Aberdeen’s True North breaks box office records as thousands flock to gigs

By Scott Begbie

September 27 2022, 2:38 pm

Emeli Sande was one of the stand-out artists at True North. All pictures by Wullie Marr/ DC Thomson.

Aberdeen’s True North music festival broke box office records during its weekend run, with more than 4,000 people flocking to events.

The success has been hailed by Aberdeen Performing Arts, who said it was the biggest-selling outing for the event, now in its eighth year.

It saw more than 80 artists and musicians – including Travis, Emeli Sande and Mica Parish – perform at five venues across the city centre.

Mica Paris in full voice during the tribute to Aretha Franklin at the Music Hall as part of True North. Picture by Wullie Marr / DC Thomson

Ben Torrie, APA’s director of programming and creative projects, said: “True North has been exceptional this year, it’s been an amazing few days and brilliant to see so many people out enjoying great music across the city with attendance of over 4,000 across the weekend.

Theatre bosses thank everyone who helped make True North a success

“Thank you to everyone who came along to celebrate with us and enjoy the festival, and helped to make it a huge success.”

Travis playing at Aberdeen’s Music Hall as part of True North. Picture by Wullie Marr / DC Thomson

Other highlights of the four-day festival – which ran from Thursday to Sunday – included Nitin Sawhney, Los Bitchos, Django Django, African Groove Machine, and Retro Video Club as well as a packed Fringe programme.

Ben said: “Everything was superb across the whole weekend, but I have to pick out the Mica Paris celebration of Aretha Franklin at the Music Hall which was one of the best things I’ve ever seen on stage – truly world-class, and something that Aberdeen should be hugely proud of.”

True North also used pop-up venue the Wonder Hoose, in Marischal College quad, as a hub, with performances by the likes of Emma Pollock and AiiTee.

The temporary venue – launched on September 8 at the start of the Wonderland Festival – has proved a success, said Ben, with APA offering a full programme of events during the month.

The Wonder Hoose at Marischal College was a hub for True North. Photo by Paul Glendell

Wonder Hoose brightened up Aberdeen city centre

He added: “It’s been a joy to bring the colourful, vibrant fun of Wonder Hoose to Aberdeen, we set out to bring something for everyone to enjoy and it truly has been a palace of variety that seemed to be loved by everyone who set foot in it.”