RESPONDING to an increasingly high-profile consumerist frenzy ahead of the Christmas period, artists and cultural organisations across Scotland are gearing up to celebrate an alternative event which supports social causes.
Since 2014, Black Friday, the much-anticipated day on which retailers flouting Christmas goods kick into overdrive, has been followed by a counter-activity called Fair Saturday. On this day, thousands of people from around the world take part in a unique festival, raising awareness and funds for social causes.
For the first time, on December 1, Scotland is joining the celebration of Fair Saturday as part of the wider celebration of St Andrew’s Day on November 30 – which this year just happens to take place on Black Friday.
St Andrew’s Fair Saturday is a Scottish Government pilot initiative for 2018 which is being delivered by the Fair Saturday Foundation.
The organisers said: “In addition to a national events programme, many of which showcase the arts, for the last few years people across Scotland have taken the opportunity to also reach out and help others less fortunate as part of the celebrations of St Andrew’s Day. So there’s a great fit with Fair Saturday and lots of potential to harness their joint potential."
They added: “St Andrew’s Fair Saturday is Scotland’s contribution to the global celebration of Fair Saturday which is a global mobilisation that aims to create a positive social impact following Black Friday, the greatest expression of consumerism.
“Artists and cultural organisations from all across Scotland and all around the world will get together in a global festival following just one requirement: to support a social cause of their choice and the wider celebration of St Andrew’s day through their show.”
Last year, around 600 shows took place in 114 cities, attracting more than 100,000 attendees and generating around €189,000 for social causes. This year, Scotland will be one of the countries leading the celebration worldwide.
Events will take place in Glasgow, Stromness and seemingly everywhere in between, including a conga line down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and a torchlight parade on Byres Road in Glasgow.
A full list of events can be found online at https://standrews.fairsaturday.org Fair Saturday was founded in Spain, from where Antonio Garrigues Walker, 84, the honorary chairman of law firm Garrigues and honorary Spanish president of the UN refugee agency UNHCR, explained the concept.
He said: “Black Friday has its thing and its how and its reason for being. It has managed the consumption’s vertigo to perfection, manipulating it with an impressive and overwhelming efficacy. It leads an unstoppable flow and most of the times it achieves to confuse what we have with what we are. This absurd fever is also part of the human being.
“The Fair Saturday movement wants to do just as much in its own way with other objectives.
“And for that, the path is quite simple. To fill for one day our venues and every corner of the cities that need to breathe and feed on new winds with cultural activities.
“Choirs, street artists, bands, painters, poets, sopranos, photographers, dancers … They will start marching and they will be unstoppable.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here