Glasgow Letter

It is usually about this time of year that the Glasgow Letter becomes quite challenging to write.

Around May and June, many of the Gaelic diaspora in the city head back up the A82 for much of the summer.

I have always found it a relief to get to the clear, mountain air of Lochaber and I know my pals from the Hebrides feel the same about the sea air. It is especially appreciated during those rare days when the Scottish weather is hot and the city feels claustrophobic.

Perhaps due to this exodus of Gaels, there are generally more summer festivals and events in the Highlands and islands that appeal to Oban Times readers than there are in Glasgow.

Take, for example, Gathering in Inverness.

We headlined the first ever Gathering back in 2019 and returned to the Northern Meeting Park this year for the 2023 edition of the festival.

Festivals in Scotland always rely on the weather so, as the Tide Lines van made its way up the A9, we were delighted to see pictures appearing on Facebook of the festival ground basking in sunshine and blue skies over the backdrop of Inverness Cathedral.

On closer inspection of the photographs, we realised the front row were all standing like drowned rats! There had been a 20-minute downpour only moments earlier – a great example of the Highlands going through four seasons in

The one afternoon but, thankfully, not enough to put off revellers who made it a fantastic gig for ourselves and all the other bands on the bill.

We drove all night, if you’ll pardon the Roy Orbison quote, to make the first ferry over to Islay for the Bruichladdich open day – another brilliant festival-style gig that goes from strength to strength each year thanks to the incredible staff at the distillery.

These are just two examples of events that entice folk away from Glasgow in the summer and make my job of writing this letter quite tricky at times!

This year, however, is different.

As I’ve been writing in recent weeks, Glasgow has a fantastic summer about to begin for lovers of Highland music. Details of three massive gigs in June are included in the What’s On section below.

I have written about each of these gigs in previous weeks