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Glasgay! Festival

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Coordinates: 55°51′32″N 4°14′46″W / 55.859°N 4.246°W / 55.859; -4.246
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Glasgay! Festival was a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender arts festival in Glasgow, Scotland. From 1993 to 2014, it was part of the diversity of Glasgow's cultural scene, an annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Arts Festival held usually in October/November, formerly organised by GALA Scotland Ltd.

History

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Cordelia Ditton, the co-director of Gay Sweatshop, founded Glasgay! in response to the Section 28 legislation in 1988, which banned the promotion of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle.[1][2] Ditton partnered with Glasgow-based freelance arts administrator Dominic D'Angelo in 1991.[2]

The festival launched on Saturday 30 October 1993[2] as a biennial event with the goal of making the lesbian and gay communities of Glasgow more visible and changing public opinion about lesbian and gay people.[1] Over 26,000 people attended between 30 October and the festival's end on 6 November.[1][2]

There was some backlash to the festival, especially in regards to the festival being funded by public money.[1][2] Local politicians like Glasgow City councillor, John Young said that the funding of the festival could lead to the city becoming "the San Francisco of Western Europe."[3] The backlash led to the festival not operating in 1994, and again in 1996.[2]

The 1995 festival launched on 27 October 1995.[4] The operating company, GALA Scotland Ltd, was established in late 1995, after Ditton stepped down. The new board of directors was led by D'Angelo.[2]

The festival was funded mainly on a year to year basis by the Scottish Arts Council and, subsequently its successor, Creative Scotland and Glasgow City Council.[5] From 2007 to 2014 it enjoyed regular three-year funding agreements from the Scottish Arts Council and Creative Scotland. However, in 2015 this funding agreement was not renewed.[1][2] The company entered a period of funding transition, during which they retired the festival.[1][2] The company rebranded as Outspoken Arts Scotland.[1][2]

The administrative, artistic, press & PR archive of the Glasgay! Festival 1993–2014 was transferred to Glasgow University's Scottish Theatre Archive in early 2018.[6]

Past work

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The company commissioned 16 new works for theatre and funded over 40 co-productions since 2006.[7] It worked with over 400 artists in its lifetime and regularly engaged both established mature talent as well as championing emergent talent.[7]

In its history the festival has worked with many of the top gay and lesbian artists in the world. Names such as Ian McKellen, Simon Fanshawe, Donna McPhail, Edwin Morgan, Jackie Kay, Rhona Cameron, Annie Sprinkle, Penny Arcade, Bette Bourne, Diamanda Galas, Neil Bartlett, Scott Capurro, Pam Ann, Four Poofs and a Piano, Lypsinka, Louise Welsh, Marc Almond, Alan Carr, Zoë Strachan, Stewart Laing, and John Waters are amongst the many others that have graced Glasgow's stages.[5][7]

Commissions

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Commissioned Work[7] Year Writer Ref
Donald Does Dusty 2006 Diane Torr [8]
Tamburlaine Must Die 2007 Louise Welsh [9][10]
Elysian Fields 2008 Derek McLuckie [11][12]
Insideout (Exhibition)[a] 2009 Dani Marti [7]
Jesus, Queen of Heaven[b] 2009 Jo Clifford [13][14]
A Child Made of Love 2009 Matthew McVarish [7]
Memory Cells 2009 Louise Welsh [10]
Playing Houses[c] 2009 Martin O'Connor [15]
The Maw Broon Monologues 2009 Jackie Kay [16]
Panic Patterns 2010 Louise Welsh [10]
The Bridge 2010 Wendy Miller and Rachel Amey [7]
Edwin Morgan's Dreams and Other Nightmares[d] 2011 Liz Lochhead [17]
Cured 2013 Stef Smith [18]
The New Maw Broon Monologues 2013 Jackie Kay [19]
Wilful Forgetting 2013 Donna Rutherford with Martin O'Connor [20]
Cardinal Sinne 2014 Raymond Burke [21]

Main venues

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Venues included The Arches,[22] Art School,[23] the Centre for Contemporary Arts,[24] Citizens Theatre,[12] Glasgow Film Theatre,[25] Glasgow Women's Library,[24] Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum,[26] King's Theatre, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland,https://www.glasgowwestend.co.uk/whatson/glasgay-festival2010.php St Andrew's in the Square,[24] The Stand,[7] Theatre Royal, Tron Theatre,[25] and The Winchester Club.[24]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Co-Commission with GOMA
  2. ^ Co-Commission with GOMA
  3. ^ Co-produced with Arches
  4. ^ Co-produced with Tron

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g outspokenarts. "Our History – OUTSPOKEN ARTS SCOTLAND". Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rodger, Hannah (3 February 2019). "Two decades of Glasgay! How the legendary festival helped shape LGBT Scotland". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  3. ^ "BBC Scotland - BBC Scotland - Remembering the Glasgay! festival: 'For the first time I felt the city belonged to me'". BBC. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  4. ^ Heddon, D (2007). Alternatives within the mainstream II : Queer theatres in post-war Britain. Dimple Godiwala. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars. pp. 339–361. ISBN 978-1-84718-306-4. OCLC 166315433.
  5. ^ a b "Our History – The Art Department, Paisley Ltd". Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  6. ^ "Collection, Glasgay! Festival Archive 1993-2014". collections.gla.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 5 July 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Our History (1993-2014)" (PDF). Art Department. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  8. ^ "The Age of Gendersaurus". Bella Caledonia. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  9. ^ "The Company". Tron Theatre. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  10. ^ a b c "Louise Welsh". www.doollee.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  11. ^ Kelvin (15 October 2008). "The Madness of Strangers". What is in Kelvin's Head?. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  12. ^ a b "A streetcar painted pink". The Scotsman. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  13. ^ "Theatre interview: Jo Clifford on Jesus, Queen Of Heaven and fighting bigotry in Brazil". The Scotsman. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Play Depicting Trans Jesus Continues On Despite Outrage". www.out.com. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Playing Houses". MARTIN O'CONNOR. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Jings, what would Maw Broon say?". The Herald. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  17. ^ "Liz Lochhead discusses her new play, Edwin Morgan's Dreams – and Other Nightmares". The List. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  18. ^ Mansfield, Susan (20 October 2013). "Interview: Playwright Stef Smith on Cured". The Scotsman. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Papers relating to 'The Maw Broon monologues'., 2009-2013, undated. | Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue". manuscripts.nls.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  20. ^ "Scotland Ready To Showcase Its "Legacy" For This Year's Glasgay Festival - Instinct Magazine". 8 August 2013. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  21. ^ "Raymond Burke's CARDINAL SINNE Comes to Glasgay! Festival, Oct 22-Nov 1". BroadwayWorld.com. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  22. ^ "Unveiling LGBTQ+ treasures through the Glasgay! arts festival". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  23. ^ PGRNScotland (2 August 2017). "An Interview with Sophie Sexon". The Postgraduate Gender Research Network of Scotland. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  24. ^ a b c d "GLASGAY! FESTIVAL 2020". www.glasgowwestend.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  25. ^ a b "Glasgay Gay and Lesbian Festival Hotels, Bed and Breakfast Accommodation Near Glasgay". www.sandyfordhotelglasgow.com. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  26. ^ "Kylie – The Exhibition". The List. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
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55°51′32″N 4°14′46″W / 55.859°N 4.246°W / 55.859; -4.246

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