Some of Aberdeen’s least likely venues are about to get audiences.
Hey You,
October is a busy one... isn’t it always? This month you can stand in a shop window and watch a performance play out on the street outside. That’s not even the most unusual thing happening around Aberdeen. A clarinettist is going to play in a former nuclear bunker, for a start.
WayWORD hosts Hannah Kaner and Georgia Leighton being asked where invented worlds come from. Also featured is Marie Maitland, a sixteenth-century Scottish poet who wrote secret lesbian love poetry. Ashley Douglas wrote her biography, and Josie Duncan sings new songs inspired by her life, on tenor guitar and harp.
Over at DanceLive, Dudendance Theatre’s Alien Aquatic imagines what ocean plastic might turn into if it came alive. The costumes are half sea creature, half washed-up rubbish, and the show comes with film and a live choir. TEDxAberdeen’s lineup has just been announced, and Mark Reynolds, who spent years as a defender for the Dons, takes to the stage alongside 11 other local speakers to tell their stories. This year’s theme is Minds Wide Open.
Then, of course, there’s soundfestival, the city’s celebration of new music. Ali Smith reads from her Seasonal Quartet novels while four women composers answer them. The shop window show is Vitrine, from French group Les Harmoniques du Néon, and the bunker is home to clarinettist Sarah Watts and sound artist Duncan MacLeod.
We’re particularly looking forward to Alien Aquatic, adapted for Bon Accord Baths and one of several places being borrowed this month. You end up looking at the place as much as the show. TEDxAberdeen has been a favourite for years, and there are some great music events on too.
Look out for reviews over the coming weeks.
We can’t fit every event in a newsletter, especially with the festivals, but head over to our What’s On page and we’ll overwhelm you with the rest.
Have fun out there,
Chris & Kevin
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What’s on in October
Can You Catch a Serial Killer?
1 Oct | Tivoli Theatre
Hosted by serial killer expert Cheish Merryweather, this intriguing interactive show puts the audience inside real-life cases through dramatised crime scene reconstructions, criminal profiling, forensic evidence and simulated autopsies. Audience voting drives the investigation, with Merryweather pushing the room to make decisions before the killer strikes again.
Billed as the UK’s first interactive serial killer investigation, this lets you feel part of the investigation from the moment the curtain rises.
Cala
2 Oct | Drummonds
Cala is a five-member group based in Inverness. The members were raised together, giving them their cohesive sound. They blend traditional Scottish music with a range of modern influences. Their style falls within the neotraditional genre yet stays distinct from other acts in that category.
They arrive at Drummonds with a maturing musical style that often differs from audience expectations.
Aberdeen Arts Centre’s Big Variety Show
2-3 Oct | Aberdeen Arts Centre
Over 100 performers take to the stage over two fundraising nights to support the Save Aberdeen Arts Centre campaign, presenting drama, musical theatre, live music, dance, comedy, magic and acrobatics. Each night features a separate lineup, giving you a reason to attend both evenings.
Every performer is linked to the Arts Centre, either as a regular performer on its stages or as an artist whose career began there. Aberdeen-born comedy magic duo Smith & Burns host.
WayWORD Festival 2026
3-11 Oct | Various venues
Aberdeen’s cross-arts literary festival is run by young people and emphasises new work and diverse voices. The 2026 programme features poets, novelists, animators, musicians and performers across nine days. Events comprise workshops, panels, performances and book launches.
This year’s programme includes Rosie Jones in conversation and Jenni Fagan presenting her new novel, The Delusions. Other tempting events over the nine days are a Jazz Poetry night, the Toulmin Prize with Sheena Blackhall, and a presentation on Scotland’s Secret Sappho by Ashley Douglas and Josie Duncan. Sara Sheridan will also discuss her book, The Jewel Keepers.
