An audience of around 40,000 over the course of the weekend were entertained by fantastic performances on the Main Stage, Up Yer Airts Stage, Dance Stage and Kids Tent. The Youth Beatz Festival Main Stage featured performances from well-known UK acts Natalie Shay, Caity Baser, Example, Jasmin Jet, Levi Heron and The Vamps presents Up All Night, as well as some young up and coming performers from across Dumfries and Galloway during the day. The Up Yer Airts Stage programmed by Arts DG featured musical performers from across Dumfries and Galloway throughout both event days.
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.
Natalie Shay shared multiple videos and photos to her Instagram stories showcasing her Saturday performance as well as sharing content to her Facebook page.
Levi Heron who was performing on one of the Sunday evening slots said on his Facebook: "Youth Beatz Dumfries, that was insane! Thank you all so much.”
The final performer of Youth Beatz 2026 The Vamps presents Up All Night members Connor Ball and Tristan Evans shared plenty of content on their Instagram stories showing videos and photos from their performance as the final act of Youth Beatz 2026. Connor Ball said: “Thank you Scotland, an absolute pleasure as always” with both members also sharing content of their journey heading to Dumfries for the event.
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 aged 14–25 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 – 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 is a really good way of sharing youth information with young people in a format that we can understand.”
“Because The Toon is developed by young people for young people we can relate to it more than someone just standing talking about something.”
“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 including magicians, interactive storytelling, Gaelic singing and unicorn dance parties.
Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Education Skills and Community Wellbeing Committee, Councillor Tracey Little, said:
“Dumfries and Galloway Council is 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. A huge well done to everyone involved in planning and delivering this fantastic event!”
A festival goer said:
“Fantastic event and really well planned- there was something for everyone and it was great to see everyone having such a good time.”
Families and young people travelled from across Scotland for the event. One said:
“We came down from Dumbarton for the full weekend, and we’ve had a fantastic time. Dumfries and Galloway is incredibly lucky to have an event like this.”
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 that were delivered by partners through the Youth Beatz Fringe Fund. 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 2027.”
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, Commonwealth Games Fund, Alcohol and Drugs Partnership Dumfries and Galloway and Dumfries and Galloway Council.
The council’s Youth Work Service would like to thank all partners involved in planning the event and hopefully look forward to building on the success in the future. To view pictures of the event, head to our social media channels and check out www.youthbeatz.co.uk