Gillian Loney

IT’S THAT time of year when denim shorts suddenly become acceptable, flower crowns are all the rage and you wouldn’t think of leaving the house without a face full of glitter.

Festival season is upon us – in all its overpriced pints and portable loos glory – but there was something different going on in Glasgow last weekend.

My fellow columnists and I spent Saturday and Sunday flitting between TRNSMT and Fiesta X FOLD, which were happening simultaneously in Scotland’s biggest city.

TRNSMT – an ever-growing behemoth over two weekends with huge acts such as Liam Gallagher, Queen and the Killers – is a festival as we know it, where you wonder how some folk manage to get so drunk on warm, weak cider at £5.50 a go and you can’t help but notice that the line-up is a tad testosterone-fuelled.

I was there on Sunday night, singing along to every Arctic Monkeys line as the sun set over Glasgow in a crowd so packed you could smell the sweat and suncream from another gloriously sunny day.

TRNSMT was, and will no doubt continue to be, brilliant fun.

But at Fiesta X FOLD, our all-female reporting team couldn’t help but feel a little swell of pride that the stage was occupied by strong woman after strong woman, each getting the crowd going more than the last. The iconic Pointer Sisters took to the stage on Saturday with three generations – an original member, her daughter and granddaughter – belting out tunes you can’t help but move to. I had the pleasure of speaking to Ruth Pointer afterwards and she was perfectly composed as she sat in the sunshine sipping a glass of wine after an energetic performance. The 72-year-old should be an inspiration to us all. With Sunday’s all-female line-up including Laura Mvula, Ana Matronic, Goldfrapp and Emeli Sande, sisters were definitely doing it for themselves.

As a result, Fiesta had the vibe of one big dance party, with no one throwing cups of questionable liquid over the crowd.

Here’s hoping some of the littlest festivalgoers were watching the stage and dreaming big. Maybe they’ll go even further and have hundreds of thousands chanting along with them – like local legend Gerry Cinnamon, surely the star of the weekend in Glasgow’s east end. Maybe the next Emeli Sande was watching, and realising she can get there, too. As for Fiesta X FOLD, I can die happy, having made it up on stage to dance, alongside other delighted fans, with the one and only Nile Rodgers for Chic’s iconic Good Times. Maybe there’s a little Pointer Sister in us all. I’ll tell you all about it in the queue for the loos at TRNSMT next weekend. You’ve got to love festival season and the odd bit of glamour among the grime and grass.

I can die happy having made it on stage with Chic for Good Times