Major Events

Julie Pearson

Head of Events

julie.pearson@glasgowlife.org.uk

07880 479292

Events recovery on the horizon

Public health guidance with regard to social distancing means it is still too soon for major, mass audience and participation events to take place in the way we are accustomed. While the restrictions surrounding Covid-19 remain in place, we continue to work alongside our partners for the time when we can once again welcome visitors and citizens to enjoy our fantastic calendar of events. We are seeing tentative signs that a recovery is on the horizon, with outdoor, drive-in comedy events and movie nights in city locations as well as some operators taking advantage of the relatively benign summer weather for food and drink offerings. All the while, we’ve been working with event partners to innovate and deliver for our audiences in ways which mean programmes they love can be produced for different stages.

While nothing beats hearing the skirl of the pipes in George Square as part of the annual Piping Live! festival, organisers have produced an online programme to bring some of the usual flavour of the festival to enthusiastic audiences. This follows the virtual offering from the Merchant City Festival and will also feed into plans for future events.

It is hoped that even when we can get people and communities back together again, some of the lessons learned from hosting events online will help to increase audiences as we move forward. You can learn more here.

On 30 July, the Scottish Government provided indicative dates for the return of live events, both indoor and outdoor, indoor entertainment venues and stadia, all subject to continuing and evolving public health guidance. Like everyone else, we’ve been looking at the guidance to ensure our events’ planning falls within the framework, while still finding ways to deliver exceptional and memorable experiences. You can read more here. The Herald (13 August 2020) also looked at the future shape of the events industry and asked when the green shoots of recovery will begin.

Glasgow Mela goes viral

The Glasgow Mela is the UK’s biggest (and best) Mela and an incredible celebration of what makes our city such a culturally diverse place to be. The pandemic means we can’t have tens of thousands of people enjoying the best of Bollywood and bhangra in Kelvingrove Park, but we’ve been working hard to ensure that the show goes on. We caught up with the Mela’s Project Manager, Mark McArthur, to get his thoughts on this year’s event. When is the virtual Mela happening and how can I get involved?

The Glasgow Mela will run from 20 to 30 September, with events and performances streamed via the Glasgow Mela website – full details will be announced very soon, so keep an eye out for announcements on our social channels and website. What will the Glasgow Mela look like this year?

We will have a combination of recorded musical and dance performances along with other activity such as cooking and craft demonstrations, which are always hugely popular and interviews with some of the biggest and best acts. We will also play host to the Mela Memories Project, an oral history project to gather stories from people about their memories of the Mela over the years.

While there won’t be a big outdoor event, how will you look to retain some of the Mela magic?

With a festival site booked on a certain day, it’s not always possible to fly in all the talent we would want to perform. But with a virtual stage, we're able to look at booking some higher-profile artists to record performances you would normally see at Kelvingrove. There will be plenty of Mela magic and, we hope, a few surprises. What about attracting performers to the stage? What goes into making that happen?

The producers scrAN have had positive feedback from artists wanting to perform. Many of the artists are really excited about the opportunity as, like so many of us, have seen months of restrictions due to the pandemic and lockdown. What are the benefits of having a virtual Mela?

It will keep the event in the public’s minds and allow them to interact and get involved in the virtual activity. It will also provide a platform for artists to perform in a new environment. We need to engage with our audiences and in doing so, we hope that they will come back to us when things start to get back to normal. What are you looking forward to most about the new programme?

The Virtual Mela will hopefully allow for a more intimate experience for the audience and allow them to choose what they want to view over the 10 days and there will be some great content coming from the Mela Memories project in particular. Things are moving online, will the IT work?

There have been a few virtual events, like the Merchant City Festival and Piping Live! I think we should be okay, it's an exciting new beginning for the festival. Will there be any lessons for future years?

This type of event is relatively new to most of the project team who are used to working on live outdoor events. We will learn any lessons and take them forward. We’re all about delivering great experiences that people love and whether online or in person, or a mixture of both, that’s what future events in Glasgow will do. You can head to the website for updates and programme announcements.