Light the Blue
Multi-artform Festival For and By Young People
Light the Blue is a festival where young creatives are put in the driving seat, curating a line-up that represents an authentic snapshot of young and emerging talent while creating connections and fun opportunities in indoor and outdoor venues to drive forward and ignite the creativity that Aberdeen and the surrounding area has to offer.
This festival offers something for everyone – whether you’re a young person, a family or interested in seeing work in the early stages of development, we are here to give the next generation the tools to be creative, have conversations and make connections.
Another Triumphant Year
Light the Blue 2025 came to a triumphant close on 15 June after an electrifying 15 days of theatre, art, music, dance, workshops and performances across the city.
This year’s festival invited artists and audiences to Step Into The Unknown – where 9,100 attendees were able to experience stories being told in new and exciting ways across 25 events on our stages as well as unusual indoor and outdoor locations. It truly took over the city of Aberdeen with the festival taking place not just in our own venues but in places such as Aberdeen Art Gallery, The Anatomy Rooms, Bon Accord Centre, Marischal College, Union Terrace Gardens and many more.
This year’s programme was split into four key strands, with performances and events by young artists; for young audiences; created in schools; and by emerging creatives.
The festival was proudly kicked off with our Emerge event, giving artists from the ages of 18 – 30 to perform and network with like-minded peers in the North-east. We also brought back Family Arts Day which has quickly become a festival favourite and rightly so! It’s fun for the whole family with many free and low-cost activities to keep everyone entertained from the start all the way through to the finale parade featuring family band Sprog Rock. And we truly put the word Takeover to the test by spilling the annual event out of the Music Hall and into the city beyond. Teenagers took over the granite grounds and did a Takeover Trial where they danced, performed and even took over the radio waves before they descended back onto the Music Hall for a final hurrah. But no final hurrah could ever be as big as The Big Gig. This grand finale is always a spectacular collaborative performance, bringing together the talented young people from all participating organisations for a truly magnificent finale.
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Young Artists
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Young Audiences
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Schools
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Emerging Artists
For and By Young People
It wouldn’t be Light the Blue without our young participants, and this year we had a whopping 1,146 who joined in and had a hand in shaping the festival to be exactly what they wanted to see. To nurture the next generation of artists we thought it best to hand them the reigns early, giving young ones the ability to perform, produce, market and even devise their own work to be shown off at Light the Blue.
And you know what, I can’t think of a better way to sum up the festivities better than our very own young Marketing Assistant Calum Muldoon, who created a Light the Blue Bulletin that covers the events!
Light the Blue in Numbers
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9,103
Attendees
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1,146
Young Participants
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25
School Engagements
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96
Professional Artists
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42
Facilitators and Delivery Artists
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19
Partner Companies
The Festival Takes Over
Family Arts Day
Family Arts Day came back after a successful first year and we had to make it bigger and better! Once again taking place between His Majesty’s Theatre and Union Terrace Gardens as well as Aberdeen Art Gallery, there was a range of low-cost and free activities and performances taking place throughout the day, including backstage tours at His Majesty’s Theatre, workshops for the crafty and outdoor arenas for the sporty to show off their mighty prowess.
Family favourite band Sprog Rock closed the event, accompanied by an unforgettable procession of young people parading through the gardens with costumes, banners, puppets, masks and crafts. It was truly a fun filled day for all ages.
Class Act
Young people from The Gordon Schools, Inverurie Academy and Hazlehead Academy got the opportunity to work with a team of professional artists to write their own scripts and see their work brought to life by a team of professional theatre-makers, directors, actors and musicians live on the Lemon Tree Studio stage.
Class Act is the Traverse’s flagship creative engagement project which provides creative support and a safe space for participants to express themselves freely, imagine without inhibition and become writers and storytellers in their own right. The results address what they feel passionate about, and each script crackles with unparalleled energy.
Traverse Theatre in partnership with Aberdeen Performing Arts
Class Act is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Hugh Fraser Foundation, the Cruden Foundation, the David Summer Trust, The Elaine & Joe Gerber Charitable Trust and Vattenfall Clashindarroch Wind Farm Community Fund, administered by Foundation Scotland.
See more at the video below.
Playground Performance
This year we brought participatory performance project – Playground – to Gilcomstoun Primary School. Where they wowed the crowd with their performance inspired by the festival theme Into The Unknown which was put together in just over a week.
Every pupil in the school engaged with a team of artists in residence to create a bespoke promenade playground performance. Playground allows us to take the festival out of our venues and into the community, inspiring a whole generation of young people to be creative, build confidence, express themselves and ultimately share in a memorable experience. It’s all about celebrating the diversity of the school community, developing new skills, sharing stories and putting a creative stamp on playground spaces.
