Nine Aberdeen festivals have joined forces in an effort to raise their profile and attract bigger audiences to the city.
The official launch of the new cultural festivals collective – named Aberdeen Festivals – took place at Aberdeen Art Gallery yesterday.
The new group, which represents everything from music to visual arts, science and dance, has also secured sponsorship from Norwegian energy company Statoil.
During the launch, Philip Deverell, director of strategy at Creative Scotland, hailed the national importance of festivals to the cultural and economic life of Scotland.
Professor Pete Stollery, head of music at Aberdeen University, said festivals had a positive impact on residents and visitors alike.
The nine festivals included under the new banner are Aberdeen Jazz Festival, Arts Across Learning Festival, May Festival, Aberdeen International Youth Festival (AIYF), the Fifty Plus Family Festival, TechFest, North East Open Studios (NEOS), DanceLive and Sound Festival.
The main aims of the group, which is also funded by Aberdeen City Council and Visit Aberdeen, will be to increase the profile of the festivals and bolster audiences.
Steve Harris, temporary chair of the new group, and chief executive of Visit Aberdeen, said: “This is a fabulous new way for the region’s festivals to work together collaboratively to promote this city’s very distinctive and unique festivals offer.
“We believe that by harnessing all that’s great about these events, the festivals will have added capacity to promote to wider audiences and add to the cultural vibrancy and profile of the city locally, nationally and internationally.”
Ola Morten Aanestad, head of communications at Statoil Production (UK) Ltd, added: “It’s very exciting for us to be involved in this major new cultural collective that will deliver real benefits to the local community and support new talent in music, dance and the arts.
“The north-east of Scotland is a vibrant region to live and work and our commitment to the local community, the festivals, the cultural life of the citizens of Aberdeen and our staff, makes this a wonderful concept to be involved in from the outset.”
