The Glasgow Music Festival, which is in its 115th year, invites entries from schools, adults, bands, and choirs, to enter a variety of Classes in the sections of Music, Speech & Drama and Dance (Scottish Country Dancing only). Entrants will all receive an oral and written adjudication and can select whether to receive a comparative score with others in the Class. The festival usually lasts about 10 days, filled with a huge variety of Music events, with Scottish Country Dancing and Speech being held on a Saturday only.
Looking Back at the 2026 Festival
On Saturday 14th March, the Dance Section of the 114th Glasgow Music Festival was held in the Renfield Church Centre, Bath Street. The enthusiastic audience of parents and supporters were treated to fabulous dance performances throughout the morning. Ian (Chair) and Elspeth Johnson represented Glasgow Branch and thanks go to Ian for his opening and closing remarks, which were very much appreciated by everyone.
It was my pleasure to welcome back pupils from St Ninian’s Primary, Comely Park Primary, St Andrew’s Primary and Blairdardie Primary School. Young dancers from Dunfermline Branch attended for the first time and I hope all children’s teams intend to make a return visit next year. The commitment from dancers and their teaching staff was obvious throughout each display. The pupils danced to the lovely music provided by Susan MacFadyen. Positive and supportive adjudication was provided by Angela Young. Thank you to Maureen Daniel who scribed all the remarks quickly and accurately.
The Marion B Hamilton Certificate was awarded to Comely Park Primary School, scoring 87%, for the dance “Hedwig’s Reel”. The certificate was presented by Robert MacDonald, the current Honorary President of The Glasgow Music Festival and nephew of Marion Hamilton. The young dancers’ section finished with the social dance “A Reel for Jeannie”, allowing everyone the opportunity to dance together.
The adult teams competed for the Glasgow Branch Quaich award. I was delighted to welcome Glasgow Scottish Country Dancers, Edinburgh University New Scotland Dance Society and Dundee University Scottish Country Dance Society back to the festival. The audience greatly appreciated the high level of skill and precision demonstrated by all the dancers.
The Quaich was awarded to Glasgow Scottish Country Dancers for their performance of “The Golden Years” and “Ye’re Welcome, Charly Stuart”, achieving a score of 91%.
My huge thanks go to all entrants, the adjudicator, scribe, musician, RSCDS guests, dance teachers and the encouraging audience. My sincere thanks also go to all the RSCDS volunteer stewards who worked behind the scenes to support both the dancers and myself, helping to ensure the smooth running of the festival.
My role as Dance Administrator is to create the syllabus, appoint a musician, scribe, adjudicator and stewards, advertise and promote the syllabus, devise a timetable and run the event. For 2027 I have designed a syllabus which will appeal to different age groups and cater for a variety of dance experience. Could you be part of a dance team or be part of an enthusiastic audience to support all dancers? Everyone is welcome and it is the active participation of dancers, teachers and supporters that makes the festival such a success each year.
Save the date …. SATURDAY 13TH MARCH 2027. Further details from [email protected]
Please encourage local school groups, youth groups and adult dancers to enter the 2027 festival. The syllabus will be available online in the Autumn and the closing date for entry forms will be 30th November 2026.
Further details: www.glasgowmusicfestival.org
