Sunshine and Celebration at the Glasgow West End Festival

Tens of thousands of people fill the streets for what has been dubbed “Scotland’s Mardi Gras.”

[Elizabeth Scoby, Festival Chairperson]:
“This is the 14th West End Festival in Glasgow, and today is festival Sunday, which means that we have closed the road, the parks are open and there’s lots of activity taking place”

The opening weekend of the two week festival welcomes visitors from all over Scotland, the UK and beyond.

“Glasgow has a reputation for being a very, very friendly city and it is very culturally diverse and that is certainly recognised in a lot of the activity that you’ll see, walking around here today”

It is very much a family day with time to laze in the sun while listening to every kind of music you can imagine, from Steel bands to Celtic music.

[Michael Dale, Festival Director]:
„We’ve got Jazz, we’ve got Steel bands, we’ve got Funk, we’ve got Country and Western and we’ve got celtic music. My idea has always been to bring people together with music and theatre and as you can see around you, markets are part of that, horse rides are part of that, face painting is part of that“

And even learning about relaxing exercises and meditation is a part of that.

From Qigong to calligraphy and from Samba to saving the world and other good causes The West End Festival certainly has it all.

Stefan Byfield, NTD, Glasgow, Scotland

(NTDTV)