A celebration of Aberdeen’s “public service champions” during the pandemic could be held in the city once the coronavirus has been contained.
Councillors will be asked next week to set the wheels in motion and begin exploring options for an event recognising the efforts of key workers during the health crisis.
On Tuesday, they could decide to set up a steering group to look into the possibilities, with its members including the Lord Provost, president of Aberdeen Trade Union Council and representatives from the Seven Incorporated Trades.
It is proposed The Burgesses of Guild of the City and Royal Burgh of Aberdeen – representing around 1,100 people who have been praised for their involvement in civic life – are also involved in the preparations.
If the group is established, it will be tasked with developing a “suitable and costed” event that would show the council’s “unequivocal gratitude” for key workers.
The proposal has been lodged in the names of local authority co-leaders Jenny Laing and Douglas Lumsden, and culture spokeswoman Marie Boulton.
It will go before the council’s urgent business committee on Tuesday.
The motion asks the committee to agree that: “Aberdeen City Council recognises all involved in protecting the public during the coronavirus pandemic as public service champions.”
It makes reference to NHS and emergency services staff, cleaners, caterers, carers, teachers, council staff and others who have delivered “vital public and support services” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 1964, an extravagant two-week celebration of live music, sporting showcases and parades was held to mark the end of the city’s deadly typhoid outbreak.
Aberdeen’s 1964 typhoid outbreak: The festival that was designed to change the city’s fortunes
The Bon-Accord Fortnight, later known as the Aberdeen Festival, was designed to encourage tourists back to the area who may have been discouraged by the disease.
It became an annual staple in the city for decades as a way to lift spirits and boost businesses, and often attracted large crowds and celebrity guests.
In April, Alex Strachan, who helped organise the festival in the 1990s, told The P&J he thinks the celebrations could be revived in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was always a really, really good event,” he said.
“This is not the time to discuss it in detail, but it may be worth bringing the festival back as something to uplift the city.”
