Community-led carbon-neutral club night ‘Ctrl-Alt-Dance’ is a first for the Inverness
Six young people from Inverness are set to break new ground tomorrow night with the Highlands’ first affordable, community-led carbon neutral club night.
Multi-genre event, Ctrl-Alt-Dance, will take place at Inverness venue Upstairs on Bridge Street and marks the final project of the Tune In programme – a pilot initiative by specialist employability charity Enable Works.
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The project has helped engage young people aged 16–25 from the Inverness area with music, mental health support and employability skills since late 2024.
In general, carbon neutral events are not a new concept.
In 2022, Scottish music venue SWG3 trialled it’s ‘BODYHEAT’ dance floor system which converts the body heat of ravers into electricity that can be used to cool the venue down.
At a cost of £350,000 however, this is not an affordable concept for smaller independent venues across the country.
Instead, the Inverness team has created a carbon-neutral model that is simple, personal, and, crucially – free.
The group calculated the carbon footprint of the event (144kg CO₂) and offset it through daily lifestyle changes such as taking shorter showers, reducing heating, and limiting screen time.
Over one week, they tracked their savings using a custom spreadsheet developed by Enable Works, collectively reducing 225kg of CO₂ – more than enough to offset the entire event.
Supported by the Inverness Common Good Fund and the Communities Mental Health & Wellbeing Fund, Tune In has created opportunities for young people across the city – including those with disabilities – to gain hands-on experience in DJing, event planning, and music production.
Local businesses such as Ember Kafe and The Ledge have contributed to the project by hosting "Open Decks" nights, giving participants the chance to perform in a safe and supportive environment.
Friday’s event will see the six enterprising young DJs – Murray Stewart, LUVANT (Rory Fraser), suzVX (Fraser Rose), KRNE (Katie Cairney), BKC (Betsy King) and Floral (Weronika Parfinowicz) – perform between 11pm and 3am, with free venue hire provided by Upstairs, whose team have backed the project since its inception.
As the funding period for Tune In comes to a close, organisers hope Ctrl-Alt-Dance will be a launching point for wider adoption of grassroots sustainability in Highland events.
Organiser and DJ Betsy King (BKC) said: “Above all, we are igniting the next platform for new DJs, new event organisers.
“But it’s important that we show we can still have these types of fun events while also being sustainably aware. We all live on the same planet, so we should all care for it.
“We as young people are showing we can lead a great event while keeping our audience engaged, and safe, and going that extra bit by making sure we are doing our bit for our planet – all while still being able to make it fun and enjoy our event.
For more information on the event visit facebook.com/events/1834437300724240.
