£2m drive puts young people centre stage
● Festivals and events to stage new initiatives during year-long showcase
A year-long celebration of Scotland’s young people will see them help design and plan the opening of Dundee’s V&A Museum, stage a take-over of the Georgian house that inspired JM Barrie to write Peter Pan and enter a “school of stand-up at Glasgow’s annual comedy festival.
A special “after-hours” experience around Edinburgh Castle, a “science in the park” event below The Kelpies in Falkirk, and a showcase at the Tiree Music Festival programmed by young people have been unveiled.
A £2 million programme has been developed for the Year of Young People, an initiative instigated by the Scottish Government to put eight to 26-year-olds centre stage throughout 2018.
A team of young ambassadors has joined forces with national agency Eventscotland and nearly 40 festival and event organisers to create the line-up. The 12-month programme, which gets underway on 30 December with a fire parade curtain-raiser for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations, will see young people join forces with the National Theatre of Scotland to create a country-wide festival.
The opening of Dundee’s V&A will see a team of people aged 16-24 from across Dundee will help mastermind “a celebration of design creativity” both inside and outside the museum, and at new waterfront park Slessor Gardens.
Moat Brae in Dumfries, the mansion house where JM Barrie lived as a child, will the centrepiece venue for a three-day celebration of the building’s planned reopening next year.
Knight at the Castle will see Edinburgh’s most celebrated landmark host a special event created by and for young adults, featuring live performers, themed food and drink, and hands-on activities.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival will search for a filmmaker of the future, while young people will create new events, including Q&AS, interviews, debates and workshops, for the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
The Royal National Mod, Glasgow Comic Con, Taste of Grampian, the Orkney Inter- national Science Festival and the Findhorn Bay Arts Festival are staging special initiatives.
Paul Bush, chief executive of Eventscotland, said: “Working with the events and festivals industry, 2018 provides us with a special opportunity to showcase both our rich annual events programme and a host of brand new events which will bring the themes of the year alive.
“The programme, entirely co-designed with young people, will further reinforce Scotland’s position as the perfect stage for events, putting young people in the driving seat.”