Aberdeen to pay tribute to granite heritage with festival of 'rock'

ONE of Scotland's most eccentric festivals is set to be launched next month - a celebration of all things granite.

Aberdeen - the Granite City - is playing host to its own "rock" festival to honour the stone which helped transform the city into one of the most distinctive architectural urban landscapes in the world.

The inaugural month-long Granite Festival will be launched on Monday and will include workshops of modern masonry techniques, talks about granite and walking tours of famous granite-based monuments and buildings across the city.

The festival is the brainchild of Liberal Democrat Councillor Irene Cormack, who first suggested a celebration of Aberdeen's unique ties to granite two years ago. Councillor Cormack said yesterday that a Granite Festival in Aberdeen was long overdue. Marischal College - the second largest granite-built structure in the world - is currently being restored to its original glory by scrubbing off more than a century of grime as part of a 65 million project to turn the college into the new headquarters of the city council.

And Rubislaw Quarry - the largest man-made hole in Europe - still stands testament to the stone that made Aberdeen the "Granite City". Over 231 years, a staggering six million tonnes of granite was hewn from the quarry for building projects across the globe before quarrying ceased in 1971, leaving a chasm almost 500ft deep.

Councillor Cormack, whose stepfather worked as monumental mason in the city, explained: "We almost take granite for granted in Aberdeen and I thought it was time we acknowledged the granite industry which once flourished in the city. We have all this wonderful architecture and Rubislaw Quarry - and no focus for it.

"The idea behind the festival is to connect the whole thing - from the geology to the development of the manufacturing process, and the creation of the once wonderful Union Street."

She said: "There has been a huge amount of interest in the Granite Festival and I'm sure people will come along and support the events. It's about time we celebrated our wonderful granite heritage. And we have a lot to celebrate."

Councillor Cormack said she hoped that the festival will become an annual event and eventually lead to a permanent exhibition: "I would like to see some permanent focal point within the city, but that's a fond hope at a time of financial stringency."

A spokesman for the city council said: "Aberdeen's unique cityscape has been created over hundreds of years by using granite for buildings, sculptures and monuments, giving the city a powerful sense of place.

"With this in mind, events have been organised across the city so everyone can celebrate the city's granite heritage."