More than 50 venues sign up for Aberdeen Restaurant Week
Aberdeen Restaurant Week returns next month to the Granite City for a foodie fortnight, with around 55 restaurants, cafes and bars taking part.
From 7-20 August, you will have the chance to enjoy delicious dishes, drinks and desserts with special offers at set price points starting at £10. Organised by Aberdeen Inspired, this summer’s line-up has several newcomers, including Hilton and Aloft at TECA, All Bar One, Shabazz Tandoori and The Atrium.
Organised by Aberdeen Inspired, Aberdeen Restaurant Week gives local cafes, restaurants and bars a platform to promote their food and drink offering while driving footfall into the city.
View the venue line-up and menus here.
New Nuart Aberdeen video captures heart of international street art festival
With sweeping views of the Granite City and incredible drone footage, a new video celebrating this year’s Nuart Aberdeen international street art festival has launched.
The short video captures the team of 13 artists who were handpicked to transform blank walls into stunning art pieces based on the theme of rewilding, with interviews, works in progress and the finished pieces across the city centre.
The video includes Chalk Don’t Chalk at Marischal College quadrangle, which saw hundreds of local school children and members of the public adding to a giant chalk mural on the ground.
Visitors and locals are also interviewed about their favourite artworks, alongside footage of the street art conference which ran alongside the festival.
Nuart Aberdeen ran from June 8-11 but for Aberdeen Inspired, the city centre BID which delivers the festival in partnership with Nuart Aberdeen, it leaves a permanent legacy.
Aberdeen Inspired’s Chief Executive Adrian Watson said: “This year’s Nuart Aberdeen was probably the most successful yet and the feedback was fantastic, both from the talented artists and street art community who came to Aberdeen to be part of this amazing festival, and from the people who have visited to experience the pieces for themselves.
“However, the real value Nuart Aberdeen brings is its ongoing legacy. While walking tours of the new and existing murals and artworks continue each weekend, the pieces are there permanently and can be enjoyed time and time again. There are now more than 40 Nuart Aberdeen pieces to be seen on our streets and these bring thousands of people to Aberdeen, adding significantly to the local economy”.
Image credit - Clarke Joss Photography
The tour of the town – new weekly Nuart Aberdeen walking tour open for booking!
Nuart Aberdeen rewilded Aberdeen in June and the Nuart team is now offering weekly guided walking tours to give you the chance to take in all the artworks from this year’s festival.
The 2023 festival saw 13 acclaimed artists visit Aberdeen and create stunning new artwork in the city, ranging from large murals to smaller, more intricate installations.
The Nuart Aberdeen walking tour will take you to each of the new pieces and will also include works created by street art legend Swoon.
Those taking the tour will also see how Brazilian artist Thiago Mazza’s distinctive style has transformed the Frederick Street multi-storey car park into botanical landscape, while NeSpoon has drawn inspiration from the Scottish lacemaking industry to create a beautifully intricate design on the gable end of a building on Whitehouse Street.
The tour starts outside Foodstory Café on Thistle Street and will run each Sunday at 1pm.
Tickets cost £6 per adult, while children go free. Click here to book your walking tour.
Pictured - Adrian Watson, CEO and Innes Walker, City Centre Manager of Aberdeen Inspired.
National recognition for Aberdeen Inspired
Amid a hectic few months for the Aberdeen Inspired team, we were proud to have been awarded two national accolades for our work in regenerating the city centre.
The Association of Town and City Management recently recognised Aberdeen Inspired Chief Executive Adrian Watson, who was named 'Inspirational Leader' for his leadership and innovative work at both local and national level.
The Aberdeen Gift Card, which was also used to distribute £125 grants worth a total of £1.7million, was named the 'Best Business Support Scheme' at the same event.
The LACER funding was issued by the Scottish Government's Local Economic Covid Recovery Fund and more than 14,000 households in Aberdeen qualified for a card, with many recipients choosing to spending it on food and clothing.
As the most successful gift card of its kind in the UK and Ireland, the Aberdeen Gift Card is a prepaid Mastercard which can be used in 300 retail, leisure and hospitality venues across the city.
The latest awards come in the wake of the prestigious Purple Flag status being retained for a 10th year, recognising both the safety and vibrancy of the city centre at night.
Over the past few months, we have also delivered the Neurodiversity in the Workplace conference, with an additional seminar event for schools, parents and educators, to celebrate the return of the Umbrella Project on Shiprow.
This was quickly followed by the internationally renowned street art festival Nuart Aberdeen, which saw 13 acclaimed artists creating stunning new works on the city’s walls. Walking tours continue each weekend, with thousands of people visiting the city centre to explore both the new and historic legacy pieces – and hopefully stopping to take a selfie at the ABERDEEN letters at the Castlegate.
Thousands of people also attended the European Pipe Band Championships at Duthie Park on June 24, which saw bands from as far afield as Australia competing in the sunshine.
Adrian Watson said: “As a small team which is passionate about Aberdeen, we are proud to have been recognised for our work in the city centre, which has also included the big ABERDEEN letters, a conference on neurodiversity, the Umbrella Project and Nuart Aberdeen international street art festival, as well as being instrumental in bringing the European Pipe Band Championships to Duthie Park. After a very successful and busy few months, we are now looking forward to the next Aberdeen Restaurant Week in August and onwards to the return of the Tall Ships spectacle in 2025, which will bring numerous opportunities for local people and businesses to get involved. However, we cannot exist on our own and we work closely with partners. These awards are testament to our shared vision of a vibrant and buoyant city centre and local economy.”
