Glasgow Culture

Glasgow offers colourful and enriching lifestyle to its 580,000 citizens – and to the three million tourists, conference delegates and fun-seekers who crowd into the city each year.

Renowned as one of Europe’s top cultural centres, the city is a treasure trove of art galleries, museums, theatres, concert venues, cultural centres and cinemas.

The two jewels in its crown of museums and galleries are The Burrell Collection and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Located in a purpose-built gallery in Pollok Country Park, ‘the Burrell’ contains more than 9000 works of art donated to the city by shipping magnate Sir William Burrell – including works by Cezanne and Degas.

Containing one of Europe’s finest civic collections, Kelvingrove is the UK’s most visited museum outside of London. It houses many works by Old Masters, French Impressionists and the Scottish Colourists. The building reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment, costing some £28 million.

Glasgow is also a city of festivals. From January’s Celtic Connections which celebrates international folk music, right through to the end of the year, the city’s diary is chock-full of festivals… April’s Art Fair, the summer’s River Festival and the World Piping Championships, a Jazz Festival, Piping Festival, Comedy Festival, ‘Glasgay’, the multicultural Glasgow Mela, plus major community cultural events like the West End Festival and the Merchant City Festival.

With its international reputation for architecture and design, the city is home to world class buildings by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson. The Lighthouse is a six-storey gallery, dedicated to the promotion of architecture and design.