Youth Beatz 2022 - The Vengabus Is Coming!

After a 3 year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Youth Beatz is back for 2022, and it is bigger and better than ever! The festival will once again take place at Park Farm, Dumfries on the weekend of Saturday the 25^th and Sunday the 26^th of June and will welcome young people from across the Dumfries & Galloway and the rest of Scotland over the 2-day period.

Kicking off the Summer, the Festival will continue to deliver a wide range of fun activities, musical performances from local and emerging young talent, Youth Beatz 2019 will welcome the following headline acts:

Saturday 25^th June will be headlined by Ella Eyre and Pixie Lott, plus Nathan Evans

Ella Eyre, multi-platinum selling artist Ella Eyre has had 4 top 10 singles and her debut album ‘Feline’ reached the UK top 5 chart. Ella has been nominated for multiple Brit Awards and Mobo Awards, and boasts over 1 billion streams of her work. Collaborations with other high calibre acts such as Sigala, Sigma and Rudimental, as well as an extremely high presence on social media, means that Ella remains a major force in UK music.

Ella Eyre said:

“So excited to play Youthbeatz this year, I’ve never been before and I’ve heard it’s wild so I’m looking forward to it!”

Pixie Lott has delivered 3 UK number-one singles, sold over four million tracks, embarked on numerous worldwide tours, sold 2 million albums worldwide and written songs for some of the world's biggest stars including Selena Gomez and South Korean girlband Girls Generation. Pixie has collaborated with legendary artists Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie and John Legend, as well as KPop supergroup Big Bang (GD and Top) – their song reached #1 in South Korea and Singapore. Her songs have been used as the soundtrack to countless movies and she has received in excess of 70 million YouTube views. She is a four-time BRIT Award nominee and the winner of two MTV European Music Awards.

Sunday 26^th June will be headlined by John Newman and Jonas Blue, plus HRVY and special guests Vengaboys

John Newman, owner of one of the most distinctive voices, writer and performer of some of the biggest anthems including 3 number 1 singles - “Feel The Love”, “Love Me Again” & “Blame”, and is one of the major breakthrough artists in the UK in recent years.

For the best part of a decade, beginning with a straight-out-of-the-gate smash Number One with Rudimental on Feel The Love, the singer, songwriter and producer had been running, running, running. Hit had followed hit, tour had followed tour. Hitting Number On three times, closing Coachella, three Brit nominations, collaborating with heavyweights like Nile Rodgers and Calvin Harris, earning international gold and platinum sales discs.

John Newman said:

“I can’t wait to come and perform in Dumfries. The atmosphere in Scotland is just amazing!”

Jonas Blue’s career to date has been astounding and its effect has been felt the world over with singles like ‘Fast Car’, ‘Perfect Strangers’ ‘Rise, ‘Mama’ & ‘Polaroid’ collectively having been certified platinum over 120 times around the globe. Amassing an army of instantly recognisable hit singles, with over 13 and a half billion global streams, over 67 million worldwide singles sales, and 5 BRIT Award nominations, Jonas has cemented his name as a main stage DJ and pop powerhouse.

Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Young People’s Champion, Councillor Adam Wilson said:

“Our Council is delighted to have Youth Beatz back after what feels like a long three years without Scotland’s largest free youth music festival. I am looking forward to seeing this fantastic event return not only for the high-quality music headliners at the end of each day, but for the valuable experiences it provides to our young people. Youth Beatz has helped give young people a real-life taste of working in events management, performing through the immersive youth led drama production The Toon and the opportunity to undertake their Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award through the festival.

This year will see a further expansion of The Toon, which is a hard hitting interactive educational drama delivered by local young people and will provide young people with information and advice when dealing with issues that commonly affect their lives, such as: knife crime, drugs and alcohol, domestic violence and bullying. The first Toon Camp will take place during the Easter Holidays, where young people will begin to write and develop the 2022 instalment of the drama production.

Another key feature of Youth Beatz 2022 is the expansion of the Youth Work Area. This area will contain some old favourites such as art and craft activities, youth information zone and chill out areas, with the new addition of local young DJs taking to the decks and providing Summer tunes within the space for young people to enjoy.

Brand new for 2022 is a newly established partnership between Youth Beatz Festival and DG Arts Festival. This allows the Festival to significantly upscale on the offer of creative opportunities available, and to cater to a wider range of interests whilst encouraging young people to try something new and get involved in different aspects of the event.

Also announced for this year’s festival, is a 2^nd performance stage called “UPLOAD” that will provide performance slots for young musicians from across Dumfries and Galloway to show off their talent.

Festival organisers are striving for Youth Beatz 2022 to be the best yet in terms of accessibility, with a working group recently established in order to ensure that the Festival is fully accessible and equipped to cater to the needs of everyone who wishes to attend. If you are interested in the work of this group, or feel that you may have a contribution, please use the contact details below to get in touch.

The main Youth Beatz days will end a 7-day Fringe Festival which will see a number of fun community-based events taking place across our region, providing towns and villages the length and breadth of Dumfries and Galloway with small events for young people. The events will be developed and delivered in partnership with schools and various other community groups and organisations.

The award-winning event is managed through a partnership led by Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Young Peoples Service, in conjunction with the Oasis Events Team. Formed in 2010, the Oasis Events Team have undergone a great deal of training and events experience and now work in close partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Young Peoples Services staff to co-design large scale events, such as Youth Beatz. The Events Team are also now training up the new youth members of the group in a peer led approach.

Finlay Smail, young volunteer from the Oasis Events Team involved in organising the event said;

“We are delighted that Youth Beatz is back for 2022 and can’t wait to get stuck in all over again. Developing and delivering Youth Beatz is a fantastic experience and we are looking forward to once again working with the staff at the Oasis Youth Centre to build on our events and production skills, and to act as peer mentors using our skills and experience to provide a new intake of young volunteers with the opportunity to get involved with the festival.”

Funding secured from Event Scotland, has ensured that we can keep the legacy of Year of Young People 2018 alive in Dumfries and Galloway with regards to the continuation of the Youth Beatz festival as well as funding from National Lottery, Scottish Government, Youthlink Scotland, Alcohol & Drugs Partnership and Cashback from Communities

Youth Beatz 2022 is a free festival and tickets are available online now from the official Youth Beatz website – www.youthbeatz.co.uk