Aberdeen Events, Things to Do and Festivals 2014 / 2015

(Aberdeen, Scotland, UK)

Unsurprisingly, many Aberdeen festivals and Scottish events centre around traditional local activities, Scottish sports and the agricultural calendar. Every region hosts its annual Highland Games, with rituals such as tossing the caber being quite familiar to many visitors.

The wearing of the kilt and the skirl of the bagpipes are mandatory on these much-loved occasions, and so you can expect to see plenty of tartan accompanied by authentic Scottish piping. Traditional Scottish sword dancing is also worth looking out for and is again often paired with the playing of bagpipes.

Several annual festivals and seasonal things to do around Aberdeen date back a thousand years or more to rituals remembered from pagan times, and towns involved in the distillery business hold annual festivals to celebrate their own specific brand of malt whisky. At these events, tasting is a must and falling over an option!

Aberdeen Calendar of Festivals and Events 2014 / 2015

January

• New Year's Day - January 1st, a national holiday throughout the UK, providing a welcomed opportunity to relax after the New Year's Eve partying the night before
• Burning of the Clavie - taking place in Burghead, Morayshire. This is an ancient fire festival traditionally held on Hogmanay, January 11th. With its origins going back well over a thousand years, the Burning of the Clavie involves groups of local men carrying a flaming barrel clockwise around the city's streets to bring good luck to the local people, after which the barrel is set on a hillside and more wood is piled on top, making a grand blaze
• Burns Night - celebrated on January 25th, Burns Night is the anniversary of the famous Scottish poet's birth in 1759. Burns Suppers take place at many homes, while pubs are crowded out with devotees drinking single malt, eating haggis and reciting Rabbie Burns' poetry

February

• Candlemas Day - held on February 2nd and originally a Roman festivity celebrating the return of spring. Candlemas Day is now a Scottish Quarter day

March

• Celtic New Year - still a cause for celebration for many traditionally inclined Scots. Originally falling on November 1st, Samhain, the Gregorian calendar now places the Celtic New Year on March 25th

April

• Spirit of Speyside - held in Dufftown, one of Scotland's best-known single malt whisky towns. The Spirit of Speyside runs from the end of April until early May and is all about this famous Scottish liquor. Expect lots of traditional events and lots of whisky tasting

May

• May Day - the first Monday each May, a national holiday in Scotland
• Word - this is the University of Aberdeen Writers' Festival, held every May. Word is a popular literary, educational and cultural event featuring workshops, readings, music events, film screenings and exhibitions
• Spring Bank Holiday - last Monday in May, another national holiday in Scotland

June

• Oldmeldrum Highland Games - a traditional Highland gathering with kilts, bagpipes, tossing the caber, tug-of-wars, pipe bands and much more, held on the third weekend of June
• Portsoy Traditional Boat Festival - celebrating Scotland's maritime heritage with crowds of traditional boats of all shapes and sizes, as well as boat building exhibitions and musical events, held annually at the end of June

July

• Stonehaven International Folk Festival - kicking off in early July and running for four days, featuring folk music performers from across the world at various venues around the city centre

August

• August Bank Holiday - first Monday in August, a public holiday only held in Scotland and nowhere else in the United Kingdom
• Keith Show - Banffshire's biggest agricultural show, with cattle, goats, horses and sheep, sheep dog demonstrations, quad bike and motorcycle displays, pet shows, a craft fair and over 200 stands, running in the early part of August
• Aberdeen International Youth Festival - early August, one of the world's largest, drawing huge numbers of visitors to the city for roughly ten days at the beginning of the month. Expect theatre, music and dance performances from across the world
• Aboyne Highland Games - traditionally Scottish, with lots of Highland dancing, heavyweight and lightweight events, massed pipe bands, a funfair, trade stands, marquees, races and loads of fun in the early part of August

September

• Braemar Gathering - taking place annually on September 4th, attended each year by members of the Royal Family. Pipe bands, Highland sports contests, traditional Highland dress and everything Scottish is what those coming to the Braemar Gathering can expect

October

• Aberdeen Sound Festival - an annual contemporary music event which runs from late October until the middle of November, in more than 20 venues in and around the city itself. The Sound Fest features all kinds of sounds and many innovative new ideas

November

• Guy Fawkes Night / Bonfire Night - early November, celebrated enthusiastically north of the border even although Guy Fawkes failed to blow up parliament in 1605. Expect the usual bonfires, firework displays and 'penny for the guy' requests
• St. Andrew's Day - November 30th, with much traditional folk dancing and music for all ages to enjoy, as the patron saint of Scotland is remembered

December

• Stonehaven Fireball Festival - December 31st , keeping alive the ancient custom of participants parading while swinging balls of fire above their heads. The flaming balls are thrown into the harbour at the end of the parade, being followed by Hogmanay parties to see in the new year