Light the blue touchpaper and wait for the fireworks to start… a riot of young talent is about to explode across the city in Aberdeen’s arts festival for young people by young people.
For eight days, the Granite City will be an epicentre of theatre, dance, film and music as Light The Blue – staged by Aberdeen Performing Arts – attracts top young talent both homegrown and from across Scotland.
It will be a showcase of the best the region and beyond has to offer, said the festival’s creative producer Jordan Blackwood, with youngsters aged from five to 25 taking part from Saturday June 10 to Sunday June 18.
“It is really exciting to be building on the success of last year’s festival and we have a much bigger festival this time, working with lots of different groups,” he said.
Light The Blue brings young talent from across Scotland to Aberdeen
“We have a programme of predominantly-led performances with participants from across Aberdeen, across the north-east and also across Scotland. So we have a group coming from Eden Court in Inverness this year and also a programme of professional performers from all across Scotland who will be entertaining family audiences.”
Light The Blue originally started to allow APA’s own youth groups to perform on stage in a smaller festival in 2018. It returned in 2019 but was halted for two years by the pandemic before returning last year and now has ramped up to take in groups from further afield.
Jordan said: “We did a call out to organisations that work with young people across Aberdeen and Scotland. A lot of the groups are youth theatres, youth music groups and some student groups – such as the North East College of Scotland, so it is a wide range.”
The result will be more than a week of performances, art installations, pop-up events, showcase arts events, music gigs, new theatre pieces and even opera.
“It’s about celebrating the creativity of young people aged five to 25, to give them a stage to celebrate their talents and to put their voice centre stage as much as possible,” said Jordan.
“But it is also to give them inspiration and opportunities for their trajectories across the arts industry as well.”
Festival will put young people centre stage for eight days in Aberdeen
Jordan said as well as boosting the young artists taking part, it was a chance for the public to engage with the wealth of young talent that exists in our region and across the country.
“We have many events that are free and outdoors. Within our own venues (including the Music Hall and Lemon Tree) we have events where people don’t have to book, they can literally just pop in and experience these things.”
Some of the highlights of Light The Blue include a pop-up on Saturday June 10 when performers will take the Bon Accord Centre’s roof terrace for an afternoon of activity including performances from Unicorn Dance Party, The Dab Hands, and groups such as Citymoves Dance.
On Tuesday June 13, a new art installation, The Word Through My Eyes will be launched at the Music Hall. It will offer a piece created by pupils from Orchard Brae School and visual artist Jenny Hood, along with live performances by pupils created with drama artist Saffron Gillies. The installation will be open through Light The Blue.
On Saturday June 17, young people will take over the Music Hall for an afternoon of pop-up performances, dance, music, film, gaming and more, all aimed at teenage audiences.
Big Gig with cream of musical talent will offer festival finale at Music Hall
The festival will culminate in The Big Gig at the Music Hall on Saturday June 17. This will showcase the breadth of musical talent from youth across Aberdeen and the north-east, including Big Noise Torry, the Aberdeen City Music Service, Aberdeen Youth Jazz Group, SC&T Youth, and the Orchard Brae Makaton Choir.
Jordan hopes the festival will give young artists the chance to connect with other young people from across the country working in different artforms and learn from them.
“But it is also about them stepping out of their comfort zone, celebrating the work they have been working on and developing throughout the year and getting their voices centre stage,” he said.
Jordan also hopes audiences will enjoy everything which Light The Blue has to offer.
How to find out more about Aberdeen’s Light The Blue festival
“I hope younger audiences might be inspired by what they see and maybe want to take part themselves. I hope older audiences will see that young people have a voice and have a lot to say and also really enjoy the performances and the talent they see.”
For more information on Light The Blue visit aberdeenperformingarts.com/light-the-blue/ or call Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122.
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