AS 2016 draws to a close, we look back on another eventful year at the Eastgate Theatre in Peebles, which has held many events from blockbuster films to live performances.

Installed towards the end of 2015, the Eastgate’s new 6m wide state of the art cinema screen was soon proving its worth as the year kicked off with a series of blockbuster's including The Lady in the Van and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Next, the annual Peebles Outdoor Film Festival filled the screen with images of extraordinary athletes and adventurers in some of the world’s most extreme places.

Many of them then stepped onto the stage in person, including Mark Beaumont who talked about cycling the world and setting a world record travelling from Cairo to Cape Town and endure cyclist Katy Winton even brought her bike (it is huge!).

Live performances have showcased the work by local groups that are regular partners with the Eastgate.

These included Tweed Theatre, Tweedgreen, the Tweeddale Society and Music in Peebles which launched its season with a sell-out performance by Pascal Roge on piano.

As Spring began to blossom, all eyes focused on the cinema screen again as Giselle, the most romantic of all ballets, launched the Royal Opera House season.

Live music then took centre stage in the theatre as a performance by American bluegrass outfit The Railsplitters was quickly followed by a tribute to sixties pop, the majestic fiddle of John McCusker and the stunning piano of Joanna MacGregor all in the same week.

In May, the Eastgate hit the road and headed north as the theatre partnered with world famous Rosie Kay Dance Company to bring the wonderful five soldiers to the south east of Scotland. 

More local travels saw the weekly Grand Hands outreach project taking creative workshops out to sheltered housing complexes around town. 

By Summer, the theatre was reaching for the moon presenting Kai Fischer’s powerful and ambitious play Last Dream (On Earth).

A series of annual festivals saw people of all ages doing all sorts of creative and artistic things. From talks and workshops, to exhibitions and films during Creative Peebles Festival in September.

Imaginarium kept young people busy with everything from puppet workshops to Capoeira dancing over the October holidays.

The third read-a-licious book festival saw more than 1,200 school pupils joining in workshops with some of the country’s finest authors and illustrators and the Rapt in Winter Art Trail saw twenty different artists exhibit their work in galleries and studios all across Tweeddale.

In December, Robin Hood burst on stage on a tandem and set the tone for a whole sequence of near sell-out (averaging 92%) shows taking in The Nutcrakcer from the Royal Ballet, The Rhythm is Gonna Get You senior dance show, Carols by Candlelight performed by the Band of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and Amerrycana Christmas by Downright Homespun Radio Company.