12 Posts That Made our 2021

We can all agree that 2021 was a difficult year for many of us, but Aberdeen provided us with wonderful highlights that made getting through it a lot easier.

The return of NuArt to the city is always a much needed blast of colour to our hearts and to Aberdeen’s streets. Those new works will be a lasting legacy for the city, giving fans of street art even more reasons to visit our amazing murals.

British Art Show 9 was a massive capture for the city, as was the naming of Aberdeen Art Gallery as Scotland’s best building. The exhilarating finale of the Tour of Britain wound through the city centre streets, bringing with it crowds in their thousands.

The True North music festival wowed audiences again this year. It’s becoming a not to be missed event here in Aberdeen. TEDx found it's feet in it's first year in the city. Outdoors, Light the North gave lighthouse hunters young and old a great reason to get out and see fantastic artwork from some of of North East Scotland’s best artists.

Sport came back with a bang with crowds in attendance to cheer on their heroes at Aberdeen FC and Cove Rangers, and not forgetting on the ice with Aberdeen Lynx.

Finally, we think the best event in Aberdeen this year has been the Covid-19 vaccination program at TECA and Norco House along with smaller surgeries around the town. Thousands of NHS workers giving their all to keep us safe. We cant thank you enough for all your amazing efforts.

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Our picks of 2021

Our chat with Louise Grant about building a family-run Aberdeen brewery — postabdn.com

Fierce Beer have had quite a few months with support from their community helping them get through the first lockdown, then a successful new crowdfunder to help them build a new brewery and tap room. Louise Grant is right at the centre of that. Read on...

Launching an award winning hot sauce company as we head into a pandemic — postabdn.com

Singularity Sauce Co.'s Mark McAulay is one of our favourite Aberdeen folk. He started making hot sauce as a 'side project' but his hard work was quickly rewarded and his dedication to quality brought him recognition across the world. He told us how things have been going and how there’s more to his passion that just trying to hurt everyone. Read his story...

Lauren Mitchell tells all about how she stayed positive on air through a global pandemic — postabdn.com

Lauren Mitchell’s breakfast radio show with co-presenter Jeff Diack is a huge success. The presenters’ positive disposition has has solidified their position as North East Scotland’s most listened to breakfast show. We had a chat about her work and staying positive. Read on...

We Are Here Scotland launches to support under represesented creatives of colour — postabdn.com

We spoke with We Are Here Scotland founder Ica Headlam about building an organisation to help black artists and creatives of colour to find support and recognition within Scotland's creative industries. They've since closed the first round of their Creator's Fund, giving direct financial support to succesful applicants. Check out their work...

TEDx launched to an Aberdeen audience keen to learn from the past and build a better future — postabdn.com

Under the banner ‘New ways of seeing old things‘, the TEDx Aberdeen conference presented ten speakers plus videos and Q&A’s in the Aberdeen Arts Center to an audience of 100 attendees for a day of connection and big ideas. Even better for us – we were invited along! Check out what happened, and watch the videos.

Ian Watt from Code the City on the importance of Open Data to communities — postabdn.com

You may have read about Open Data while browsing the internet, or reading the news. However, to many of us it remains subject that seems important but we’ll get to it one day. Well, postpone no more. Ian Watt, co-founder of Aberdeen's Code the City beautifully explains the civic benefits of open data and whether our governments are delivering...

Finding success under difficult circumstances with Paralympic Gold Medalist Neil Fachie MBE — postabdn.com

We talk to Neil Fachie about his early life and education in Aberdeen and his struggles to find his place in the sporting world. Then of course we chat about his success including his most recent gold medal at this year's delayed Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, breaking his own world record along the way. We also discuss family success as his wife Lora also won gold within a few minutes of him. An amazing story...

Aberdeen high-rise buildings and the selective regeneration of our city — postabdn.com

We could definitely be accused of only looking at the bright side of the city, but when film director Mark Storton came to us with a story about Aberdeen high-rise buildings and asked if he could write for us on the subject, we couldn't refuse. This story is as important today as it was back in August, and we suspect for a long time to come. Read on...

How Chef and producer Louis are pushing Aberdeen's hip-hop scene — postabdn.com

We reached out to Chef to find out a little bit more about him and his working relationship with creative partner Louis Seivwright. We wanted to know how it started, the artists they work with, what it was like to shoot a BBC documentary and his plans for the future. Read all about it here...

Making the most of opportunities with social media creator Grant Martin — postabdn.com

For the last few years he’s been making his name producing funny and often brutally honest YouTube vlogs. He hasn’t stopped there though, becoming a presenter on Original FM, featuring on BBC social media channel, The Social, and now turning to stand-up as a regular host at Breakneck Comedy. We wanted to find out about the guy that never stops...

The importance of a legacy for Aberdeen from British Art Show 9 — postabdn.com

Have a think about what legacy British Art Show 9 will leave our city. It costs us a lot of money to put on grand shows like this in Aberdeen. It’s reasonable for us to expect a lasting legacy. Artists, fans, local venues and the city’s communities should feel we have all gained something permanent from our experience. Read our thoughts, and the thoughts of others who feel invested...

The first of out Lens Hereoes photo essays is from portrait photographer Chris Henderson — postabdn.com

Those that have been following us long enough know that we started out as a photo sharing group on Instagram. We’ve been racking our brains to honour that history in a new and different way. After speaking with a few local photographers, we thought it would be pretty cool to introduce photo essays. First in this series is the hugely talented Chris Henderson. See more...

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It's been quite a year, hasn't it. This is just a few of our favourite stories from 2021. For more of the same in 2022, please follow us on our social media channels. If you haven't already, subscribe to this newsletter so you never miss out on the best of our work, and posts we like from other Aberdeen bloggers, journalists and creative people.

We hope that the new year brings us more of the good stuff, and less of the stuff that's been making life tough. We'll enjoy the highs and suffer the lows together as a brilliant community.

Have a peaceful New Year 🕊

Chris and Kevin