Glasgow Letter
I was out a walk the other day and decided to take a wander round the Botanic Gardens – an old haunt of mine when I stayed in the Glasgow Uni halls of residence in Kirklee.
Across the entrance gate, there were numerous posters for Bard in the Botanics – an outdoor festival of Shakespeare taking place throughout July. Over the course of this month, the company will perform Julius Caesar, Henry IV, and two non-Shakespeare plays in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and a dramatic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Jekyll and Hyde.
My walk in the Botanics was a trip down memory lane to my university days, so I was inspired to channel my inner English Literature graduate and book tickets to see Julius Caesar!
I shall write about the performance in next week’s column providing the changeable Glasgow weather doesn’t bring about its cancellation. It may be a case of: friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your brollies. Tickets for all the performances over the coming month are available on the Bard in the Botanics website.
Meanwhile, Piping Live! announced the line up for their annual festival and, as usual, there are dozens of events for piping enthusiasts to enjoy.
From August 12-20 there is a full programme, including museum tours, massed pipe bands, solo piping recitals and folk gigs. Concerts include the likes of Project Smok, the Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton quartet, and dynamic duo Jarlath Henderson and Innes Watson, as well as Canntaireachd – a new collaboration between multi-award winning singers and pipers Kathleen MacInnes, Kim Carnie, Brìghde Chaimbeul and Ailis Sutherland. There is also a “gig in the gallery” taking place in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
On top of this, there is a welcome return for the relaxed piping competition, Pipe Idol. If you head over to the Piping Live! website, you can see when each of these events will take place.
All of this is a light-hearted accompaniment to the serious matter of the World Pipe Band Championships on Glasgow Green on August 18 and 19.
As always, I will endeavour to cover as much of this huge, annual event for Glasgow as I can in this column when it takes place.
Another big line up announcement last week was the highly anticipated second Hoolie in the Hydro on December 9.
Following on from last year’s successful inaugural event, Mànran, Wolfstone, Trail West, and Nati Dreddd will all take to the stage of the iconic venue with special guests including Julie Fowlis and Runrig drummer, Iain Bayne.
There will be a Runrig flavour to the event this year as all these acts come together in tribute to the great band on what would have been their 50th anniversary. Tickets are now on sale for anyone wanting a wee Christmas carry on in the big city.