City Guides, Glasgow

Glasgow: Paolo Nutini's Top Spots

The solo star takes us around his Glasgow

Becoming a global music star is hard work on the way up. When The Midgie tracks down Scots singer Paolo Nutini he’s just waking up in a hotel room in Indianapolis, midway through a punishing summer-long touring and promotion schedule of the States which…

Glasgow: Glasgay!

From politics to partying, the history of the LGBT festival

There aren’t many arts festivals that could celebrate Maw Broon (one of the most traditional of Scots comic strip characters in Dundee’s DC Thomson stable, which also produces The Beano, The Dandy and Oor Wullie), take on board a diverse programme of…

Glasgow: Merchant City Festival

The celebration of cutting-edge Scottish arts, music and live performance

The Merchant City is all of Glasgow in a few square blocks. At its most north-westerly point, as it merges into the city centre around George Square, it’s all about opulent buildings, trendy boutique shops and a range of desirable restaurants and delis.

Glasgow: Things To Do

Escaping the regular way of city life

Akhe & Derevo, Arches Live, Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, Winterfest

Glasgow: Bonfire Night

Fireworks on Glasgow Green

Those of you who’ve seen the V For Vendetta film might be forgiven for thinking that the design of the lead character V was an original piece of work. In fact, the cape, stovepipe hat and bearded facemask look was borrowed by V’s creators, the…

Glasgow: Food From Home

Where to get your country's culinary treats

Gjetost Cheese, Mithai sweets, Hershey's Kisses, Pierogi

West End Festival

The West End of Glasgow is currently gearing up for its yearly festivities. David Pollock meets the festival’s founder and finds out what’s new for 2009.

Beer Gardens in Glasgow

Summer is all about the great outdoors, so there’s nothing sweeter than enjoying a pint in the sunshine. Here’s our guide to the best beer gardens in Glasgow.

Days Out: Glasgow

Escape the regular way of city life and head to one of these scenic destinations or unique outdoor events. Much more fun than chips on a park bench.

Travel around Glasgow

Buses Bus services in Glasgow are owned by Stagecoach (www.stagecoashbus.com) and SPT (www.spt.co.uk). Yet the biggest provider is the First Group (www.firstgroup.com), with a fleet of around 1000 buses. Service and timetabling information can be…

5 things to see and do in Glasgow

1 SNO!zone After the winter that Britain has just ‘enjoyed’, most of us will be glad to see the back of the snow. Not the staff and customers at Braehead’s massive indoor ski centre SNO!zone, though, one of the company’s three sites in the UK…

Aye Write!

Now in its fourth year, Aye Write! 2009 promises to be the biggest and best instalment of the Glasgow-based literary festival yet, and - as the name boldly hints - one which continues to blend an appraisal of the wider written world with a strong spine…

St Patrick’s Day

As the saying goes, ‘everybody wants to be Irish on St Patrick’s Day’. Although this green-clothed and shamrock-festooned celebration of all things associated with the Emerald Isle is meant to be a patriotic event, it’s indulged in vigorously the…

Hinterland

Glasgow is widely acknowledged as one of the best places in the UK to hear live music, due in no small part to its consistent production of high-quality new bands. In Britain, only London and Manchester can challenge Glasgow’s heritage, so it’s about…

Live Music

As you’ll know from reading the feature on Hinterland festival elsewhere in this mighty organ of Midgieness, it’s going to be an even more exciting spring than usual for Glasgow’s musical scene. But hold on, you’re travelling and you’re on a budget…

Hinterland - The best new Scottish bands at Hinterland

Come On Gang! ‘Indie power-trio from Edinburgh, whose drummer Sarah Tanat-Jones provides surprisingly folksy vocals. www.myspace.com/comeongangmusic Copy Haho Louche young indie-rockers from Stonehaven (just outside Aberdeen) in the Sonic…

Franz Ferdinand Recommend

The Doublet Bob Hardy: ‘This is what a real pub should be like, with lots of wee nooks you can sit in to hide away and while away the hours.’ 74 Park Road, Glasgow (C1), 0141 334 1982, Tue–Sat 11am–midnight, Sun 12.30pm–11pm, Mon 11am–11pm.

Free Glasgow: A One-Day Stand

Although not generally looked upon as matching Edinburgh in terms of scenery or the finer arts, Glasgow is a youthful and vibrant city whose local music, clubs and pubbing scene is as vibrant as any outside London – if not more so, when you take into…

Biffy Clyro: 'Mon the Biffy

Ben from Biffy Clyro takes us round Glasgow and explains the influence the city and his suburban hometown, Kilmarnock, had on the band’s music.

Paddy's Market: The End of an Era?

It’s pretty far from being the most glamorous viewpoint from which to see Glasgow, but for anyone who wishes to view the city in all its bare-bones and often raw glory, Paddy’s Market is worth taking a walk on the wild side for. Set on Shipbank Lane…

Food: Currying flavour

When the late foreign secretary Robin Cook called the chicken tikka masala ‘Britain’s true national dish’, it was the moment the curry arrived. Until then seen as an ethnic food which had been brought over by Indian immigrants during the 1960s, its…

Free Wi-Fi in Glasgow

The Bank Cafe Bar • 443 Clarkston Road, 0141 637 8461 www.maclay.com, Sun–Thu 11am–11pm, Fri & Sat 11am–midnight. The Arches • 253 Argyle Street, 0141 565 1000, www.thearches.co.uk, cafe/bar open Mon–Sat 11am–midnight, Sun noon-–midnight.

Food Listings

Mother India’s Café Mother India's Café, part of the well-known Mother India group of 'home-style' Indian restaurants doesn't take bookings, so be prepared to wait a few minutes for a table. But the delay is worth it. There’s a genuine buzz about the…

ABC: Going Down to Alphabet Street

Glasgow enjoys an embarrassment of riches when it comes to live music venues. Of course the Barrowland, still enjoying the same atmosphere it held when it was a 1960s dancehall, is the most widely-famed, while the intimate Nice’n’Sleazy and King Tut’s…