This Is July: You Are the Crew

Hey You,

Welcome to the second half of 2026! The summer slow-down gives us a chance to reflect and take stock. Bear with me, but I’ve been thinking about the Artemis II mission around the Moon. I got caught up in the moment back in April, and that feeling stayed with me as we've heard from the crew since. When astronaut Christina Koch looked back at Earth from lunar orbit, she came home with a different word for what she'd seen.

Not a planet. A crew.

She'd spent ten days learning what that word really means: people bound together not by convenience but by shared purpose, one that "holds accountable" as much as it gives grace. A crew shows up. A crew does the unglamorous work because the alternative is letting something they care about drift.

Aberdeen's cultural scene runs on exactly that kind of crew, and it's a lot bigger than any one outlet, venue, or festival.

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POST exists because Aberdeen's creative scene deserves more than a passing mention. Behind every story is a musician rehearsing in a cold practice room, a gallery putting up a show on a shoestring, a theatre company hoping people will turn up on a wet Tuesday. We're here to make sure that work gets seen.

Through stories, artist profiles, and event coverage, we share what makes this city's creative community worth paying attention to. If that matters to you, you can help us keep doing it. Sign up for free, or support us and go ad-free for just £3 a month.

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We all have a part to play

It's the volunteers stewarding a mural trail. The team fighting to re-open a cinema. The musicians playing small rooms for small fees because the scene needs small rooms to exist. The readers who buy a ticket instead of staying in. The editors and writers, POST included, trying to give that work the coverage it deserves. None of these people are passengers. They're crew.

Koch's words apply just as well closer to home than they do 230,000 miles into space: Aberdeen's cultural life is "inescapably, beautifully, dutifully linked" to everyone who chooses to look after it. There's no backup crew waiting in the wings if this one stops showing up, no understudy team ready to keep a venue open or a festival running if the people behind it walk away.

Read Koch's full reflections on the Artemis II mission here.

POST is one part of that crew, not the whole of it. Our job is to point a light at the work other crew members are doing and to pull our own weight alongside them. But the scene survives because of everyone doing their bit, not because of any single outlet.

If Aberdeen's culture is going to stay in good shape, it'll be because its crew, all of it, decided it was worth the effort. Same goes for the planet.

You ready to double down?

See you out there or we'll see you next month,

Chris & Kevin xx

What’s on in July

The Belmont Presents: Fundraising Film Quiz

2 Jul | Common Sense Coffee House

The Belmont's monthly fundraiser tests film knowledge in aid of the campaign to reopen and refurbish the cinema. Teams of up to four go head to head across a run of rounds, with the usual mix of competitive streak and good-natured ribbing.

£10 a head or £40 a team to play, with every penny going toward bringing the Belmont back.

Loud Poets

3 Jul | The Lemon Tree

Loud Poets bring their touring spoken word night back to Aberdeen, pairing poets from across the UK with live musical accompaniment. Six open mic slots go up for grabs on the door for anyone wanting a turn at the mic themselves.

A decade of touring has built the night a reputation for programming that lands hard, both technically and emotionally. Pay what you can to get in.

Why Grow Up? Group Exhibition

4 Jul | Denburn Car Park

A pop-up exhibition takes over the bottom floor of Denburn car park, bringing graffiti, photography, models and drawings from a large group of local artists into a space that started life as the venue for a chance punk gig.

The lineup includes Mindwanders, Lee.102, Reckless, Tizer, Ugloe, Ethan DeSantis, Rabb and dozens more, with live music from Neko Zombie. Rough and ready, and unlikely to look or feel like anywhere else on the list. Free entry.

Norman Blake

5 Jul | The Lemon Tree

Teenage Fanclub founder Norman Blake strips things right back for a rare solo show, working through decades of songwriting from Bandwagonesque and Grand Prix onward, plus material from collaborations with the likes of Bernard Butler and James Grant.

Adam Ross supports. A chance to hear these songs stripped of the full-band arrangement, in a room with enough intimacy for it to matter.

Cirqlation: Journey

9 Jul | The Lemon Tree

Edinburgh company Delighters bring their touring contemporary circus show to Aberdeen, working through change, challenge and connection across aerial work, acrobatics, dance and storytelling. A different local guest act joins the core company at every stop on the tour.

That means no two performances take quite the same shape, depending on who's sharing the stage that night. Pay what you can.

