Glasgow Music Festival

To compete or to display?

I have been involved in Scottish country dancing since I moved from Glasgow to Ayrshire in 1980 and was invited to attend a RSCDS Branch class with a colleague. Since then, I have enjoyed attending classes, dances and more recently have been a Glasgow Branch Committee and Sub Committee member. One of my remits, during my 4 years as Outreach Convener, was to organise the Dance Section, incorporated into the annual Glasgow Music Festival, which is now in its 113th year. Its main objective is to promote and develop interest and participation in performing arts. My main task is to create an interesting Syllabus for school pupils and adult teams to choose from. Every team receives a certificate of performance and if applicable, are awarded a First Class, Honours or Merit certificate or Trophy. I also appoint an Adjudicator to give oral and written feedback with optional marks for the more experienced dancers. I am delighted to have secured live music each year, which supports all the teams enormously.

So, my dilemma is..is it a competition or a display? 

My answer is that it can be both but all entrants must feel secure in a relaxed, encouraging atmosphere. The pupil teams are encouraged to think of their display as if they were performing at a school assembly, which is familiar to them. The adult teams are strangely competitive but have the most amazing spirit of camaraderie by supporting each other, sharing dancers and offering ice packs!

I have been very fortunate to have the support of the Glasgow Branch Committee, providing funds to meet the cost of the musician and refreshments, offering publicity opportunities both before and during the event, promoting the Festival and The Chair, Ian Johnson, also attended the event to open and close proceedings. Glasgow Branch has an array of willing volunteers, acting as the Scribe recording the remarks of the Adjudicator, being Stewards to support all entrants, registering entrants and supporting my aim to encourage all dancers to have a fun and enjoyable session.

The difficulty has been to increase the number of school teams entering the Dance Section. The event is held on a Saturday to reduce school costs and to allow parents/carers the opportunity to attend. However, many pupils have other commitments or do not wish to have a school centred activity at the weekend.  However, the adult teams prefer the Saturday, due to work commitments. Each year, I have had a few new schools enter, but due to teachers going on maternity leave and Primary 7 pupils moving to a Secondary School, there has been little consistent progression. A HUGE mention must go to Mrs Percy, Mr McComish and Mrs Smilie for bringing their pupils each year. The number of University teams attending is developing but there is a natural flow of members leaving as their studies increase, so forming a set can be challenging for their coaches.

This year, on Saturday 8th March, 6 pupil teams and 6 adult teams entered the festival. The enthusiastic dancers were accompanied by lovely music provided by accordionist, Màrtainn Skene. A positive, supportive adjudication was provided by Les Lambert. Thank you to Maureen Daniel who had to scribe all the remarks quickly and accurately. 

The Marion B Hamilton Certificate was awarded to Dalriada Dancers, scoring 89%, for the dance “The College Hornpipe”. They were presented with this certificate by Robert MacDonald, the current Hon. President of The Glasgow Music Festival, who is a nephew of Marion Hamilton. This year a social dance for fun, with no adjudication, was introduced during the morning and all schools appreciated and enjoyed the opportunity to dance together.

The Adult teams competed for the Glasgow Branch Quaich throughout the afternoon. I was delighted to welcome teams from Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The audience really appreciated the high level of skill and precision demonstrated by all. The Quaich was awarded to Glasgow Dancers for the Square Dance, “St Andrew`s Cross”, achieving a score of 90%.

A huge thanks must go to ALL Entrants, the Adjudicator, Scribe, Musician, RSCDS Guests, Dance Teachers, Branch volunteers and the encouraging audience. 

The 2026 Festival will be held on Saturday 14th March. Please encourage school groups, youth groups and adult dancers to enter the festival. The Syllabus will be available on-line in the Autumn. The closing date for entries is 5th November 2025.

I hope to see you there!

Susan Ewington
GMF Dance Administrator