The Youth Beatz Festival Main Stage featured performances from well-known UK acts Kerr Mercer, Liberty X, Jax Jones, ili, DJ Sammy and Mae Muller, as well as some young up and coming performers from across Dumfries and Galloway during the day. The Second Stage featured musical and dance performers from across Dumfries and Galloway as well as local young DJs at night.
Over the course of the weekend, social media has been full of posts, tags and comments, with some of the acts also getting involved in posting content.
DJ Sammy shared multiple videos and photos to his Instagram stories showcasing his Sunday night performance as well as getting the crowd involved and telling them of his love for Scotland.
ili shared multiple stories on her Instagram including crowd videos, photos backstage with Mae Muller, and thanked Dumfries, calling the crowd “amazing”.
The final performer of Youth Beatz 2025 Mae Muller shared plenty of content on her Instagram stories showing her journey to Youth Beatz as well as videos from her performance including taking phones from members of the audience. Mae also reposted content of her performance from her followers in the crowd who recorded the action
'The Toon' youth drama production is a major feature of Youth Beatz and is designed to be a hard hitting and shocking way of providing information to young people 14 to 25 about current issues that may be affecting them or may affect them in the future.
The interactive experience was host to over 2,500 young people on the Youth Beatz Festival weekend – that is on top of the schools shows and preview performances to young people in the week leading up to the festival weekend. Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Youth Work Service, together with partners, support a group of young volunteers to deliver the interactive youth drama production by attendance at issue-based training plus performance and production camps. The Toon invites groups of young people to experience issues focussed on domestic abuse, knife crime, drugs and alcohol, mental health and bullying in short interpretive scenes.
Some of the comments from young people who went through The Toon were:
“The Toon shares information on issues in a way that is relevant, and young people can respond and ask questions.”
“The Toon opened my eyes as to what challenges young people face and how they can affect their lives. It also helps to show solutions to these problems and how young people can get support.”
“The young volunteers involved in The Toon have done a fantastic job once again, a huge well done to them all.”
Other attractions on the weekend included a wide range of activities from youth information to giant inflatables. Youth Work partners promoted their services alongside partners from local and national community organisations within the youth information marketplace. The Kids Tent was non-stop all day, featuring performances from Road Runner, Magicians and Act About Theatre.
Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Education Skills and Community Wellbeing Committee, Councillor Tracey Little said of the event:
“Dumfries and Galloway Council are once again delighted with the high-quality event that has been delivered in our region. As the UK’s largest free youth music festival, Youth Beatz has highlighted what our region has to offer and this would not be possible without the help and valuable inputs of all of the dedicated staff, Events Team and volunteers both young and adult, and we are incredibly appreciative of all of their fantastic efforts.”
One attendee who attended the full weekend said:
“Excellent event, well done to all Youth Work staff you have done Dumfries and Galloway proud.”
Another festival goer said:
“Brilliant event. Never seen a bit of trouble and lovely to see all the kids enjoy.”
Families and young people travelled from across Scotland for the event. One said:
“Third year coming and have to say what an amazing event this is. Well done to everyone involved.”
Another key feature of the Festival is the Youth Beatz Fringe which runs in the lead up to the event, and this year featured events in each Ward area of our region. The events that featured were all well attended by members of the local community, and included inflatable sessions, football coaching, community fun nights, free swim sessions, and free movie screenings.”
Vice Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Education Skills and Community Wellbeing Committee, Councillor George Jamieson said:
“Youth Beatz is more than a music festival, it allows young people to broaden their horizons and to try new things through the wide variety of experiences and opportunities that are on offer through both the main event days and the Fringe Festival. I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who has had a role in making this event a success, and I already can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2026.”
The award-winning event was managed through a partnership led by Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Young Peoples Service in conjunction with the Oasis Events Team. Funding for the event has been secured from Young Start, Awards for All, Alcohol and Drugs Partnership Dumfries and Galloway and Dumfries and Galloway Council.
To view pictures of the event, head to our social media channels and check out our website www.youthbeatz.co.uk