The West End Festival is an annual festival in the West End of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

The West End Festival in Glasgow was started in 1996 by Michael Dale as a small local festival centred on

Byres Road Byres Road is a street in Hillhead, Glasgow, Scotland. It is the central artery of the city's West End. Location and history Byres Road is a mixed commercial, shopping and upmarket residential area consisting largely of traditional sandstone ...

. It has since become the biggest festival in Glasgow's calenda

with events running for 16 days in June. It has been used as a model for other festival start-ups, as with minimal local authority or Scottish Arts Council funding, and has grown with each festival. Its centrepiece carnival parade is the largest carnival event in the UK after

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 2006 the parade day ran congruently with the Glasgow Mela; organisers billed it as "Scotland's Mardi Gras" and an estimated 100,000 people took to the streets and park

Main Events

During the festival a wide range of activities and events take place. Prominent is a programme of live music, outdoor theatre, comedy, drama, guided walks, talks, film, children's events, various local street celebrations and markets, and a well-known Carnival Parade and Street Party on the opening Sunday. It has also hosted a series of events such as The Longest Day (1998/99), The Ideal Hut Show (in conjunction with Glasgow's Year of Architecture) and in 2004 a free outdoor concert led by

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

in the

Glasgow Botanic Gardens Glasgow Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. It features several glasshouses, the most notable of which is the Kibble Palace. The Gardens has a wide variety of temperate and tropical flora, a h ...

and in 2006 an outdoor production with a cast of sixty actors based on the life of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. In 2008 the Globe Theatre from London performed "Romeo and Juliet" in the hallowed quarters of the University of Glasgow quadrangle, underneath the iconic George Gilbert Scott tower. Regular features include the Bard in the Botanics (founded 1999), a Children's Author series featuring authors such as Julia Donaldson, and the Gibson Street Gala, started in 2004. In 2010 this attracted over 15,000 people. An innovation for 2010 was a West End Highland Games at Hughenden Sport Fields.

Awards

The festival was placed in the top 30 festivals in Europe by

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

newspaper. Two other Scottish festivals listed were listed, the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

and

T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...

. The free 2004

Belle and Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...

concert was voted in the top 20 gigs of all time by the Scotsman newspaper in 2007. The festival was voted number one in the top five reasons to visit Glasgow by Trip Advisor in 2007.

Main Venues

Anniesland College Anniesland College was a small, local further education college in Glasgow, Scotland, established in 1964. The college had seven schools, offering a range of courses and levels of study, full-time, part-time or flexibly. This new building is a ...

Ashton Lane Ashton Lane is a cobbled backstreet in the West End of Glasgow. It is connected to Byres Road by a short linking lane beside Hillhead subway station and is noted for its bars, restaurants and a licensed cinema. Overview The Lane was not always ...

* Captain's Rest *

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Church Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

* Coach House Trust * College of Piping *

Cottier Theatre Cottier may refer to: Surname * Cottier (surname), a name originating from the British Isles Various *Cottier (farmer) Cotter, cottier, cottar, or is the German or Scots term for a peasant farmer (formerly in the Scottish Highlands for ex ...

* Gilmorehill G12 *

Glasgow Museum of Transport The Riverside Museum (formerly known as the Glasgow Museum of Transport) is a museum in Glasgow, housed in a building at Pointhouse Quay in the Glasgow Harbour regeneration district of Glasgow, Scotland. The building opened in June 2011, winnin ...

Hidden Lane Hidden or The Hidden may refer to: Film and television Film * ''The Hidden'' (film), a 1987 American science fiction/horror film * ''Hidden'' (2005 film) or ''Caché'', a French thriller film * ''Hidden'' (2009 film), a Norwegian horror film ...

Hillhead Baptist Church Hillhead Baptist Church is a Baptists, Baptist church in the west end of Glasgow, Scotland. It is affiliated with the Baptist Union of Scotland. It has operated for over 125 years, one of 164 active Baptist churches in Scotland in the early twen ...

Hillhead Library Hillhead ( sco, Hullheid, gd, Ceann a' Chnuic) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland. Situated north of Kelvingrove Park and to the south of the River Kelvin, Hillhead is at the heart of Glasgow's fashionable West End, with Byres Road forming the w ...

Hunterian Museum The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

Hyndland Parish Church Hyndland Parish Church also known as The Kingsborough Sanctuary, is a 19th-century church located in the Hyndland area of Glasgow. History Hyndland Parish Church was founded with the development of the Hyndland area into residential living in the ...

Kelvin Stevenson Church The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and phys ...

Kelvinside Academy Kelvinside Academy is an independent day school in Glasgow, Scotland, founded in 1878. It has a capacity of over 600 pupils and spans two years of Nursery, six years of Junior School (primary school), a transition year of Senior Preparatory, and ...

* Kelvinside Allotments * Kelvinside Hillhead Church *

Kelvingrove Art Gallery Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

Kelvingrove Park Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. History Kelvingrove Park was originally created as the West End Park in 1852, and ...

Kibble Palace Glasgow Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. It features several glasshouses, the most notable of which is the Kibble Palace. The Gardens has a wide variety of temperate and tropical flora, a h ...

* La Bodega / Dance With Attitude * Lansdowne Church *

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...

Mitchell Library The Mitchell Library is a large public library and centre of the City Council public library system of Glasgow, Scotland. History The library, based in the Charing Cross district, was initially established in Ingram Street in 1877 following a ...

Òran Mór Òran Mór (Scottish Gaelic: "great melody of life" or "big song") is a theatre, restaurant, entertainment and music venue in Glasgow. From 1862 until 1978 the building was the Kelvinside Parish Church (Botanic Gardens) before becoming redunda ...

Partick Burgh Halls Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to ...

Partick Library Partick Library is a public library at 305 Dumbarton Road in the Glasgow district of Partick. It was built between 1922 and 1926 by the Office of Works. A single storey building, it has a slate roof with skylights. A boundary wall with wrought i ...

St Bride's Church St Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 in Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire d ...

* St Mary's Cathedral * St. Luke's Orthodox Cathedral * St Peter's Church, Partick * Stand Comedy Club * Steiner School * Tchaiovna Tea Rooms *

The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour ''Glenlee'' is a steel-hulled three-masted barque, built as a cargo ship at Port Glasgow under that name in 1896 for Glasgow owners. With later owners she was named ''Islamount'' and ''Clarastella''. From 1922 she was the sail training ship ''G ...

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Wellington Church Wellington Church is a congregation and parish church of the Church of Scotland, serving part of the Hillhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. The building is located on University Avenue, Glasgow, opposite the University of Glasgow. Building The buil ...

West of Scotland Cricket Ground Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. Hamilton Crescent hosted the first international football match, between Scotland and England, played on 30 ...

External links

{{Commons category, Glasgow West End Festival, West End Festival
Official sitePhotographs taken during the 2004/5/6 West End Festival Parades in GlasgowPhotographs taken during the 2007 West End Festival Street Parade in GlasgowByres Road : A Short GuideGlasgow West End : A Community Guide to Glasgow West End
Tourist attractions in Glasgow Festivals in Glasgow Hillhead Partick

History

Main Events

Awards

Main Venues

See also

External links