Dundee’s creative culture exploded out into the streets when a variety of free interactive events were showcased at the weekend.
The city woke up on Saturday with a mass public Zumba dance at the start of Dundee Dance Day while crowds also turned out to see the dramatic finale of the inaugural Print Festival Scotland.
With the city hopeful of securing the UK City of Culture 2017 title, the events formed part of a cultural learning tour organised by GoDundee, a group which aims to promote Dundee.
The walking tour offered a mixture of unique cultural experiences including modern art theatre, dance, print making and artists’ studios.
The tour formed two parts, a behind the scenes look at what Dundee has to offer as well as creative Dundee in action.
Activities of the day included visits to the Rep theatre, the DCA, WASPS art studio as well as public events the Big Print Project, Dundee Dance Day and the Creative Dundee/Fleet Collective.
There were some additional stops on the tour, such as the recent Lemmings sculptures which have appeared in Old Perth Road to celebrate the retro game’s roots in the city.
Organiser Danny MacDonald said Dundee has a lot of “hidden treasures” and he hopes the highlights of the tour can be included as an appendix to the City of Culture bid.
He said: “The whole process of the City of Culture bid has been about opening up Dundee’s hidden culture as well as building on the obvious things.
“There is a lot happening this weekend with the Print Festival, Impact 8, Dundee Dance Day and all sorts of other activities going on in the city.
“There are a lot of things going on in Dundee that people are unaware of and I think most people on the tour have been amazed at the diversity of artwork in the city.”
The tour group also got together at the Roseangle Arts Caf to generate ideas for what they would like to see happening in Dundee in 2017 to feed into the WeDundee group, which is backing the City of Culture bid.
Some aspirations for the city’s future suggested included opening up the Law tunnel for art installations, a Springsteen concert in Camperdown Park, a zip wire to take people from the top of the Law to the entrance of the V&A and a spectacular art installation out on the Tay.
They also suggested having imaginative additional uses for the new railway station, such as greeters welcoming visitors to the city, amphibious bus trips across the river to Fife or to Broughty Ferry as well as crop growing in derelict buildings.
Tour participant Chris Lafferty, 56, from Dundee, said while she was aware of the Rep she was surprised to find out more about its history.
She said: “I think Dundee is a great city and we are on the cusp of something really exciting.”
Her husband, Joe, 56, was one of the founding members of GoDundee, which he describes as a group of like-minded volunteers who are passionate about the city.
He said: “I think as a city we talk ourselves down a lot but Dundee has a lot to offer. It has been really exciting to be involved in GoDundee and I think the tour has been fantastic.”
Ally Dempster, 66, who is originally from Dundee and now lives in Newport on Tay, said he joined the tour on an impulse and it was the first time he has been involved in GoDundee.