Looking for events to add to your diary? Here are eight great ones to check out.
- ABERDEEN PASSION
On Easter weekend, the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) will be transformed into occupied Jerusalem for the third staging of the Aberdeen Passion.
More than 100 amateur actors and musicians from across the north-east will gather to act out the Easter story, and Jesus’s life, trial, death and resurrection.
The Aberdeen Passion: A Light Undimmed will be performed at the AECC on Saturday, March 26, at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 and can be bought from www.smallwoodenplatform.com or the CLC Bookshop on John Street. Tickets will also be available on the door at each performance. For more information about the Aberdeen Passion, visit www.aberdeenpassion.com.
2. SIMON YATES
There can’t be many in the mountaineering community who haven’t heard about Simon Yates. In his one-man show, My Mountain Life, he talks about his tireless journey from a mountain in Peru to some of the remotest locations on the planet, and shares the highs and lows of his experiences.
His talk takes place in the Empire Theatre, Eden Court, tonight Thursday, March 17 at 8pm. For tickets contact the box office on 01463 234234.
3. ABERDEEN JAZZ FESTIVAL
This year’s Aberdeen Jazz Festival reflects the diversity and range of the genre: Ken Mathieson and Alison Affleck play music from the Jazz Age; Riot Jazz Brass Band reproduce the classic New Orleans brass band sound; Soweto Kinch fuses bebop with hip-hop; Colin Steele mixes jazz trumpet with Scottish folk, while American blues maestro Otis Taylor delivers an electric version of Delta blues.
Aberdeen Jazz Festival runs until Sunday, March 20. For more information, check out the programme at www.aberdeenjazzfestival.com.
4. HADDO CHILDREN’S THEATRE
The life of Henry VIII gets the rock’n’roll treatment in this year’s show from Haddo Children’s Theatre.
Henry the Tudor Dude, by Kjartan Poskitt, is a musical extravaganza and tells the story of one of England’s most outrageous monarchs.
Battles with France, the English Reformation of the Church, umpteen executions and the tale of the six wives all feature in this fantastic and fun production – as well as some catchy tunes.
You can catch the show at Haddo House Hall tonight, March 17, and tomorrow, March 18, from 7pm and also on Saturday, March 19 and Sunday, March 20 from 2.30pm.
Tickets are priced £7.50 for adults and £5 for children and concessions. They are available from a range of places including Haddo NTS shop, Watsons of Inverurie and members of the cast.
5. MUSEUM LATE
Head to the Aberdeen University Zoology Museum in Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, tomorrow March 18between 6pm and 9.30pm for a night of scientific inquiry.
The Museum Late: Ice and Fire event features a host of different activities, including live music and science demonstrations as well as a chance to explore the museum.
There will also be the chance to get your face painted by artist Ulianka and get up close with some animals with Cool Creatures. Also not to be mussed is the Volcanoes vs Glaciers science show-off and some special activities with the Aberdeen Biodiversity Centre.
The event is open to over-18s only and doors open at 6pm. There will be an outdoor barbecue serving food, and activities start at 7pm.
Tickets are priced £6 or £4 for concession and are available from www.abdn.ac.uk/museums/events/8641/ where you will also find more information. There will also be tickets available at the door on the night.
6. BACK FOR GOOD
Fancy listening to some good music and raising money for a good cause while you are at it? Then make sure you have a ticket for the Back For Good fundraiser at the Ironworks venue in Inverness.
It’s a chance to enjoy the music of some of the Highland capital’s bands who are reforming for one night only, as well as raising money for Macmillan Highlands and The Cancer General Fund for Raigmore Hospital.
The event was created by the late Michelle Campbell, who was undergoing treatment for a rare form of advanced ovarian cancer and died in December last year.
Dougie Brown, spokesman for the venue, said they wanted to put on an event “that she would have been proud of”.
The fundraising gig takes place tomorrow night from 7.30pm and has a fantastic line-up including Jetstar, The Lush Rollers, The Mystic Shoes and Netsounds DJs plus some special guests not yet announced. Tickets cost £8 and are available from www.ironworksvenue.com
7. LULU
Long before Susan Boyle, Annie Lennox and Emeli Sandé were making a name for themselves, one wee Scottish girl was setting the world ablaze with her incredible voice. Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was soon to be known as Lulu, a teenager with a voice so impressive that, aged just 15, she had a huge hit with Shout.
The incredible Lulu, a Grammy-nominated singer who seems to defy age, still has plenty to shout about and is on tour currently with a show that takes in Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, tomorrow, Friday, March 18 and HM Theatre, Aberdeen, on Monday, March 21.
At the Inverness and Aberdeen shows, she’ll perform hits from her 50-year career, such as To Sir With Love, The Man Who Sold the World, Relight My Fire, and, of course, Shout. As well as performing songs from some of her musical heroes, such as soul legends Ray Charles and Otis Redding, she will also be taking us on a musical journey recalling personal anecdotes, songwriting experiences, and other entertaining stories.
For tickets for the Inverness show call 01463 234234 and for Aberdeen 01224 641122.
8. CON ANIMA CHAMBER CHOIR
At St Machar’s Cathedral on Saturday,March 19 at 8pm, Aberdeen’s Con Anima Chamber Choir will perform Brahms’s Ein deutschescorr Requiem.
Conducted by John Frederick Hudson, the concert will feature soloists Judith Howarth and Andrew McTaggart, and the Con Anima Chamber Orchestra, led by Guera Maunder.
Tickets are priced £12, with concessions at £10 and student tickets, £5. Tickets are available from Aberdeen Box Office, or at the venue before the concert.
