Stunning artwork, immersive sound experiences and live music are to pop up on the streets of Aberdeen this weekend as Wonderland festival takes over the city.
What is Wonderland?
Wonderland is a brand new four-day curated festival that aims to illuminate and celebrate the Granite City, with free performances and events taking place across the city centre.
A total of 22 new performances, installations, displays and workshops have been created exclusively for the festival, taking inspiration from Aberdeen’s own unique environment including ships, seagulls, nature and history.
The festival is organised by Aberdeen Performing Arts on behalf of Culture Aberdeen which has been awarded funding from the UK Government Community Renewal Fund and Aberdeen City Council.
When and where does the festival take place?
The festival officially kicked off on Thursday September 9 and will conclude on Sunday September 11. All events will take place in the heart of Aberdeen in locations such as Broad Street, Union Street, outside Provost Skene House, St Nicholas Kirk and Garden Roof Park at the Bon Accord Centre. There will also be art installations dotted around the city centre.
What is Wonder Hoose and where can I find it?
Wonderland’s new venue Wonder Hoose is a unique pop-up marquee in the quad of Marischal College which will host a range of events – including music and comedy – until the end of the True North music festival on September 25.
Bright and beautiful, Wonder Hoose was designed by north-east creative Laura Bremner and is embellished with colourful ribbons, patterns and tree-lined walkways and festival flags.
Click here for all events taking place in Wonder Hoose.
Which Wonderland events can I go to in Aberdeen?
- Nice Day, Isn’t It?: Thursday – Sunday, 11am – 8pm @ 85 Union Street
This event celebrates the language of weather and includes an Urban Grow Dome, where visitors can listen to new songs composed by singer-songwriter Rebecca Dunn while surrounded by plants grown by community groups across Aberdeen. - Terra Incognita (as above, so below), all day Thursday – Sunday @ circular route from St Andrews Street through the city centre
A series of new installations and exhibitions led by local visual arts agency Look Again and curators from the Miasma Collective and more.
- Still: Thursday – Sunday, 11am – 8pm @ outside Provost Skene House at Marischal Square
Lockdown and its impact on the natural environment was the inspiration for Still, an urban sensory garden created by artist Emma Fuhrmann in collaboration with Andrew Meechan. - The Sensational Silver City: Friday – Sunday, 11am – 8pm (choir performance Saturday 10 September, 4pm) @ 87/89 Union Street
Magician and escapologist Harry Houdini, who in 1909 dived into Aberdeen Harbour while handcuffed and chained, is the inspiration behind this film and sound installation created by Graeme Roger.
- Bayswater & 3rd: Friday – Sunday, 11am – 8pm @ 44 St Andrews Street
An immersive and multi-sensory artwork by Scottish-Canadian artist Katya Anderson which explores how we experience our environments and how we can connect to nature in city spaces. - Concrete Botany, Friday – Sunday, all day @ His Majesty’s Theatre, side window on the glass annex
A temporary mural encouraging appreciation of Aberdeen’s urban flora.
- Right Up Your Street, Friday – Sunday, 11am-5pm (performance times 1.15pm, 2.15pm, and 3.15pm) @ Bon Accord Centre, School Hill entrance
Featuring an enchanted jukebox, audiences will create a soundtrack of popular music from the last one hundred years.
- witchtrialversion2, Saturday, 6pm @ St Nicholas Kirk
The second instalment in a series of sound performances forming an allegory for the witch burnings as a social mechanism. - Concrete Botany Workshop, Saturday, 11am – 1pm@ Peacock Visual Arts – sold out
Learn how to make cyanotypes (photo-prints exposed by sunlight) in this workshop with artist Parel Joy.
- Aberdeen SoundPark, Saturday – Sunday, 3pm and 8pm @ starts at Garden Roof Park at the Bon Accord Centre
Visitors can experience an immersive sonic experience incorporating music alongside familiar sounds of the city – church bells, ship horns and seagulls.
- Holding The Forest Floor, Saturday – Sunday, times vary @ Duthie Park
An outdoors, site-specific and improvised performance aiming to connect us to our senses and the natural world.
More on Wonderland and Wonder Hoose in Aberdeen:
- VIDEO: Welcome to the Wonder Hoose – Aberdeen’s opulent pop-up ‘palace of variety’
- Step through the looking glass as Aberdeen becomes Wonderland this weekend
- ‘Thrilling’ new festivals and venue will bring sense of wonder to Aberdeen
- Full line-up revealed for Aberdeen’s breathtaking new Wonderland festival
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