Edinburgh’s Hidden Door festival will transform St James Quarter car park into a unique underground venue

The festival organiser says the basement location is ‘unlike any other space’ Hidden Door has used in the past 

Edinburgh’s Hidden Door festival has announced it will host its 10th anniversary event in a basement floor of the St James Quarter car park this year. 

For two nights in May, level B3 will transform into a unique music venue, with acts including synth-pop duo Maranta, award-winning DJ Auntie Flo and electric acid group Accident Machine in attendance. The event will also host the work of 18 visual artists, with musical performances accompanied with stunning visuals across the two nights.

Edinburgh's Hidden Door festival will stage its next event in a basement car park at the St James Quarter in May. Picture: Dan Mosley

Hazel Johnson, festival director of Hidden Door, said: “B3 is unlike any other space that has played host to a Hidden Door event and we can’t wait to reveal its transformation in May. This vast basement car park has plenty of room to play with; we’ll be making the most of the wide open floorplan, whilst creating nooks and crannies amongst the pillars for people to explore the art installations and projections.”

Susan Hewlett, brand and marketing director at St James Quarter, said: “We’re really excited to work with Hidden Door and host their 10th anniversary party, bringing life, music and art into this unexpected space. We have already hosted Edinburgh College of Art’s Graduate Fashion Show as well as a ‘Deaf Rave’ in B3 but to now optimise this vast space which has incredible acoustics, with one of the biggest arts organisations in the city is amazing.”

Tickets for the two events on May 10 and 11 are now on sale - for more information, prices, and to see the full line up you can visit the Hidden Door website. The public is welcome to explore the venue for free between 1pm and 5pm on Saturday, May 11, where visitors can discover the range visual art and installations on display and grab a refreshment from one of the pop-up bars sponsored by Bellfield Brewery.

Maranta will be among the live music acts playing at the forthcoming Hidden Door festival at the St James Quarter. Picture: Dan Mosley

To help with the transformation, Hidden Door is partnering with Edinburgh Tool Library, who are also celebrating their 10th anniversary year. Their volunteers will team up with Hidden Door volunteers to create a custom bar for the event, whilst other aspects of the build will be supported by members of their Making With Pride initiative, in partnership with LGBT Health and Wellbeing.

Looking ahead to the event, Hazel Johnson added: “Hidden Door’s 10th birthday event is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the past decade of festivals, collaborations, community and creative innovation – and what better way to do that than by opening up another of Edinburgh’s fascinating spaces and filling it with art, music and performance! 

“We can’t wait to welcome you to our birthday bash, to celebrate what has been – and what is yet still to come!”