By St. Andrew's Fair Saturday - Scotland will once again host a number of unique cultural events as part of a groundbreaking global movement involving more than 150,000 people in over 110 cities across the world.
As the only nation to support this movement at a country-wide level, numerous Scottish towns and cities will take part in Fair Saturday, a global mobilisation that aims to create a positive social impact every last Saturday of November, the day following Black Friday.
This year’s Fair Saturday will take place on Saturday 30 November, St Andrew’s Day, demonstrating the shared values and a commitment to fairness, inclusion and diversity between Scotland and the Fair Saturday movement.
The Fair Saturday events also form part of the wider St Andrew’s Day celebrations.
This year more there will be more than 115 events in 35 cities and towns all over Scotland, involving more than 3000 artists and more than 90 social projects.
The Fair Saturday movement was started in Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain in 2014 as a response to the rising tide of materialism and consumerism. It is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the world through arts and culture.
The movement brings together artists and cultural organisations in a global festival, with artists in each city supporting a social cause of their choice through their event.
Fair Saturday aims to celebrate the arts and spread support for social causes across the world, and help people reflect on the essential role of culture to build stronger societies, in an age of turbulence and uncertainty and the day after many people will have been tempted to spend on Black Friday offers.
Seven new official cities are also joining the movement, announced today at a gala in Bilbao. Like Scotland, all the cities commit to boost the celebration of Fair Saturday and want to connect to other international cities doing so. New participating cities announced today include Cardiff; Leeuwarden in the Netherlands and Atlanta and Quincy in the US. Motions have also been taken to formalize the collaboration with Lisbon, Portugal. Previous cities that have participated in previous years, and will be doing so again this year, include Bilbao, Malaga, Santander and Lima.
MSP Ben Macpherson, Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development, who has supported the initiative since the beginning, stressed the great success that St Andrew’s Fair Saturday was last year, with over 70 events joining the celebration right across the country. As the Minister has stated:
“I´m proud that Scotland has become a leading member of the global Fair Saturday movement, playing a key role as the first country to host celebrations on a national basis as well as in individual cities.
“This year’s St Andrew´s Fair Saturday events programme will be the largest ever and I am delighted that Scotland’s global reputation for fairness, diversity, inclusion and internationalism will be at the very heart of the celebrations.
“Combining our national day with the international Fair Saturday movement is a powerful expression of Scotland’s determination to remain welcoming, open and outward-looking in these challenging times, working in collaboration with European friends and other global partners to bring about positive change.”
Fair Saturday movement has a bottom-up approach, as bgjyit invites local artists and talented people in each city to join the movement and present their work, allowing the city itself to take ownership of the event. The aim is to connect citizens with different ethnicities and backgrounds and unite them with other citizens around the world, sharing the same universal values. The only requisite to participate is to support a social cause. Every cultural organisation that participates into Fair Saturday selects a social cause to give them recognition, visibility and funds.
Jordi Albareda Ureta, founder and organiser of Fair Saturday, said:
“Scotland is probably one of the best countries in the world to lead Fair Saturday. There's culture everywhere, combining tradition and a brave look towards the future. I still remember the first meetings we had with some Scottish leaders: 'we want to be part of it', they said immediately. Fair Saturday fits very well with some values that Scotland wants to foster worldwide: being open, connected, fairness, diversity, inclusivity. And the reason to combine it with St Andrew's Day celebrations, apart from the similar date, is to enhance national celebration making it more open and inclusive to all Scottish people”.
“Five years ago in Bilbao, the Bay of Biscay, a simple idea was born. What if the day that follows Black Friday a strong mobilisation of arts and culture took place, supporting at the same time different social causes?
“Culture has never been needed more than right now. We are living in times of complexity and uncertainty and where materialism dominates. Fair Saturday aims to change the focus on ‘having’ to one where people reflect on the value of being and giving, though arts and culture. Arts and culture can help create richer, more diverse societies and connect communities in a way the likes of Black Friday cannot.
“I’m delighted that Scotland has decided once again to participate and all these towns and cities can look forward to some amazing, inspiring performances come 30 November.”
For more information visit: https://standrews.fairsaturday.org/
Supporting Scotland's Towns