Aberdeen Performing Arts Reports a Busy Year Despite Planned Deficit

A Scotland-only Hamlet and a new queer arts festival were among 800-plus shows.

If you’ve been to a show at His Majesty’s Theatre, the Music Hall or The Lemon Tree in the past year, you’re in the figures. Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA), the charity that runs all three, has published its report on the twelve months to March 2026. It counted almost 400,000 visitors across more than 800 performances.

It also spent £793,262 more than it brought in. This was part of the plan, though.

Around £680,000 of the gap covers earlier investment in the venues themselves, paid for with savings set aside for that purpose. In other words, money put away for the buildings was spent on the buildings.

The other £113,000 or so went on staff and on strengthening how the organisation runs, at a time of inflation and rising costs. APA says it will work on bringing in more income while drawing on its overall financial strength.

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What was on

The Lemon Tree’s makeover was completed during the year, and the wider programme had a few firsts. Teatro La Plaza’s Hamlet, on a world tour, made Aberdeen its only stop in Scotland. A new partnership with Dance Consortium brought performances that had never been here before, including Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana.

Festivals had a big year. The Aberdeen Queer Arts Festival launched. Granite Noir, the city’s literary festival, turned ten and got a new look, while a revamped Aberdeen Comedy Festival recorded more than 15,000 attendances.

Away from the main stage

APA’s Take Part workshops are hands-on creative sessions. People who joined in said they felt a stronger sense of belonging in their communities, and even within their own families.

Access runs through the rest of the year’s work. APA staged accessible performances and gave tickets to schools, families and charities. Chief executive and creative director Sharon Burgess says the charity has “continued to remove barriers so that more people can experience the arts in ways that work for them.”