Aberdeen Folk Club's Summer of Music

10, 17 & 24 Jul | Aberdeen Arts Centre Cafe Bar

Aberdeen Folk Club, weekly meeting for over 60 years, sets up for the summer in the Arts Centre Cafe Bar with three gigs in aid of the Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign. 10 July brings Canadian singer-songwriter John N.A. Brown, known for a distinctive voice across original material, folk, jazz and blues.

17 July pairs Ken Thompson's bothy ballads and cornkisters with Gerry Kelly's old-time Americana on guitar and banjo. The run closes on 24 July with Christine McGrath + Sandy Leggat on Scottish song and fiddle, and Stephen Molloy's story-led original songwriting.

Richard Ayoade: Afterthoughts

13 Jul | Music Hall

Richard Ayoade brings his new book to the stage, Afterthoughts, or Some Pistachios Won't Open: Wisdom for the Unreflective, drawing on a career that spans The IT Crowd, Submarine and voice work in The Bad Guys and Soul.

An evening of reflection, in conversation, from one of British comedy's most distinctively deadpan voices.

Climate Action Workshop: What Is Home in a Changing World?

15 Jul | Music Hall Big Sky Studio

We Are Nature Collective runs an immersive three-and-a-half-hour session exploring what home means in the face of displacement and environmental change, mixing film, conversation, object-based making and a walk out into the city.

Bring along an object that carries a sense of home for you. No prior experience needed, and no musical or artistic background required either. Free, with the option to donate.

The Elidas

17 Jul | Books and Beans

Identical twin duo The Elidas come home to Aberdeen for an intimate show at Books and Beans, the final stop after a run of UK touring. Their sound pairs soft, close harmonies with lyrics that hit a good deal harder than the delivery lets on.

The comparisons to First Aid Kit and Lizzy McAlpine keep surfacing, and it's not hard to hear why. A vocal blend can only come from growing up singing together.

City of Aberdeen Half Marathon

18 Jul | Duthie Park

The inaugural half marathon sets off from Duthie Park, sending 2,000 runners along Riverside Drive, over the Bridge of Dee and along South Deeside Road, before looping back via Milltimber Bridge and the Deeside Way.

It's a good one to get out and cheer on, with a limited field and a course built to suit first-timers and experienced runners alike.

Family Friendly Coastal Bag Printing Workshop

21 Jul | Greyhope Bay Centre

Greyhope Bay volunteer Julia leads a workshop using seaweed, shells and coastal-themed stamps to decorate a tote bag. All materials are provided, and it's suitable for ages 6 and over, with children needing an adult alongside them.

A simple, hands-on way to spend an afternoon at the coast, working directly with whatever's washed up nearby.

Seed Talks: The Art History of Studio Ghibli

21 Jul | The Lemon Tree

A talk tracing the visual art behind Studio Ghibli back to its roots in Japanese and Western art traditions, looking at the mystical and natural elements running through films including Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.

Followed by Q&A, for anyone curious about what sits behind that instantly recognisable visual style.

Kaleidoscope + Mysnoma + Steven Kemp + Taylor Bannister

24 Jul | Foodstory

Aberdeen band Kaleidoscope headline a four-act bill at Foodstory, with Mysnoma + Steven Kemp + Taylor Bannister in support. A new single is in the works, with hopes of having it out before the show.

It's a busy stretch for the band, who also play the Burke & Hare stage at Belladrum the following weekend. Entry £7.

HMT 120: Open Day

25 Jul | His Majesty's Theatre

His Majesty's Theatre opens its doors for a behind-the-scenes look at the building, with volunteer tour guides on hand to answer questions across both the historic and newer sections.

Part of the HMT 120 programme marking 120 years of the theatre. Free but ticketed, with arrival slots running between 10am and 1pm.

The 24 Hour Musical

26 Jul | Aberdeen Arts Centre

A group of local performers, musicians and crew get locked into the building and given exactly 24 hours to build a full musical from nothing: live orchestration, choreography, costumes, the lot. Nobody, including the cast, knows which show it is until the clock starts running.

Last year's edition sold out three weeks ahead, drew close to 80 people to auditions and raised £5,000 for the Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign. The mystery turned out to be High School Musical. This year's pick is, once again, anyone's guess.

The Velvet Room + Panhead Sharps + Arienas + Sister October

31 Jul | Krakatoa

Sionnach Promotions and Bonnie Scotland Presents join forces for an indie rock evening headlined by Aberdeen's The Velvet Room, with Panhead Sharps + Arienas + Sister October completing the bill.

The theme leans indie rock, but everyone's welcome regardless of what's usually on their playlist. Doors at 7pm.