Family Arts Day (Light the Blue 2026)
- Union Terrace Gardens
Overview
Family Arts Day (Light the Blue 2026)
An exciting day of pop-up and interactive performances, arts activities, live music, sports, food, backstage tours and inspirational experiences for all the family.
Taking place across Union Terrace Gardens and His Majesty’s Theatre, Family Arts Day invites those aged 0 – 12 and their families to spend the day with us.
Watch over 200 young and professional performers; enjoy a family-friendly backstage tour of the iconic His Majesty’s Theatre; create your own arts and crafts; participate in drop-in sports activities; and soak up the atmosphere.
Entry is free and you don’t need to book a ticket – come along from 12pm – 5pm for an unforgettable, fun and creative day on us!
Family Arts Day will culminate with over 100 dancers from Citymoves Dance Agency performing across Union Terrace Gardens before Aberdeenshire Instrumental Music Service’s Firesnake band play a rocking gig to close the event!
They’ll be joined by young performers from across the region, with the full schedule and line-up available below.
Please note: Family Arts Day will take place across indoor and outdoor locations, with Union Terrace Gardens being the hub of the event. In the event of bad weather, we will move outdoor activity to indoor venues and communicate this across our channels.
Important information
Suitable for ages 0-12 years and their families.
Location: Union Terrace Gardens & HMT.
Duration
5 hours approx
Price
Free, unticketed.
Programme Schedule
Professional Acts
Windbags
Ronan McMahon & Fergus Dunnet
Windbags is a walkabout musical band of idiots. At multiple points of high emotion, their elaborate costumes inflate and they transform into large, awkward and beautiful shapes. These airheads include… the boss who shouts orders, the assistant who does everything, and a third member of the band who is very easily distracted. Windbags is daft, bright and eye-catching and has multiple offers of engagement up close and at distance. Can you help them find each other before their performance begins? They need all the help they can get.
Windbags was created with funding and mentoring support from Manipulate & Vanishing Point, Imaginate & OneRen, and the Merchant City Festival Residency 2026.
Walkabout: 11:50, 13:05 & 14:30, across the Gardens
King of the Birds
Niamh O’Loughlin
King of the Birds is a playful, movement duet for young audiences, inspired by folk tales, flight and cleverness. Inspired by the fable of the Wren and the Eagle, this is the story of who can fly the highest. Told through dance, imagination and gentle interaction, the piece invites audiences into an ancient world of adventure.
Funded by Creative Scotland.
Performance: 12:15, 14:20 & 15:30, Gardens grass
Tufts!
Kerry Cleland, Ella Mackay, Ben Winger and Katy Wilson
Tufts! is a comedy, walkabout piece of theatre, with two dog owners who look and behave exactly like their prized pooches. Festival goers will meet these owners and their dogs on their daily walks, see them in all their glory at the grooming parlour and of course at the finale of the prestigious Tufts Dog Show, where things do not quite go to plan…
Imaginate & Aberdeen Performing Arts Co-commission.
Walkabout: 12:25 & 15:50, across the Gardens
Performance: 12:55 & 16:20, Gardens grass
Europe, Meine Liebe, Mon Amour
Bruno Gallagher
Bruno Gallagher brings his evocative and ambitious new visual theatre work, Europe, Meine Liebe, Mon Amour inspired by memories and dreams of travels across Europe to Family Arts Day. Bruno invites the audience to come along on a journey of imagination, a celebration of the power of creativity and animated forms. Unfolding through four pop up playful, surreal vignettes combining physical performance, object manipulation, mask work, costume, and dance.
Funded by Creative Scotland. Produced by Feral.
Performance: 12:30, 13:35, 14:40 & 15:55, Gardens stage
Then What?
Vince Virr Dance Company
Then What explores the moment two people different to each other meet for the very first time, will you be friends, enemies or superheroes? The duet brings the collision of two different peoples worlds together in daring lifts and thrilling choreography with the audience up close and surrounding them.
Co-commissioned by Imaginate (Edinburgh International Children’s Festival) and Merchant City Festival, supported by City Moves Dance Agency, and National Theatre of Scotland.
This tour is funded by Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance. Produced by Feral.
Performance: 13:10 & 15:15, Gardens stage
Wig Waltz!
Dan Brown & Minnie Crook.
Wig Waltz is a pop-up dance performance featuring two high-society regency-esque aristocrats preparing for an exquisite ball. As the performance unfolds, their appearances begin to shift. Costumes unravel, identities dismantle and the perfect façade begins to fall away. Challenging expectations around gender, class and identity, Wig Waltz invites audiences to reflect on the societal roles we’re told to play and celebrates the beauty of embracing who we truly are with humour, movement and lots of wig drama!
Originally commissioned by Imaginate.
And More!
