Celebrate Aberdeen parade returns for first time since 2019

The Celebrate Aberdeen parade and awards evening will return to the city for the first time in three years this summer.

The annual event celebrates contributions that charities, voluntary groups, and social enterprises have on life in north-east Scotland.

No events went ahead in 2020 or 2021 due to Covid pandemic, however the last parade in 2019 involved over 5,000 people from more than 180 organisations, travelling the length of Union Street.

The parade is going ahead on Saturday 27th of August, with the awards ceremony at TECA taking place three weeks later in the 17th of September.

Emily Findlay, who volunteers for Celebrate Aberdeen, says there's a "real appetite" for the event to return this year.

"We consulted with many of the participating groups to get their views on starting up again this year, and the answer was a resounding yes.

"The work these groups and organisations has done over the past couple two years has been invaluable in helping so many people get through the pandemic and there is a real appetite for people to come together to recognise and to celebrate this."

Also returning this year are the Union Street mile races, which immediately precede the parade on the morning of August 27.

Organised this year in association with Celebrate Aberdeen by Myles Edwards of the Gathimba Edwards Foundation, the race has been renamed Mel’s Union Street Mile, in memory of Myles’ dad Mel who passed away in 2019.

"Prior to my dad's passing he had spoken about how wonderful it would be to have an event in his memory,” said Myles.

“The mile is a distance with great history but one which is not run very often. I know he would be delighted to think that a special mile race down the main street of his home city was to be named in his memory."

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