Irish music festival on Glasgow Green postponed until 2027

A two-day Irish music festival set to be held on Glasgow Green has been postponed just weeks before it was to take place.

GlasGael was scheduled to be held on 2-3 May in the city centre, featuring acts like The High Kings, the Tumbling Paddies and Derek Ryan.

However. organisers say the event's financial model has been impacted by world events, resulting in escalating costs that have stopped it going ahead.

All tickets will be refunded, but festival bosses promised that GlasGael - which was taking place for the first time this year - will go ahead next year.

In an online statement Festival HQ Limited, the company behind the event, said postponement was being made with a "heavy heart".

The statement added: "Since we launched GlasGael, the global landscape has shifted in ways that have fundamentally impacted our financial model.

"The combination of current geopolitical turmoil, increased costs in the industry, and the ongoing cost of living crisis has created unprecedented challenges.

"Over the past few weeks, several of our long-term contractors and suppliers have been forced to increase their rates. We fully understand their situation, but these cumulative costs mean we can no longer deliver the event at the scale and quality you deserve in 2026."

They added that they were now focusing on delivering the event in 2027. All social media accounts for the festival appear to have been deleted.

This would have been the first year of GlasGael, with the main acts playing in a 5,000 capacity big top at the Green - the same location that hosts major Scottish festival TRNSMT.

Last week saw the cancellation of the Paisley Alive festival, which was scheduled for Barshaw Park and aimed to combine music with fitness and well-being.

Organisers blamed lower than expected sales for the decision, with singers Rag N' Bone Man and Emeli Sande having been booked to headline.

It followed several challenging years for music festivals, with increased costs and the ongoing impact of revenue lost from the Covid pandemic causing dozens to be cancelled, including the Connect event in Argyll.