Young Performers
We’re excited to welcome talented groups of young performers from across the region to perform in Union Terrace Gardens throughout the afternoon:
Skene Square Glee Club 12:05
Gilcomstoun School Gaelic Choir 13:25
Hip-Hop School’s PRIME 14:00
Hip-Hop School Juniors 14:35
Quarryhill Glee Club 15:05
Citymoves Dance Agency’s Strive 16:35
Firesnake (Aberdeenshire Instrumental Music Service) 16:40 (see The Grand Finale below!)
Once Upon The StorySphere
Aberdeen Arts Centre 8-11s
Head into the future with our gang of friends, as they show us around their favourite hangout spot – The StorySphere Library. Featuring helpful bots, speedy snails on bikes and an ever-grumpy head librarian, the gang will need to work together to find their way out of some sticky situations – all while helping Iris to keep her beloved library from the evil Professor Vex.
13:45, meet at His Majesty’s Theatre foyer
Play Space by Ray Downie
Ray Downie’s interactive exhibition running throughout the festival at the Music Hall is on the move to Union Terrace Gardens for Family Arts Day.
Featuring rhythmic sculptures activated by movement and play, the installation invites you to spin, bounce, drum and swing on the artworks. The sculptures respond to your energy – this exhibition is powered entirely by play.
Running all afternoon in the Gardens
Parkour Drop In Sessions
Access Parkour
Access Parkour will run drop in sessions throughout the day for all ages from 5 and up. Parkour is a movement discipline that uses the body to move through urban environments. Parkour consists of movements including running, jumping, climbing and swinging!
Limited capacity – arrive early to avoid disappointment.
12:30, 13:30, 14:30 & 15:30 in the Gardens
Art Station: Build a Beastie @ the Creation Station
With artist Jenny Hood
Drop in and get creative at our mini puppet-making session! Children can design and build their own small, collaged puppets, inspired by real or imaginary creatures. From curious critters to magical beasts – dream it, design it, and take your puppet friend home with you!
Running all afternoon in the Gardens
Art Station: Become the Artwork
With Mobile Art School (Gray’s School of Art)
Get ready to move, make and become the art in this playful workshop. Pop on one of our colourful boilersuits which will become your canvas and explore shape, colour, and movement by sticking, layering, and building bold forms onto your suit. This hands-on, active session is all about imagination and expression.
Running all afternoon in the Gardens
Backstage Tours
Back by popular demand, we’re offering free bite-sized tours for wee ones and their families. Take a step on His Majesty’s Theatre stage and find out some fun facts about our 116-year old Edwardian theatre.
Limited capacity – join the queue early to avoid disappointment.
13:30, 14:30 & 15:30, meet at His Majesty’s Theatre foyer
Food
Running all afternoon in Union Terrace Gardens, we’ll be joined by Project Pizza, Giddy Cup (donuts and coffee) and a pop-up from our very own The Terrace (ice cream and snacks). Or visit The Terrace at His Majesty’s Theatre for a fuller menu and a sit down.
UTG Sound Walk
sound’s Get Creative Orchestra
Experience the sounds of Union Terrace Gardens through the ears of sound’s Get Creative Orchestra! Following a soundwalk around the gardens, the orchestra have written and recorded their own pieces based on what they saw, heard and felt.
Running all afternoon. Visit the sound walk station in the Gardens to borrow a headset or scan the QR code to listen on your own device.
Quiet Space
Available for anyone who needs a quiet moment away from the Gardens, we have a dedicated quiet space in His Majesty’s Theatre open throughout the afternoon. Head to HMT box office and a member of staff will direct you to the space.
The Grand Finale!
Firesnake
Aberdeenshire Instrumental Music Service
Firesnake can’t wait to return to the Light the Blue festival! They are a group of 11 students from Mackie Academy all now in S1 that began learning their instruments in P6. In that short time, they have already performed 14 gigs in and around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, including taking centre stage at last years’ Light the Blue ‘Big Gig’ at The Music Hall. Since then, the band have committed more time to rehearsing and have a rocking setlist ready to fill Union Terrace Gardens! The band love rocking out and already have their own merchandise!
Light the Blue 2026
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Light The Blue 2026
Light the Blue is our multi-artform festival for and by young people returning on 2 – 14 June 2026 with a programme of theatre, music, dance, visual arts and more taking place across Aberdeen city.
With over 24 events across 13 days, this year’s festival asks our artists and audiences What’s your story?
Whether it’s ‘our story so far’ or ‘our hopes and dreams for the future’ – our stories and imaginations can shape who we are, who we want to become and even the world around us.
Join us for Light the Blue 2026, where over 1,000 young and professional artists, school pupils and early career creatives from across Scotland will come together to celebrate new and emerging talent, creating opportunities and connection.