Council spending - what's important to you?
Aberdeen City Council has launched a public consultation that will help shape the 2024/25 Budget and future spending plans. The feedback will be shared with all elected members to help them decide how to allocate funds for running services.
The first phase will run until the end of July and will invite people to identify what they think should be the council’s spending priorities. The second phase will give them the chance to explore detailed options for producing a balanced budget, including finding necessary savings.
For more information and to submit your feedback, click here.
Opportunities to join the Aberdeen Performing Arts Board
The charitable organisation behind His Majesty’s Theatre, Music Hall and the Lemon Tree, and festivals such as Granite Noir, Light the Blue, and Rise Up are looking for new board members.
Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) is one of Scotland’s largest arts organisations and it works with communities, particularly those with fewer opportunities, using the arts to improve lives and our city.
As well as new board members, APA is also seeking a Chair Elect, who will join as a Board member in 2023, with a view to taking over as chair in 2024 when longstanding chair Craig Pike steps down.
Candidates for these important voluntary roles do not need to be based in the North-east and do not need to have an arts background to apply. The deadline for applications is 7 August.
For more information and to apply click here.
SugarBird Wines to spread its wings
SugarBird Wines has announced plans to open a second location in the Granite City. The Aberdeen wine bar is planning to expand into the city centre by taking the last remaining spot in the newly revamped Union Terrace Gardens.
The move will see SugarBird Wines open a two-storey wine bar in the Burns pavilion, one of the three tram-inspired premises that were built at part of the refurbishment of Union Terrace Gardens.
The new venue, which has views of Aberdeen Central Library, St Mark’s Church, His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Triple Kirks, will have space for 125 people and will include tables and a bar on each floor, as well as an outdoor terrace.
Visitors to the new location will be able to choose from more than 60 wines. The venue will also offer public and private tasting events.
SugarBird Wines has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £100,000 which will contribute to the overall costs of delivering the new venue. The available packages range from £40 all the way up to £4,000 and the return on each is higher than the purchase price.
More information can be found here.
OpenReach to connect 400 residential and business premises with ultra-fast full fibre broadband
Telecommunications company Openreach will be providing around 400 residential and business premises in the Denburn exchange area with ultra-fast full fibre broadband.
The project is to be part funded by government vouchers, for which both residential and SMEs qualify. The first step is to hit a pledge target.
The only commitment people need to make by pledging a voucher is that they will order ultra-fast once the build is complete, using any provider that offers service from the Openreach network. The vouchers are worth up to £4,500 and will help cover the cost of installing gigabit broadband.
To find out more about the vouchers, click here.
You can also check if you are eligible for a voucher and pledge it here by entering your postcode here.
Union Street Empty Shops Grant Scheme
The Union Street Empty Shops Grant Scheme has been officially launched. Eligible property owners or new and prospective tenants of vacant premises on the historic street will be able to apply for the Union Street Empty Shops Grant Scheme, which offers grant awards of up to 50% of project costs towards eligible physical works required for internal reconfiguration of vacant shops to enable reoccupation by new businesses and tenants.
More information and how to apply, click here.
For any enquiries, email unionstreet@aberdeencity.gov.uk
Pandora joins Aberdeen Gift Card Scheme
Jewellery store, Pandora has become the latest retailer to join the Aberdeen Gift Card Scheme, joining 300 other business in the city who are already signed up to the scheme.
The cards are preloaded MasterCards which can be used in a huge range of shops, hospitality and leisure venues. Physical versions of the Aberdeen Gift Card, which can be sent to the recipient by post, are available online and from the bespoke shop in the Bon Accord shopping centre.
The Gift Card, is also available as an e-card, can be used in participating venues including shops such as Primark and Marks & Spencer, bars, restaurants, beauty salons and Aberdeen Performing Arts venues and box office.
For more information on where you can spend your gift card, click here.
Artist Penny Downes with ‘Let your dreams take flight’.
Have you hare-d about the latest art trail?
Have you spotted giant hares popping up on our streets? Between now and the start of September, Clan Cancer Support is inviting you to hop to it and take part in #TheBigHop2023
The cancer support charity has partnered with Wild in Art to bring a hare inspired art trail to the north-east, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.
The Big Hop Trail coincides with Clan Cancer Support’s 40th anniversary. A total of 40 hare sculptures, which have been designed and created by some of the country’s most talented artists, can be found throughout Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Orkney and Shetland.
The large hares celebrate the charity’s commitment to supporting people affected by cancer.
City centre locations include The Green, Union Square, Broad Street, the Castlegate and the upper deck of the Bon Accord Centre but you can start your trail experience at any point on the map - simply download The Big Hop Trail app to discover the sculptures, collect rewards and count your steps.
The Big Hop 2023 - Apps on Google Play
The Big Hop 2023 on the App Store (apple.com)
A Farewell event for the hares will take place at the Aberdeen Music Hall on September 16 and 17. This will be a chance to see the sculpture in one place with some of the artists on hand as well.
Tickets costs £5 and are available here.
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