The idea came out of a conversation in 2004 between Mark Hope of Woodend Barn and Pete Stollery of the University of Aberdeen, who both wanted more new music in the north east. A four day pilot called Upbeat! ran that November. The first soundfestival followed in 2005 and sprawled over 20 days, with Evelyn Glennie and the BBC SSO among the performers. It has been as long as five weeks and as short as ten days since. The 2026 edition runs from 22 to 31 October. Two of the programmes are put together by early career artists, Tom Macfadyen and Hadrian Gray.
Aberdeen
Taigh Chearsabhagh in Lochmaddy has given both of its galleries this winter to Aghaidh Ris An Achadh, Facing The Field, a show about what happens to a township when the people leave.
Mull and Cornwall have more in common than you might think, and An Fenten sets out to show it.
The Citizens Theatre has stood in the Gorbals since 1878, and after a long rebuild you can now go behind the scenes on one of its heritage tours.
