Glasgow's West End Festival Fri 8 to Sun 24 June

[Mori]

http://www.westendfestival.co.uk/



Glasgow's West End Festival is the city's largest and most popular event, and 2007 promises to be our biggest year yet,
with even more innovative outdoor theatre, comedy, drama, guided walks, talks, film, children's events, street celebrations and markets

[Peekay]

Yet another fine example of how far the Westenders heads are up their own arses.

PK

[Mori]

Are west enders heads up their arses ? i always thought they were nice people with a very cosmopolitan outlook

[Peekay]

Wiki - "The word cosmopolitan describes an environment where many cultures from around the world coexist; or a person whose perspective reflects exposure to a variety of cultures. It may also have the weaker senses of "worldly" or "sophisticated"."

So we have The "Munich" Beer Festival, the "Rio" Carnival, even the "Edinburgh" Festival (+ assorted others). All of which manage to name themselves after the entire city and thus make the rest of their respective cities population feel included. Why do Westenders feel they are within themselves important enough to have their own little party and not even name it after the city they think they come from. I'll tell you why - Heads, own, arses.

The Westend has absolutely no culture of their own. They just grasp at other peoples, oddly not the rest of Glasgows, and try to call it their own.

I'll stop now or I could easily go into a full-blown rant about G-bloody-12. Pretentious w@%k£rs!

Deep breath Peter!

PK

[red_kola]

So we have The "Munich" Beer Festival, the "Rio" Carnival, even the "Edinburgh" Festival (+ assorted others). All of which manage to name themselves after the entire city and thus make the rest of their respective cities population feel included.

Alright McGlashan, your point would be valid if it was the case that the West End Festival was trying to be an international festival representing the whole of Glasgow.

It is pretty fucking obvious that it isn't. It limits its scope to providing small scale activities (or in many cases merely packaging pre-existing events) for a local marketplace. Look at the programme: there is very little to make you travel from the other side of Partick to attend, let alone Glasgow or the world.

It is in effect no more than a community arts festival, funded mostly, truth be told, by local pubs in an attempt to sell more beer through the medium of extended licences...

If you want to have a rant about why Glasgow has no major Arts festival of its own any more then direct you ire at the cooncil who got rid of Mayfest in the first place.

If you have to launch into a needlessly bitter rant against one small-scale local response to this lack of provision then at least come up with a plausible argument to support your rather extreme point of view.

And if you just want to slag off the West End and westenders in general like some man possessed then please go and visit patsguide and offend some wankers who are actually more deserving of your bile.

[My Kitten]

aye, why did they get rid of mayfest, twas good

[dave2]

I guess you can claim the same for the Merchant city Festival - that even has City in the name.

Talk to most people in Edinburgh and the Festivals are seen as a necessary evil - we want the tourism, and the money it brings, therefore you put up with 6 weeks of traffic chaos, crowded streets, late night fireworks (Tattoo), every spare bit of space being used by a guy who juggles his pet cat etc. However you get more bars and eateries and a feeling of being on holiday any time you go into the city centre. Very little of the culture of the City Of Edinburgh is demonstrated in the summer festivals. This is more commonly seen in the various Gala Days, the Student Festivals and such like.

In some ways, maybe Glasgow should be happy to have more community based festivals, which reflect the areas in which they take place, with local bands, crafts, arts and businesses involved. They still bring money into the economy, even itf it is only from Lanarkshire, Strathclyde and Lothians.

Glasgow does have the National Art Fair, Glasgow Jazz Festival, Comedy Festival, Film Festival, Celtic Connections, Live & Loud, World Piping championships, GlasGay! and Indian Summer.

As well as West End Festival, North Glasgow Festival, Merchant City Festival, The Mela, River Festival & Hogmanay.

Maybe we should start looking on what we have an emphasising the positives in it, instead of bashing ourselves regularly, however much fun some may get from it.

[onyirtodd]

Yet another fine example of how far the Westenders heads are up their own arses.

PK

It has to be a better option than having your pricks up each others arses

[lynnski]

Aw, Peekay, come on! That's a bit of a generalisation, innit? There's loads of wee localized festivals around the city, Merchant City was one named already, you've not been bashing them! Why would the West End have a culture of it's own? It's a relatively small area, with a very diverse bunch of people living there. You don't think there's an 'East End' or 'South Side' culture, surely? I wouldn't exactly call the West End itself cosmopolitan, but Glasgow as a whole certainly has that sort of feel about it. We have loads going on in Glasgow and whilst I can certainly see why some peole might have a bit of a negative view of the stereotype that the West End presents, I don't think it deserves such a verbal battering. And Pats Guide is actually a great wee site, and shouldn't be getting such abuse. It's just a wee street party and some 'events' that would probably be happening anyway, like an extended town fete or gala day.. Get over it!

[Field Marshall Shug]

Festival means Feast of Fools. When I think of Feast of Fools, I imagine Ruport Murdoch and Bernard Manning being slowly turned on a spit over a hot fire.

[Josef]

When I think of Feast of Fools, I imagine Ruport Murdoch and Bernard Manning being slowly turned on a spit over a hot fire.

Or the pie stall at Rugby Park?

[Field Marshall Shug]

Whoever invented the macaroni pie, must be a millionare by now. I see Greggs the Bakers have flashy adverts on Sky TV with the boy from 'Max and Paddy' starring in them. If we all join together we can stop them from encroaching south of Carlisle and save our English cousins.

[Josef]

And why would we want do do that, precisely?

[Field Marshall Shug]

Greggs is as bad as MacDonalds. The world does not need more sausage rolls.

[Josef]

But it does need more puff pastry. What are we supposed to fill it with?