We’re sail-ebrating the arrival of the Tall Shis Races in Aberdeen this summer with sea-sonal events and activities in city venues including the Art Gallery and Maritime Museum. Join in the fin as we wrap around the Tall Ships weekend – it’s going to be shrimp-ly amazing!
We’re busy working away below decks at the moment to make sure everything’s ship-shape for the summer, when we’ll be sharing all the details of what’s on. In the meantime you’ll find some programme highlights below.
Get onboard with the Festival of the Sea
Tall Ships Aberdeen is going to be one of the biggest events in Scotland this summer, with over 400,000 visits expected. If you are a cultural or community organisation and you’re thinking about staging a maritime-themed event during the two weeks either side of the Tall Ships, get in touch! Tell us about your event using the online form:
https://forms.office.com/e/wKbJWUr1LP
Deadline 31 March 2025
Navigate your way back to this page from 1 June for all the programme details. Sea you there!
What's On
SPECIAL EXHIBITION
Monsters of the Deep
17 May–26 Oct 2025
Aberdeen Art Gallery (bp Special Exhibition Galleries)
Schoolhill, Aberdeen AB10 1FQ
£10 adults / £7 Friends of AAGM and concessions
£14 exhibition pass
Children aged 12 and under free
Legend, folklore and modern-day science combine in Monsters of the Deep: Science Fact or Fiction?
This summer, take a journey from the medieval mind to the modern-day mysteries of the ocean. Take a deep breath and plunge down into the dark murky depths as we seek to explore the unexplained.
From a terrifying Feegee mermaid, to the spindly legs of a giant Japanese spider crab, there are lots of strange and wonderful things to see in Monsters of the Deep. Come face to face with the skull of a terrifying killer whale, marvel at the double-tusked skull of a narwhal and the tooth of an extinct megalodon. Examine eerie deep-sea specimens from across the globe and see some of the technological tools scientists use today to explore the bottom of the ocean – then you decide what lies beneath.
Based on an exhibition originated by
EXHIBITION
Tales from the Tall Ships
From 22 Mar
Aberdeen Maritime Museum
Shiprow, Aberdeen AB11 5BY
Free
To celebrate the arrival of the spectacular Tall Ships fleet in Aberdeen in July, this exhibition of paintings, ship models and photography highlights some of Aberdeen’s historic and cultural ties to these iconic sailing vessels, from shipyard construction to racing and competition.
EXHIBITION
From the Archive: Aberdeen Harbour
7 Jun–11 Jan 2026
Aberdeen Art Gallery (Gallery 2)
Schoolhill, Aberdeen AB10 1FQ
free
Explore images from the archive of the Port of Aberdeen that bear witness to the technological changes that have taken place at the quayside over the past 100 years.
EVENT
Sea Dragon
12 July, 13:00, 14:30 (40mins per session)
13 July, 11:30, 13:00, 14:30 (40mins per session)
Cowdray Hall
Aberdeen Art Gallery, Schoolhill, Aberdeen AB10 1FQ
£8 per child
Three Kelpies arrive on the reef for a play date, only to find that the colour from the coral has all washed away. Kipper the Sea Dragon comes to the rescue but he can’t do it alone. He enlists the help of a family of sea horses, a starfish and a very naughty crab to search the sea for colours to help put the coral reef back together.
The audience becomes part of the action and are encouraged to use the provided percussion, scarves and props to help Kipper save the day.
An adult must accompany the child and admitted at no extra cost.
EVENT
Viktor Wynd
17 July, 19:00 (1hr)
Cowdray Hall
Aberdeen Art Gallery, Schoolhill, Aberdeen AB10 1FQ
£10 /£7 concessions
Artist and writer Viktor Wynd offers us a glimpse of his extraordinary, not to say infamous and eponymous, curiosity museum in London's West End. We may hear stories about Mermaids, Mandrakes, Monsters, Fairies, Shrunken Heads, Magickal Stones, Extinct Birds and travellers tales from his adventures in New Guinea and The Congo.
Viktor is the author of three books. Cabinets of Wonders, The Unatural History Museum, and Dark Fairy Tales, and the proprietor of 'The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Unnatural History’.