Exhibition News February 2020 | Page 57

Venue Focus to brew drinkable potions which bubble, smoke and change colour • The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, the world’s first ever purpose- built portrait gallery designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson as a shrine for Scotland’s heroes and heroines. It’s home to artwork of famous historical figures including Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Burns and even Prince Charles • My Adventure, an outdoor activities centre which offers a number of different activities including gorge walking, coasteering, mountain biking and canyoning Aberdeen Aberdeen is often associated with Scotland’s maritime history, as well as the marine life that can be spotted from the city. It is also the home of P&J Live, a 48,000sqm event space made up of three exhibition halls, an arena and a subterranean car park. The venue hosts a range of events - from exhibitions to conferences to concerts. The location of the venue itself allows organisers to target a new demographic through hosting events there. In 2013, Aberdeen City Council announced that a brand new, state-of-the- art events venue was to be built, and in 2019, P&J Live opened. The £33m development was delivered by Aberdeen City Council in partnership with Henry Boot Developments and replaced Aberdeen Exhibition Conference and Centre. The site is environmentally friendly and has its own energy centre, which will use local renewable resources and advanced technologies to produce an energy ecosystem. Over 29,000 trees and shrubs are planted on-site as P&J Live has “ Over 29,000 trees and shrubs are planted on-site as P&J Live has been designed to be living environment ” been designed to be living environment to attract both people and wildlife to the area. The venue is also on course to achieve BREEAM excellent the world’s leading sustainability assessment. • Those in Aberdeen can also enjoy the experiences it has to offer, for example: The Torry Battery, a dolphin watching spot open all year round, where from April to August visitors can join the RSPB Dolphin Watch team who will provide binoculars, spotting scopes and talks on the bottlenose dolphins, and where visitors may also spot other mammals like otters, seals and whales • The Countesswells Forest, where visitors can explore using the three walking trails which provide views of the countryside and the city of Aberdeen; • The Aberdeen Maritime Museum which has a collection of artefacts from shipbuilding, fast sailing ships, fishing and port history, and is also the only place in the UK where you can see displays which focus on the North Sea oil and gas industry Ayr Ayr Racecourse is not just home to Scotland’s only Grade 1 track, the Coral Scottish Grand National Festival, and the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup Festival, it is also home to the Princess Royal Conference and Events Centre. River Dee and Bridge February — 57