UNESCO City of Music

In 2004, Glasgow joined UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network. The award recognizes the important role that music plays in the city, which hosts an average of 130 musical events each week. The Glasgow music industry also brings in roughly £75 million a year to the city.

Famous bands from Glasgow include Texas, Franz Ferdinand, Jim Diamond, Simple Minds, Donovan and Travis. The city is particularly famous for its guitar groups, including Simple Minds, Wet Wet Wet, Teenage Fanclub, Del Amitri and Primal Scream, and most recently, Belle & Sebastian and Cosmic Rough Riders.

To learn about Glasgow’s live music venues, as well as its clubbing scene—second only to London—read about the Glasgow Music & Club Scene and check out the Top 10 Glasgow Music Venues.

History

• 10th and 11th century: Glasgow becomes an official city as the second bishopric of Scotland, named as “Green Hollow” in old Gaelic

• 1451: University of Glasgow is founded at the same time as Oxford and Cambridge in England, making it the 4th oldest university in the UK.

• 1492: Glasgow is the seat of the Archbishop of Scotland

• 1670: The city becomes an important trading post and flourishes, becoming the second largest city in Scotland after Edinburgh.

• 1769: James Watt, a Glasgow native, patents the steam engine.

• 1811: Glasgow becomes part of Britain and is the second largest city, coming only after London. The city becomes an important trading hub for importing goods such as sugar, cotton, and tobacco from the Americas. As Britain rapidly industrializes, the city grows exponentially from production of steel, textiles, shipping, and machinery.

Art and Design

Glasgow was named European City of Culture in 1990 and UK's City of Architecture and Design in 1999, and National Geographic also describes the city as an “exuberant, design-conscious city of high sophistication and even higher style.”

Glasgow is home to the most popular UK gallery outside of London, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Kelvingrove’s extensive collection is an impressive mix of work from the most famous European artists—including Dali, Rembrandt and Botticelli—as well as works from local Scottish artists.

The city is also home to Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 -1928), a highly-acclaimed Art Nouveau artist and architect who is called “the father of Glasgow Style.” Walking around Glasgow, you can view several building that he designed, including the Glasgow School of Art, the Glasgow Herald Building and Martyr’s Public School.

Famous “Glaswegians”

Glasgow has been home to a variety of famous Brits:

• Gordon Brown – UK Prime Minister
• Sir Thomas Lipton - creator of the famous Lipton tea brand
• Allan Pinkerton - created the first detective agency in the USA (Pinkerton Agency - famous for private eye logo)
• James McAvoy – Actor (The Last King of Scotland)
• Franz Ferdinand – Band
• James Watt – inventor of the steam engine

Festivals

The city hosts a number of large-scale and diverse festivals throughout the year:

January
Celtic Connections: In its sixteenth year, this festival showcases modern and traditional Celtic music and its connection to other sounds from around the world.

February
Glasgow Film Festival
National Review of Live Art: Annual festival of dance and live art

March
Aye Write! Bank of Scotland’s book festival
Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival
Glasgow Art Fair

April
Triptych: Music Festival

June
West End Festival: Glasgow’s largest free cultural event.
Glasgow International Jazz Festival

July
Glasgow River Festival

August
Piping Live!
World Pipe Band Champions

October
Glasgay!: Scotland embraces its gay culture

For a complete list of upcoming events and festivals in Glasgow, check out Glasgow’s official website.