Takeover
Teens took over Aberdeen City Centre for Light the Blue Takeover day 2025! Curated in collaboration with our Young Programmers group, the trail began at the Anatomy Rooms and ended at the Music Hall with pop-up performances from local youth groups throughout. There was a range of dance, theatre and music performances that Stepped Into The Unknown, presented in unusual spaces from bandstands to shopping centres. And the best part? It was all FREE!
Takeover is only possible with the help and active role our Young Programmers play who co-design and help to deliver the event.
See more at the video below.
Snappy Operas
Snappy Operas is a Mahogany Opera programme presented by Aberdeen Performing Arts in partnership with Mahogany Opera.
Snappy Operas returns after its first Aberdeen outing as part of Light the Blue 2023. It was an evening of fun, colourful and bite-sized contemporary operas performed by primary school pupils from across Aberdeen accompanied by a live band right here on our Music Hall stage.
This year’s Snappy Operas Aberdeen company featured pupils from Skene Square, Muirfield and Cornhill Primary Schools.
Exhibitions
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Beats & Rhymes – An Exhibition
An exhibition sonically and visually showcasing the work created by Beats & Rhymes participants over the past year, carefully curated by the young people themselves.
Beats & Rhymes is Aberdeen Performing Arts’ music making group for young people in S1-4. Participants are lead through the basics of lyric writing, rapping, sampling, and remixing, scratching, singing and sound engineering.
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Standing Tall Murals
Standing Tall Scotland, and Guardianship Scotland unveiled a vibrant new mural co-created by visual artist Ursula Kam-Ling Cheng and a group of young people from displaced backgrounds living in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. Cheng has captured the creativity, curiosity and innovation of the young people in this large-scale mural, and it provides a rare opportunity to see the potential of a group of young artists who are underrepresented in the Scottish arts scene.
This is a celebration of all the young people supported by Standing Tall Scotland and Guardianship Scotland.
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Artroom x sound Exhibition
Grampian Hospitals Art Trust (GHAT) collaborated with Light the Blue Festival and young musicians from sound’s Get Creative Orchestra for this exhibition.
Artroom artists Anna Weir and Laura Mullen deliver Artroom two days per week at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH). The sessions empower young people through creativity, improve wellbeing and make a positive change to hospital visits that can often be challenging.
Anna and Laura curated a selection of artwork from the artists at RACH that the musicians responded to and composed new pieces inspired by art. They were recorded and accompanied the exhibition at Light the Blue.
Photo Gallery
Credits
Special Thanks
Our festivals simply wouldn’t be possible without the passion, creativity and dedication of our incredible freelance staff and the team at Aberdeen Performing Arts. From early planning to the final curtain call, everyone brings energy, expertise, and heart to everything they do. Their hard work behind the scenes ensures Light the Blue is a vibrant, welcoming, and memorable experience for artists and audiences alike.
We are particularly grateful to the brilliant freelancers who support our festivals — from producers to technicians to young creatives. Their expertise, flexibility and commitment play a vital role in bringing our event to life is felt in every smooth-running show and memorable moment.
Thank you team, we couldn’t do this without you!
Freelance team
Jordan Blackwood – Creative Producer
Annabel Lunney – Assistant Producer
Kevin Yule – Production Coordinator
Hannelore Van Ommen – Producing Assistant
Calum Muldoon – Marketing Assistant
Creative teams
Gilcomstoun School Young Creatives
Skene Square School Young Creatives
Takeover Young Programmers
Youth Theatre and Beats & Rhymes teams: Sam Allan, Michelle Bruce, Nick Cronin, Seumas Dale, Hannah Davidson, Megan Fraser, Jack Hughes, Sarah Ord, Peter Roach, Oliver Tate
Standing Tall Scotland: Ursula Cheng
Schools Teams
Snappy Operas delivery team: Gordon Cooper, Laura Curran, Eleanor Felton, Rosie Mackley, Sarah Ord, Mark Spalding, George Stokes
Class Act: Leah Christie, Stewart Aitken, Jordan Blackwood, Annabel Lunney
Playground Team: Kerry Alexander, Laura Booth, Ray Downie, Jenny Hood, Eve Martin, Amy Ord, Sarah Ord, Alisdair Sneden and the pupils of Gilcomstoun School
Partners
Association for Sound Design and Production, Imaginate, Mahogany Opera, North East Scotland College, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Traverse Theatre
Aberdeen Performing Arts teams
Creative Engagement I Marketing | Programming | Technical | Operations | Box Office | Front of House | Hospitality | Development | Finance
Support Us
If you have a little extra and would like to support the work we do here at Aberdeen Performing Arts, then consider donating to us directly.
Your donation can help develop local talent, provide opportunities to those who don’t have the chance to join in or assist in producing unique performances.