The Last People on Earth
3 Oct | Fittie Community Hall
Storyteller Andy Cannon offers a show centred on one of the oldest speeches in Scottish history: the words Tacitus gave to Calgacus, the leader of the tribes who fought Rome at Mons Graupius in the North East around AD 83. It is the sole surviving account of the battle, narrated completely from the victorious side, and Andy pulls on that thread.
Musician Wendy Wetherby together with a local community chorus join the performance to link the audience to the story.
Cat Lovers Club: MEOW!
3 Oct | The Old Workshop
Residents RiceBubble and kidProquo bring MEOW! back to The Old Workshop, this time with Iceman joining fresh from his set at the Denburn Carpark rooftop disco. The Wab Lab Sounds rig provides the backbone for a night that moves between disco, funk, house, electronica, highlife, afrobeat, Latin and 70s psych without ever feeling scattered.
Cat Lovers Club have nurtured a following on this kind of range. If you know, you know; if you don’t, this is a good place to start.
Jersey Boys
6-10 Oct | His Majesty’s Theatre
This 20th anniversary tour traces the musical career of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. The production shows their path from New Jersey to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Luke Baker heads the cast as Frankie Valli, with Carlo Boumouglbay, Lewis Kennedy and Toby Miles completing the four. The show does not avoid the offstage events alongside the harmonies, which makes it more than a greatest hits run-through.
Queer Folks’ Tales
7 Oct | Lemon Tree
Fresh from winning Best of the Queer Fringe Award at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, Queer Folks’ Tales is back in Aberdeen for a third year with another night of funny, moving and occasionally shocking stories about LGBTQ+ life in Scotland. Hosted by Turan Ali, with Highland stand-up Adam Macleod, drag performer Lavender Menace, poet Tabby Bagshaw and singer-songwriter Essa Flett.
Four years of sell-out Edinburgh shows and two previous Aberdeen nights that went down well. Each show carries a different lineup, which keeps it from ever feeling like a repeat visit.
GANS: Evolution Tour
8 Oct | Tunnels
Black Country duo GANS bring their Evolution Tour to Aberdeen, pulling industrial rock, alternative and techno into a sound that resists easy categorisation. Live, the intensity builds and holds.
A night for anyone who likes their music loud, heavy and a bit difficult to explain to other people.
One Man, Two Guvnors
8-10 Oct | Aberdeen Arts Centre
Richard Bean’s award-winning comedy, set in 1960s Brighton, follows the perpetually hungry Francis Henshall, who secretly takes on two employers at once to earn extra money. As their lives tangle together, the deceptions multiply and the chaos compounds.
It’s a show with slapstick, sharp dialogue and comic timing. Studio Theatre Group bring it to the Arts Centre across three performances, including a Saturday matinee.
Dunedin Consort: Print House Gems
8 Oct | Fountainhall at the Stocket
In the early 18th century, the Amsterdam printing house of Estienne Roger became a vital hub for spreading music across Europe, enabling composers including Corelli, Vivaldi and Handel to reach audiences far beyond their home countries. Dunedin Consort draw on that catalogue for an hour of trio sonatas and chamber works, closing with Vivaldi’s La Follia.
A relaxed performance, designed to be accessible for people with additional support needs, caring responsibilities or anyone who prefers a more informal concert setting.
FAEDA
9 Oct | Drummonds
Thurso four-piece FAEDA have earned a reputation for live shows that hit considerably harder than you might expect. Support slots with Sam Fender, The View and King Charles on sold-out Scottish tours have sharpened their act considerably.
Fronted by Robbie McNicol alongside Sam Cowan, Cole Cummings and Jamie Mackay, they come to Drummonds with a track record of being worth heading out for.
HOURS Presents: Granite City Showcase
10 Oct | The Cellar, Rosemount
HOURS brings another night of local hip-hop to The Cellar, with live sets from Donz, Neero Noir and WLKR. Three artists at the sharper end of what’s happening on the city’s Hip Hop scene, on a bill produced with support from Creative Scotland.
There’s an open mic on the night, ready for anyone wanting to road-test a new single or preview an upcoming release.
