Envirolution Aberdeen 2025 – Back with a bang! (Literally)

NESCAN Hub

Education & Awareness, Organisational Development

Date Published: 4 November 2025

Picture the scene, stalls are set up and ready to go, the solar soundstage is built , as excitement fills the air of the stunning Seaton Park...

The vibrant ring of steel drums, thanks to local Guarana Street Band, brilliantly announces the return of Aberdeen’s annual fun and family-focussed environmental festival on the 20th of September 2025. Envirolution Aberdeen was back — bigger and better and for only its second year running.

After the successful launch of Envirolution Aberdeen last year, we knew we wanted to bring it back to the community in 2025 and make it even bigger. This year we had 33 interactive stalls, 6 talented performers, 4 wonderful workshop host, local speakers and get this, even a 30-piece orchestra!

The origins of Envirolution Aberdeen

If you have never heard of Envirolution it is an inclusive event with a goal to make climate action and awareness accessible to all people in a fun and engaging way. Originating in Manchester, created by Bob Walley. It has grown in scale and moved up to Aberdeen in 2024. It is a huge project and several core organisations in Aberdeen and the shire collaborate in a mass planning operation to organise, fund, and coordinate this fantastic free event. Planning began in February 2025 believe it or not.

The result of lots of hard work and team effort is ‘Envirolution Aberdeen’ – one full afternoon of jam-packed activities, speakers, performers, and workshops for the public.

A look behind the festival where every small step counted

Set up began at 6am with the unloading of kit and the vital tea and coffee box!

A brilliant and dedicated crew of NESCAN staff, project partners and local volunteers got to setting up gazebos, the main stage and core infrastructure. Later in the morning the variety of stall holders arrived to set up their goodies, fun activities, and vast wealth of information.

Welcome to Envirolution! (Left to right – Sinclair Laing, Bob Walley, Lauren Place) – (Photo credit: NESCAN Hub)

Fast track to 1pm, after lots of running around, handing out high vis jackets, briefing the team, and checking in with our core areas we opened to the public. What followed was a super afternoon, we welcomed 750 visitors and lots of dogs!

Throughout the day we heard from performers – Guarana Street Band, Bryan Duncan, Genevieve Carter, Rachel Fraser, the Melting Pot Collective and Lisa-Marie Ferguson. A mixture of poetry, singing and music.

“Can you hear the music? “ , Grampian Concert Orchestra playing in the park ((Photo Credit: NESCAN Hub)

Over at the talks tent, we hosted a local panel ‘Politics, People & Planet’ with the audience invited to chat to local MSPs and key people of interest in Aberdeen. We also hosted 3 Let’s Talk about sessions, where people had the opportunity to view their thoughts and ideas around biodiversity and green space, local food growing and transport in Aberdeen. The talks were popular and sparked lots of reflective conversations. The highlight for many people was at 14:30 when the Grampian Concert Orchestra performed in the park, filling the air with classical music as the sun made a very welcome appearance..

Among the 33 stalls we had Nature Scot chatting to people all about the Newburgh Seal population, local community groups sharing their recent projects and campaigns and local producers demonstrating and selling hand crafted goods. NESCAN Hub organised two interactive stalls and showcased their work with Just Transition Communities Project partnership and their new giant climate Jenga game made by Banff & Macduff Men’s Shed and beautifully pyro-engraved by Ells.

For the more creative minded folk, Aberdeen Street Art set up a huge graffiti wall so people of all ages could have a go at safety spray painting (much harder than they made it look).

Over in Workshop corner people could enjoy some peace and quiet and take part in small interactive sessions with – One seed Forward, Genevieve Carter, Nicola Furrie Murphy and finally Amel Boucetta and Emma Forest.

If all that was not enough, we also held a park litter pick organised by local charity Paws on Plastic where just six volunteers removed five bags of litter in just one hour. (Thank you to all who took part and continue to look after our local areas and green spaces).

Overall, the day was a full of people interacting, making new connections, and learning new things.From the team at NESCAN Hub we want to say a massive thank you to ALL the people who got involved with planning, volunteered their time, sponsored the project, and came along. It would not be possible without community support and your hard work and enthusiasm. You brought the magic!