Stories, Music And Creativity Meet At WayWORD Festival 2025
Join a citywide celebration of creativity this autumn, where emerging and established voices meet
If you love words in all their forms, we think WayWORD is just what you’re looking for. It’s one of Aberdeen’s festival highlights, returning this autumn with five days of conversations, performances and workshops across literature, music, art and theatre. From 1–5 October, it will fill the University of Aberdeen and city venues including Aberdeen Art Gallery, the Central Library and the Blue Lamp, bringing together well-known names and local talent.
What sets WayWORD apart is how it’s put together. A team of young curators from the city chooses the events, bringing in voices that reflect different perspectives and experiences. That means moments of surprise alongside familiar faces, from a North East showcase of comedy, poetry and music to high-profile guests such as Nicola Sturgeon and Scotland’s new Makar Peter Mackay.
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Be part of Ten Feet Tall and help celebrate the creativity of the North East. From bold performances to hands-on projects, every event connects people and tells local stories in exciting ways.
Join us in shaping a sustainable, diverse and accessible arts scene. We’re creating opportunities for emerging talent while bringing communities together through shared experiences, fresh voices and new perspectives.
Celebrating inclusion and accessibility
The programme spans art forms and viewpoints. There are strands on feminist futures and queer histories, events on living with disability, and stories exploring neurodiversity, including novels about life with ADHD. Local artists such as Fiona Soe Paing, Aiden Cowie and Mae Diansangu appear in collaborative events, including a jazz and poetry night at the Blue Lamp.
All events are free to book, with BSL interpretation at most sessions and venues chosen for ease of access. This year also reaches beyond the city centre, with contributions to Envirolution at Seaton Park and creative wellbeing workshops for healthcare workers.
Workshops, exhibitions and film
The hands-on side of the festival includes writing sessions with authors Danielle Jawando and Katherine Woodfine, animation and model-making workshops, and explorations of Gaelic theatre and alternative fashion. Exhibitions and screenings range from Swedish photographer Lisa Brunzell’s look at ABBA tribute bands to the premiere of an Arctic climate documentary by Professor Alan Marcus.
Festival director Dr Shane Strachan says the mix is deliberate: “The festival is shaped by a team of local young programmers, offering a rare platform for intergenerational, interdisciplinary and international creative exchange.” With new multi-year funding allowing for year-round events, the 2025 edition is set to be the largest yet.
What makes WayWORD stand out is how it connects people, between artists, audiences and the stories that shape them. It’s an event built to start conversations that last beyond the week itself. Check out the Wayword website for ticket info and you can read more about how the curation works in the POST interview with the 2022 WayWORD team.
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