Arcadia Scotland

Art and Culture

Shattered Hopes: The Gordon Highlanders in 1914: Throughout the End of April, The Gordon Highlanders' Museum

Discover the role the Regiment had in the first few months of World War I.

Fiji, Scotland and the Making of an Empire: Throughout the End of April, King's Museums

Artifacts displaying the connections between Northern Scotland the South Pacific.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland: Through 19 April, Aberdeen Art Gallery

Potentially the longest tapestry in the world (beating the Kieskamma tapestry in the South African parliament by a cool 23 metres), the artwork has been worked on by people from all across the country since 2012. It tells the story of Scotland's history from the formation of the land in the prehistoric era to the re-convention of the Scottish Parliament in 1998, in 160 panels and 143 metres of stitching.

Anthony Schrag: Throughout the End of April, Aberdeen Art Gallery

Work by an artist who specializes in work that doesn't necessarily look like art at all; for a public commission in Hoxton, London, he got the locals to play an unwinnable (but still losable) game of five-a-side tug of war.

Jasmin Sunderland: Between Every Act: Throughout the End of April, His Majesty's Theatre

Exhibition from the Australian-born artist who uses to backdrop of His Majesty's Theatre to develop her themes.

Music, Comedy and Dance

Gavin Marwick's Journeyman Spectacular: 19 April, The Lemon Tree, 7.30pm

A celebration of 30 years of songwriting and performing as Old Blind Dogs, Aaron Jones & Claire Mann, Bellevue Rendezvous, and Up In the Air join one of Scotland's most prominent fiddlers.

Scottish Fiddle Orchestra: 19 April, Music Hall, 7.30pm

The Scottish Fiddle Orchestra is the country's foremost large ensemble for traditional music.

Scottish Ensemble: Scottish Variations: 24 April, Music Hall, 7.30pm

String music by a diverse selection of composers: Dvořák's Cypresses in the arrangement by Josek Suk; Suk's own Serenade for Strings in E flat major; Sally Beamish's Concerto Grosso; andScottish Variations, a new commission for variations on folk tunes by different Scottish composers, all kicking off with the nightmarish Moro lasso by the greatest composer ever to have been a knife-wielding maniac, Carlo Gesualdo.

BBC SSO: Runnicles Conducts Mahler 9: 25 April, Music Hall, 7.30pm

Towards the end of the Cold War, the late Lewis Thomas wrote that listening to Mahler'sSymphony No 9 made him think about 'death everywhere, the dying of everything, the end of humanity'. There's no doubt that Mahler had something similar in mind, even if he did his best to complete a tenth symphony before bacterial endocarditis carried him off aged only 50. Here, this mournful masterpiece is paired with Arvo Pärt's plangent Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten. Donald Runnicles conducts.

Scottish Ballet: Romeo and Juliet: 29 and 30 April, His Majesty's Theatre, 7pm

Another chance to see Scottish Ballet's contemporary take on the Prokofiev ballet with Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor bringing a fresh twist to the classic tragedy.

Lectures, Sports and Local Festivals

Meet the Curators of the Shatter Hopes: The Gordon Highlanders in 1914 exhibition, Jesper Ericsson: 23 April, The Gordon Highlanders Museum, 2pm

Aberdeen Parkrun: 26 April, Beach Esplanade, 9.30am

An informal weekly 5k run along the Beach Esplanade. Everyone is welcome, no matter how fast or slow (you're welcome to walk the route, bring your dog or push a buggy), so you can use it as a one-off fitness test, a chance to get some fresh air or come every week to try to beat your personal best time. It's friendly and free, and you can grab a coffee and a blether with your fellow runners at the cafe in the Satrosphere Science Center afterwards. Free registration online in advance is essential.

Curator's Talk: Fiji, Scotland and the Making of an Empire: 28 April, King's Museum, 1.30pm

Curator Neil Curtis gives a talk on the exhibition Fiji, Scotland and the Making of Empire. The exhibition displays some of the items in the University of Aberdeen’s internationally important Pacific collections for the first time in decades and explores the complexities of the North-East of Scotland’s contribution to the British Empire and continuing international politics.