Helicon + Man of Moon
10 Oct | Lemon Tree
East Kilbride brothers John-Paul and Gary Hughes have created Helicon as a rotating collective working across psychedelia, electronica, guitars and sitars, with collaborators including Tony Doogan and Will Carruthers of Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized. Their fourth album ARISE, made with LA-based producer AL Lover, came out in February.
Glasgow two-piece Man of Moon support, pulling motorik rhythms, analogue textures and krautrock into a sound that pushes into its own territory across their live sets.
Speakin’ Weird
12 Oct | Gaelic Lane Cafe
Magician and storyteller Eoin Smith headlines this month’s Speakin’ Weird, Aberdeen’s spoken word open mic night for poetry, prose, comedy, rap, stories and rants.
Hosts Hannah, Esmond and Aron keep the room relaxed and open. Five minutes on the mic is there for anyone who wants it. Sign up on the night and see what you can do.
1984
13-17 Oct | His Majesty’s Theatre
Chris Hannan’s new stage adaptation of Orwell’s final novel follows Winston and Julia as their love affair pulls them into open rebellion against a Party that monitors every word, erases every truth and has turned children into informers. Orwell wrote much of it on the Isle of Jura and completed it while seriously ill, including a stay at Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride.
This is a co-production from Citizens Theatre, Dundee Rep and the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh. The book was written in 1948 but it has rarely felt more prescient.
Next to Normal
14-17 Oct | Lemon Tree
Aberdeen’s Hallirackit Theatre takes on the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, following the Goodman family through grief, mental illness, addiction and the daily effort of staying together. Fee Crichton leads as Diana Goodman, directed by Hannah Cook.
Hallirackit sold out all three performances of their 2025 production tick, tick… BOOM! and have a name for staging demanding material with local performers. Director Cook describes it as “a story about people trying desperately to love and understand one another.”
DanceLive 2026
15-19 Oct | Various venues
Citymoves’ DanceLive celebrates its 20th anniversary across five days, with performances spread across the Anatomy Rooms, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Cowdray Hall and Bon Accord Baths. The programme spans contemporary dance, physical theatre, family shows and immersive work from artists across Scotland, Europe and beyond.
Highlights include Farah Saleh’s performance lecture Balfour Reparations examining the UK’s colonial legacy in Palestine, White & Givan’s new duet Grace inspired by Paula Rego’s painting Angel, Elisabeth Schilling’s Sensorial Symphonies at Cowdray Hall placing plants as active performers, and Al Seed Productions’ Thrice, a movement-led response to the aftermath of Macbeth.
Fallen (Not all Dreams are Dared)
16 Oct | Aberdeen Arts Centre
A contemporary African storytelling piece following Agyakoma, who marries her long-loved boyfriend Owura and gives everything she has for that love, including a set of sacrifices that come with the expectations placed on women in African marriage.
As those sacrifices mount and secrets begin to surface, the marriage starts to unravel. An intimate story about love, compromise and what happens when the cost of staying becomes too high.
Fiona Kennedy In Concert: Among Friends
16 Oct | Tivoli Theatre
Fiona Kennedy heads to the Tivoli for an evening with the musicians who shaped her musical journey: Paul Anderson, Frank Thomson, Nils Elders, Neil Birse and Irene Watt. Drawing on songs and stories from the people, places and traditions of the North East and beyond, the show carries the warmth and spontaneity of her Kitchen Concerts into a live setting.
The Friends of Anchor Patient Choir, conducted by Laura Pike, also feature on the night, joining Fiona for a performance of her latest single Harmony Row.
Hallows Haunted Eve
17-18 Oct | Aberdeen Arts Centre
The debut show from new Aberdeen immersive theatre company The Lantern Door puts families inside the story. Audiences dress as monsters, step through a door into The Hallows and take on challenges across different Halloween worlds to stop Mr Funny Bones from ruining the night, ending at the Monster Bash with a party bag to take home.
