A capacity crowd of 12,000 descended on the Dock Park in Dumfries last Saturday for the largest free youth music event in Scotland and as the Official Online Media partner for the event Team DGWGO were there to see what it was all about !
This was the second year DGWGO have been involved with Scotlands Largest Free Music event ‘Youth Beatz ‘ and this year it returned home to Dock park after last year being held at the David Keswick Centre , while Dock park was being refurbished !
On Our arrival towards late afternoon , the Dock park had been busy all day already , with loads going on at the festival , including Music acts on the main stage , The World of Wonka, which is designed to address issues for young people aged 12 to 25 run by Youth Work Nithsdale, working together with partners, The live theatre interactive experience enabled groups of young people to experience issues such as domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, cyber bullying, drugs and alcohol,. and sectarianism, in short interpretive scenes. Plus there were side stalls all ran by Local Businesses that are owned by local young people , a fun fair , food stalls and much much more .
But The Highlight of the evening and the reason why most of the 12,000 crowd was at Dock park was the Music , Including top acts like Local Heart throb Cammy Black ,Scotlands only boy band Rewind , TV’s X-Factor Star Nicholas McDonald, The fantastic Girl band Stooshe and event headliner Conor Maynard !
Pictures Below of Cammy Black and rewind Taken by R.B Photography for DGWGO Use
All the Performers put on a fantastically warm and friendly show and really got involved with the young Dumfries crowd , with Stooshe being snowed under with gifts of Loom Bands from the crowd , and Nicholas McDonald Thanking everyone for all the support that he was given during his time on the TV show The X Factor . Headliner Conor Maynard had twittered earlier in the day “We on our way to Dumfries tonight!!! Never been there before… so you guys better show me what you’re all about! #PartyInDumfries” And thats exactly what the whole event was , The Biggest Friendliest Party you could imagine , In Our DGWGO Opinion the whole region should be very proud of this event and all the young folk that attended , as they showed these artists just what a friendly place D&G is .
We Also had the Pleasure of Meeting Nicholas McDonalds Mum and family back stage , They were really friendly and funny , and Nics mum is very very proud of the lad indeed . They stood next to us in the crowd during his performance , and were very happy to take selfies with many of the young audience who asked .
Below Pictures of Nicholas McDonald , Taken by R.B photography for DGWGO Use
DGWGO COMPETITION WINNERS Diane and callumDGWGO ran a competition for one lucky winner to Meet the Girls From Stooshe Back stage , Our Competition winner was over joyed when she heard the news , and her and her son couldn’t wait , Diane said to DGWGO afterwards “It was really exciting, when we went in to meet the girls, who were really lovely. They asked us if we enjoyed the show so fr , and they asked our names .
Callum wanted a photo and one of the girls said she was the queen of selfies and asked if she could take it so Callum gave her his iPod and she took a couple of selfies.
They were really lovely, and gave us a signed photo each. They gave Callum a hug and we thanked them for meeting us. It was.great experience and Callum was well chuffed with the day. He had a great time and visited the world of wonka and had a ride on all the fairground attractions. Thank you DGWGO and Youth Beatz for a lovely day ,Diane and Callum X . “
We Love it at DGWGO when we make folk happy 🙂
The Girls From Stooshie , Photographed by R.B Photography
.After Stooshe it was onto the main Act 21 year old Music star Conor Maynard , who along with his DJ had the crowd Jumping to his heavy Bass tunes , and he really Rocked the Dock , and gave Dumfries the Party that he tweeted about earlier in the day . Conor states on his facebook page that he ” started off as a little young boy posting videos on youtube, I was happy with my 300 views… and 2 comments a month 🙂
But then…. out of no where… a SURGE of people rushed to my videos… throwing comments, messages, and facebook groups at me… I didnt know what to do… so i ran… and found refuge in the wilderness.
Ok seriously, i basically record covers of the latest big songs, and upload them to youtube, and hope that all you guys love them! 🙂 My brother from another mother Anth (Anthony Melo) collabs with me from time to time, make sure you go check him out!!! SICK RAPPER RIGHT THERE!! “
Ted Thompson , Copyright R.B Photography
Provost Ted Thompson, who opened the event, said; “Youth Beatz 2014 was an outstanding success enjoyed by so many young people and families from throughout Dumfries and Galloway. Council staff and volunteers put in a huge effort to deliver a fantastic free event sponsored by Nithsdale Area Committee and other funding bodies. Our Council’s Community Learning and Development team and the young people who worked with them did a great job. There was a fabulous range of activities on offer. It was great to see the Dock Park busy with young people, all of whom seemed to be having a great time listening to local bands and the headline acts.
One young person said; “This year’s youth beatz was amazing, best I’ve been to, had a gr8 time!”
Connor Stenton, a young person on the events team behind the event, said; “It was great to see so many big acts coming to Dumfries and even better because it’s been organised by young people as well.”
[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL2eo_-6_vM&list=UUW1U-RIjWZp9zqo0Pip-f3g” width=”560″ height=”315″]
The Evening was finished of with a fantastic Fireworks display , that the crowd loved , and apart from one wee half hour of rain in the afternoon the sun had shone all day and the night had been as warm and welcoming as the atmosphere at this amazing Flagship world class event held here in our very own Dumfries and Galloway .
Article Wriiten by R.B With some info from Dumfries council , and Competition winner Diane . Pictures Copyright R.B Photography , Please Do not use without permission ( Contact [email protected])
The event was managed through a partnership led by the Council’s Community Learning and Development Nithsdale and part funded by the Council’s Nithsdale Area Committee. Funding for the event was secured from main sponsors Unite, Choices For Life, West Sound, Magnox, Inspiring Entrepreneurs, Looking Forward Not Back, Dumfries and Galloway’s Elections Team, Celebrate Lottery Fund, and the Domestic Abuse and Violence against Women Partnership. Dumfries and Galloway Council thanks all partners involved in planning and sponsoring the event.
