Glasgow Life confirms 2025 Summer of Events programme
Glasgow Life has unveiled a thrilling 2025 Summer of Events programme which will bring top local, national and international artists, musicians and performers to Glasgow.
The city will once again be home to plenty of free and low-cost cultural and family-friendly entertainment when the Glasgow Mela, Merchant City Festival and World Pipe Band Championships return between June and August.
Glasgow Life, the charity that leads culture and sport in Glasgow, will launch its Summer of Events with the ever-popular Mela in Kelvingrove Park on Sunday 22 June.
The Mela is Glasgow’s multicultural music, dance and arts festival and is free for all to enjoy. Festivalgoers can expect first-class performances by Glaswegian, Scottish and overseas acts, including Gtown Desi, Saloni and Maya Lakhani.
The Mela also features food from around the world and gives people a chance to play a mix of sports like tennis, pickleball, kabaddi and volleyball.
During the event, Kelvingrove Bandstand will host various panel discussions and workshops. The topics include health and wellbeing through the arts, music and memory and South Asian artists in experimental practices.
The bandstand will also stage a collaboration with Glasgow Life Museums’ Intercultural Youth Group. The programme will build on the Scottish-Asian Creative Artists’ Network’s aim to raise and discuss key issues within and for South Asian communities through the Mela.
Glasgow’s Summer of Events will continue when the Merchant City Festival brings its special blend of arts, circus, dance, live music and more to the streets and venues of the Merchant City from Friday 18 July to Sunday 20 July, during Fair Fortnight.
The theme of this year’s Merchant City Festival is Fair: Play – a celebration of Glasgow’s Fair Fortnight tradition when people take time off to rest and play.
Event sponsors Merchant Square and The Social Hub will be among the venues featuring activities and performances from Scotland’s children’s theatre agency Imaginate, leading outdoor arts agency Surge Festival and Bridgeman Arts.
Among the shows set to wow audiences at this year’s festival is Follow Me, a performance which follows two urban acrobats on a surprising and interactive journey through the Merchant City. Scotland’s own Dudendance will present Alien Species, featuring spectacular costumes that can be shed, shaped and transformed by the wind.
This year's Merchant City Festival will also include shows by Four Nations bursary acts, newly created by street performers from Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.
The 2025 Merchant City Festival will launch with a mass participation ceilidh as part of the Glasgow 850 programme celebrating the 850 years since the city gained Burgh status in 1175. Festivalgoers will again be able to look round its famous markets and food stalls which stock various eye-catching items and delicious delicacies.
Glasgow’s Summer of Events will sign off in sensational style with the World Pipe Band Championships on Glasgow Green on Friday 15 and Saturday 16 August.
Scotland’s biggest week of bagpipes, Piping Live!, is also being held in Glasgow this year. The festival will run from Monday 11 August to Sunday 17 August.
The World Pipe Band Championships pit the best pipers and drummers on the planet against one another in a bid to be named World Champions. The 2024 competitive piping spectacular starred 204 bands from 13 countries, with more than 7,000 pipers and drummers taking to the field.
Tickets for the 2025 World Pipe Band Championships will go on sale in May. Visit www.theworlds.co.uk for more information.
Billy Garrett, Director of Culture, Tourism and Events at Glasgow Life, said: “There is a lot to get excited about in Glasgow this summer, with the Mela, Merchant City Festival and World Pipe Band Championships promising fantastic days out and a chance to make unforgettable memories with family and friends. Our Summer of Events programme is central to the city’s cultural events calendar and helps to improve people’s mental, physical and economic wellbeing by offering something fun for everyone to enjoy.”
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The Glasgow Mela and Merchant City Festival formed two of seven successful Creative Scotland Multi-Year Funding 2025-28 applications made by Glasgow Life.
Creative Scotland confirmed on 30 January 2025 it has awarded the Mela £50,000 for 2025-26. In total, the event will benefit from £169,100 of Creative Scotland funding over the next three years. This year’s Merchant City Festival will receive £62,834 from Creative Scotland and £227,167 in total between 2025 and 2028.