Best-selling poet Len Pennie has joined the line-up for Light the Blue Festival 2026, taking the headline slot for a special open mic night from Aberdeen’s spoken word collective Speakin’ Weird.
Taking place at the Music Hall’s Big Sky Studio on Thursday 7 June, the evening will offer the chance for young local performers aged 18-30 to take to the stage and share their latest material, centring around the festival theme ‘looking forward / looking back’. The show will culminate in a performance from Sunday Times bestseller Len Pennie, a celebrated poet who writes in both Scots and English.
Light the Blue Creative Producer Jordan Blackwood said: “We are thrilled that Len is performing at Speakin’ Weird as part of this year’s Light the Blue Festival. She is an inspirational writer and performer and it will be fantastic to see what other talent we can unearth during the open mic event. It will be a warm, relaxed and easy-going environment to share new material and we encourage local performers to come along and sign up on the night.”
Hannah Nicholson from Speakin’ Weird commented: “”We are delighted to be collaborating with Light the Blue for an event at this year’s festival and getting to host Len Pennie as a headliner is particularly exciting as we hugely admire her work both as a poet and a passionate Scots language advocate. We also hope to encourage plenty of open mic performances, especially from newer voices, so we would like to encourage attendees not to be shy about signing up.”
With many different ways to get involved in Light the Blue, Aberdeen Performing Arts are also looking for contributions towards a unique project which will make up a living art installation running throughout the duration of their award-winning festival which runs from Tuesday, June 2 to Sunday, June 14.
Soil Love Letters, a free to visit exhibition at the Music Hall running throughout Light the Blue, will feature letters contributed by members of the public addressed to soil. A filing cabinet will stand in the space, painted to reflect the layers of earth beneath our feet, topped with real living moss. Inside the drawers will be the contributed letters to open and read.
Aberdeen Performing Arts Creative Changemaker for Climate, Mara Marxt Lewis said: “We want to hear from everyone, there’s no right way to contribute. Just start with “Dear Soil” and see where it goes! Letters can be tender, funny, worried, scientific and they can be written, drawn, collaged, printed, or whatever form feels right to you.
“Whether you are 5 or 95, a seasoned writer or someone who’s never written a letter in their life, we want to hear from you.
“We’re collecting letters now, ahead of the festival opening on June 2, so that the archive is already full of voices when visitors arrive.”
Selected letters will also be recorded as audio at the installation, and some may be included in a digital archive for those who can’t visit in person.
Every contributor to the installation will also receive a seed paper scroll to take home and plant.
Send your letter with the subject line ‘Soil Love Letter’ to [email protected], drop a handwritten letter into the collection boxes at His Majesty’s Theatre or Music Hall box offices. Submissions close on Tuesday, May 26 at midnight to allow time for printing before the festival opens.
Light the Blue is Aberdeen Performing Arts’ festival for and by young people, returning June 2 – 14 June 2026 for a fortnight of performances, opportunities and events inspired by the theme looking forward / looking back.
In Case You Missed it:
This year’s festival invites over 1000 young and professional artists, school pupils and early career creatives from across Scotland to imagine the shape of the world in time to come or reflect on memories and moments that have shaped who they are today. Light the Blue will celebrate the voices of the next generation and inspire audiences in theatres, shopping centres, gardens, playgrounds and unexpected spaces across Aberdeen.
Light the Blue was recently a winner in the Inspiring Futures category at the 2026 Northern Star Business Awards, which recognised the festival for supporting wellbeing, building confidence and empowering the next generation to imagine and lead.
Further information on Light the Blue is at https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/light-the-blue/
