Conan Doyle pub on Broughton Street/Picardy Place has been renamed the JK Rowling. Picture: Alan Jenkins

The Conan Doyle is, for now, known as The J.K Rowling in a move that has angered and baffled some locals.

But fans of the Sherlock author’s namesake bar can relax as this change is only temporary courtesy of a new and exciting immersive visual art event taking place across the Capital this month.

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The visual art event is titled Message from the Skies and is a collaboration between crime writer Val McDermid, theatre director Philip Howard and Double Take projections.

Message from the Skies is designed to showcase the streets and buildings that have inspired some of the Capital’s finest authors from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson to JK Rowling and Muriel Spark.

The event runs from the 1 January until 25 January and offers residents and visitors to Edinburgh the chance to explore the city as they read, moving from location to location to find out the next part of the story.

Each landmark or building has its own chapter meaning that the entire story can be enjoyed in a day or over a period of time.

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The accompanying app, which can be downloaded for Apple and Android, will translate the story into seven languages (French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Simplified Chinese and Spanish) and an audio description will be available for visually impaired visitors.

Message from the Skies is a free, walking event that starts in The Signet Library, Parliament Square, so make sure to dress for the ever-changing Scottish weather.

For those looking for another Harry Potter themed bar then don’t despair as there’s one on the way

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