Dundee’s international status as a hotbed of design will be celebrated when its first ever Design Festival kicks off today.
Although it will not fully open to the public until tomorrow, schoolchildren will be among the first to see how DC Thomson’s West Ward Works has been transformed for the prestigious four-day event.
Organiser Anna Day said the vast industrial space of West Ward has been remodelled for the festival, with three separate galleries created.
She said: “It is such a huge space that when we first started talking about how we would fill it but all the exhibitors have done a fantastic job.”
Ms Day said spaces on this weekend’s workshops are already filling up fast and added the festival has already brought visitors to Dundee from as far afield as New York and China.
The event is being held to mark Dundee’s first year as the only UK city to achieve City of Design status from Unesco.
The exhibition will focus on some of the revolutionary design work being carried out in the city in fields ranging from textiles to video game design.
Visitors to West Ward will also get the chance to make their own mark on one of the Oor Wullie statues being create for The ARCHIE Foundation fundraising Oor Wullie Bucket Trail.
Everyone who visits West Ward will be able to add a touch of colour to the statue, creating a permanent legacy of the Design Festival and their own participation in it.
Although the Design Festival is centred on West Ward, there are a number of other events taking place across the city.
One highlight this weekend will see Slessor Gardens host a stunning and quirky piece of interactive art.
The People’s Tower project is asking people of all ages to take part in the extravaganza of design, construction and subsequent destruction.
Volunteers will recreate the Royal Arch using 1,200 cardboard boxes on Saturday and will then get to tear down the four-storey structure the following day.
Anyone who wants to take part in the event should visit Slessor Gardens at 11am on Saturday.
Dundee Museum of Transport will be running a free bus on Saturday to take visitors from its Market Street HQ to DC Thomson’s former printworks in Guthrie Street.
Ms Day said: “We’re delighted that the transport museum is providing a great service that will link these brilliant events.
“It’s going to be a fantastic weekend and we hope that people will spend the whole day out in Dundee, going round the various attractions.”
For more information visit www.dundeecityofdesign.com.