Founded by Jessica Anderson with the aim of bringing back the childhood Halloween feeling of dressing up and being a little mischievous. Ten performances across the weekend.
Loud Poets
17 Oct | Lemon Tree
Scotland’s leading spoken word night is back, 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.
Anyone who’s been to a Loud Poets night knows the programming lands hard, technically and emotionally. Pay what you can to get in.
soundfestival 2026
22-31 Oct | Various venues
Ten days of new music across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, co-curated by composer and conductor Pete Stollery. The concert programme brings Quatuor Bozzini, Red Note Ensemble and the Edinburgh Quartet to venues including the Lemon Tree, Cowdray Hall and King’s Pavilion, while Ali Smith reads alongside music written in response to her Seasonal Quartet novels.
The festival also heads out into the landscape, with soundwalks, street performance and a concert inside a nuclear bunker. Installations from Leona Jones, Raydale Dower and Claudia Molitor are on display throughout, alongside the live programme.
Fittie Sessions: John NA Brown & Stephen Molloy
24 Oct | Fittie Community Hall
Two songwriters, their guitars and a hall in Fittie. John NA Brown is a Canadian singer-songwriter who has performed from St John’s to San Francisco, drawing on international folk, jazz and blues across a reflective set of original songs in multiple languages. Aberdeen’s Stephen Molloy writes songs rooted in folk tradition, storytelling and lived experience from the North East.
Fittie Sessions is designed to feel like being invited into someone’s living room: no stage, no distance between performer and audience, and space for conversation alongside the music.
TEDxAberdeen: Minds Wide Open
24 Oct | Aberdeen Arts Centre
TEDxAberdeen returns with a full day of local speakers, thinkers and doers under the theme Minds Wide Open, organised entirely by volunteers. The lineup spans creative expression, personal stories of perseverance and the pitfalls of the online world, alongside selected TED video content between the live talks.
The event is as much about the conversations between sessions as the talks themselves, with space throughout the day for attendees to exchange ideas. Tickets are limited to two per booking.
Li Jin Hao: Falling from a Moon
26 Oct | Lemon Tree
Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer Li Jin Hao brings his debut UK tour to Aberdeen, with a show about nostalgia, lightness and the weight of the present. The premise: the past felt like the moon, less gravity, easier to be in. He wants to go back, but not as far as Pangea.
Lyrical and precise, with five-star reviews from the Skinny and a growing TV profile including Channel 4 and BBC Radio 4. A comic with a distinct voice and a clear sense of what he wants to do with it.
Birdvox
29 Oct | Tunnels
Birdvox bring their debut album Shamming the Drama to Aberdeen. The four-piece was put together from established names in Scottish music: Sarah Hayes of Admiral Fallow, Inge Thomson from Karine Polwart’s circle, SAY Award-nominated Jenny Sturgeon of Salt House, and Charlotte Printer, who has performed with Altered Images and Joesef. The album was produced with Peter Brewis of Field Music.
They sing in Scots, Shetland dialect, old Norn and English, pulling folk, electronica and pop into something that’s hard to pin down.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
29-31 Oct | His Majesty’s Theatre
David Harrower’s adaptation of Muriel Spark’s novel follows Miss Jean Brodie, teacher at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls, who selects her annual “set” of pupils and sets about shaping them through art, politics and stories of sexual liberation. In return, she demands total loyalty.
Gayle Rankin leads the cast as Brodie, a character whose gift for reinventing the truth makes her both magnetic and genuinely dangerous. Witty, seductive and deeply contradictory, the production looks directly at why such a figure continues to fascinate.
Moody Moody + The Neutral Joy + The Dead Shadows
30 Oct | Drummonds
Moody Moody headline with the kind of hazy, reverb-soaked guitar sound that sits comfortably alongside The Cure and DIIV. It’s a sound ready for venues where you can be close enough to feel it properly.
The Neutral Joy bring their own strand of Aberdeen indie and alternative to the support slots, and The Dead Shadows have been working the psychedelic, shoegazey end of rock since 2016.
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