Festival creates new supporters scheme

Individual Giving

The Festival Stars scheme has been created to acknowledge the contribution made to Aberdeen International Youth Festival by individual donors.

Support from private individuals is crucial in enabling the Aberdeen International Youth Festival's exciting work to continue. Core public funding accounts for approximately 25% of our income and we have to raise at least £150,000 annually over and above our other earnings.

Your donation will help assist the international arts companies take part in the Festival and will also enable the Festival to continue its education projects creating opportunities for local young people.

As a Star donor, you will be acknowledged on our website and in print, unless you wish to remain anonymous.

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Festival Stars

You can become a Festival Star by making a donation to the Festival. Named stars start at £100, rising to £1500 for a Diamond Star.

Diamond Star £1,500
Emerald Star £1,000
Ruby Star £500
Crystal Star £100

Star support is cumulative, so you can work up to becoming a Diamond Star by donating ever year.

If you would like to become a Festival Star and join our group of highly valued individual supporters, please contact us at:
Aberdeen International Youth Festival
35 Regent Quay
Aberdeen
AB11 5BE
Tel: 01224 213800
Or donate through the website at www.thebiggive.org.uk

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The Big Give

Donate to Aberdeen International Youth Festival on 1st December, and The Big Give will match your donation.

The Big Give have a £1million fund to give away, and will match any donation made through their website, until the money has run out. Even £1 will make a difference to AIYF and help secure the future of the Festival, and if you are a UK tax payer and gift aid your donation this means the Festival will also receive an additional 28p per pound.

Visit www.thebiggive.org.uk and click on the charity search option to find Aberdeen International Youth Festival.

Festival musicians nominated for awards

Young traditional musicians from the Aberdeen International Youth Festival are in the running for a host of prestigious awards.

Daniel Thorpe, from Inverurie, is in final round of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 2009, having made it through the semi finals in Coulter last month.

Daniel has been involved in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival for 8 years, taking part in their Traditional Music School and then becoming a member of the Festival’s Trad Big Band, Ceòl Mòr. Daniel was also chosen by the AIYF to represent the North East at the International Festival for Emerging Artists in London. Daniel was involved with many groups including the Garioch Fiddlers and studied traditional music in Plockton before graduating with honours from the RSAMD. He is now performing with ceilidh band 'Heuch' and his own trio, Tyskie, which he formed with fellow students at RSAMD.

Bodega, the young, five piece band who taught on the Festival’s summer school this year, have been nominated for “Up and Coming Artist of the Year” at the Scots Trad Music Awards . Members of the band were originally pupils at the Splore, before graduating to Ceòl Mòr and now teaching on the course.

Bodega won the BBC Radio2 Young Folk Band award for 2005/06 and have since gone on to release two CDs. Bodega are: Gillian Chalmers (from Fraserburgh), pipes and whistle; Ross Couper, fiddle; Tia Files, acoustic and bass guitar; Norrie MacIver accordion, guitar, djembe, vocals; and June Naylor clarsach and piano.

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The Splore (Monday 27 July - Friday 31 July) is a week long trad music summer school held as part of AIYF. The Splore offers classes in fiddle, whistle, guitar and percussion for students aged 12 - 16, with tutors from leading young trad bands.

Ceòl Mòr is the Aberdeen International Youth Festival's young traditional big band, made up of some of the most most promising young musicians from Scotland and overseas.
They perform original and innovative arrangements of traditional Scottish songs and music as well as original work exploring the margins between traditional music, jazz and contemporary classical music. They perform at the AIYF, and have guested at the Trad Music Awards, the Arts & Business Awards and at Celtic Connections.

Festival is worth over £1 million to NE economy

An economic impact study of the 2008 Aberdeen International Youth Festival found that it is worth more than £1 million to the local economy.

The study shows that festival has a £1.2m impact and directly or indirectly supports the creation of 25 full-time equivalent jobs in the North-east.

Based on the annual funding grant from Aberdeen City Council to AIYF, the return to the city and wider area is more than nine times on the initial investment through ticket sales, accommodation, transport and general spend in shops and restaurants.

The study also showed that the festival had a 98% audience satisfaction rating of good or very good. More than 40% of those who did not live locally visited Aberdeen solely to attend the festival. Some 89% of the audience said that they planned to come back to next year’s festival.

The 2008 festival welcomed more than 1000 participants from 14 different countries. They took part in more than 85 events across 30 venues during the 10 days.

It attracted more than 8500 audience members as well as many more at the major free events on Tartan Day and Festival in the City.

There were participants from Switzerland, USA, Hong Kong, Brazil, and China, Some 80% of the young participants indicated they would like to visit Scotland and the North-east again in the near future.

The 2009 festival is already taking shape. Applications from as far a field as Israel, Canada, Spain and Zimbabwe will bring a wide range of orchestral, new music, choral, dance, theatre and visual arts to Aberdeen and the Shire. The 2009 festival will take place between 29 July and 8 August.

AIYF artistic director Stewart Aitken said: “We were delighted with the findings of the report which helped confirm what a lot of people have believed about the festival.

“Even with the difficult economic climate an event such as the Aberdeen International Youth Festival can bring economic benefit to the area thorough cultural engagement.

“I hope we can build on these findings for 2009 festival and increase the impact and benefits the festival has for the population of the North-east, especially through more participatory opportunities for local young people.”

The study was conducted by EKOS Ltd and funded by Event Scotland. Nearly 400 people took part.