Thousands attended XSite Braehead's Summer Fest this year
The event included performances from Glaswegian headliner Daniel Docherty and activities such as circus workshops, arts and crafts, stilt walkers, and bubble artists.
Capital Scotland also ran a competition throughout the weekend, giving away £100 vouchers to spend at XSite's top brands.
Read more: In pictures: Thousands enjoy Glasgow family festival
These included ODEON, Gravity, Paradise Island Adventure Golf, Frankie & Benny's, and The Good Hood.
Bruce Harley, centre manager at XSite Braehead, said: "We were thrilled to see the community come together for such a fun-filled weekend.
"Summer Fest was bursting with energy, and it was amazing to see so many families creating unforgettable memories at XSite."
Read more: 'We couldn't be happier': Braehead's classic car show raises more than £1,000
This year's Summer Fest also saw Strictly St Vincent 2024 winners Ian and Karen take to the stage with a crowd-pleasing routine.
The talented pair encouraged aspiring dancers to sign up for the next charity dance event, which raises money for St Vincent's Hospice.
Taking place on November 21 at Ingliston Country Club, this event invites participants to take part in a free three-month training programme, with no prior experience required.
To find out more about the event, including how to apply, visit the St Vincent's Hospice website.
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Glasgow Times
11 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Still Game legend revealed thoughts on film rumours
Mark Cox, who played tight Tam Mullen in the popular programme, will share his stories, memories, and 'loads of laughs' at his brand-new show in the city. The 53-year-old Glaswegian will host the event at Woodside Hall in the city's North on Saturday, October 25, at 6pm. Cox will also be hosting shows in several towns and cities across Scotland. The TV star is well-known for starring in Still Game, Chewin' The Fat, and Dept. Q, which is a British crime thriller on Netflix. READ MORE: Still Game cast members announced exciting Glasgow show READ MORE: Michelle McManus reunites with Still Game stars for smiley snap Ahead of his stint of shows, Cox shared his thoughts on the Still Game movie rumours, which circulated earlier this year, while also revealing what it was like growing up in Glasgow. In January 2025, Ford Kiernan, who played Jack Jarvis in the sitcom, addressed rumours that the comedy would be returning as a film. The co-creator of the programme claimed there would be 'no film', while quashing the rumour, saying it was 'crap'. However, Cox has now said the rumours should be 'put to rest'. Speaking to the Glasgow Times, Cox said: "There's been talk of how you would even do a movie. Do they work, comedy movies like that? "I don't know. I don't even know where that rumour started." (Image: Newsquest) Meanwhile, the Craiglang icon, who currently resides in the Southside, reminisced about his younger days and growing up in the city. He said: "I grew up in Springboig in the East End, not far from Carntyne and Easterhouse. "I went to the Glasgow Schools Youth Theatre at around 14, and I fell in love with that. I knew right away it was what I'd love to do." Before the funnyman began his acting career, he worked in several 'normal jobs', with one being in the city's Tron Theatre. However, the Chewin' The Fat hero jokingly claimed he almost 'had to call in the UN' after telling his father he was giving up his apprenticeship to pursue his dream acting career. READ MORE: Still Game legend praises 'magical' store in Glasgow Cox added: "When I had to tell my old man that I was going to give up my apprenticeship to become an actor, I thought I was going to have to get the UN in. "I loved living in Springboig, I had a lot of pals, but nobody was doing acting." The TV legend revealed it was 'great coming from somewhere different' as he claimed actors were always associated as being 'West Enders'. As a big lover of the city, Cox also shared his go-to spots for some scran in Glasgow. He told the Glasgow Times 'there are so many' restaurants, pubs, and cafes he enjoys. However, one local Southside cafe was a clear favourite for him. The Still Game star said: "I go to a cafe in the Southside a lot at the moment, Kothel in Battlefield." The comedian also said he likes a trip to El Jefe's, a top Mexican eatery located in Finnieston. The born-and-bred Glaswegian went on to reveal his deeper love for the city, saying, 'there's a warmth to Glasgow'. "There's something different about the heart of Glasgow, there's something warm and mental," Cox said. (Image: Newsquest) In terms of whether the city has the best humour, Cox said: "I think it's a place where humour is used for the good and the bad. "People in Glasgow use humour, and I think you can see that as a city it doesn't take itself too seriously. "It's a great place if you're into comedy or are born in. There is no two-way about that." After starring in Still Game, the comedian revealed he has been recognised by fans of the show from across the globe. Cox said he once got recognised in the Bronx Zoo in New York. He also said he's had tons of fan interactions, with many asking: "What happened to Tam's wean?" In the programme, Tam (Cox) had a child (Tam Mullen Junior) with his wife, Frances. READ MORE: Still Game legend has addressed rumours that the show will return READ MORE: Still Game cast members announced exciting Glasgow show READ MORE: Still Game legend pictured 'back behind the bar' at local boozer Regarding his 11-date action-packed tour, the comic said he decided to do it as he's the 'only one' out of the Still Game cast who's 'never really gone out' on his own. "I've done stuff with the five of us and the two of us," Cox said. "There's a big market for it. "People are very keen to hear different things from each of us, so I thought to myself, 'it's maybe time'." Cox added: "Paul (Paul Riley, Winston in Still Game) and everybody else have all gone out, and I thought for the autumn time I would go out and do some stuff myself. "I've written some stuff myself before, and it's good to get out; it's a good environment." READ MORE: Still Game stars' hilarious Tinder profiles for characters READ MORE: Still Game star has revealed love for iconic Glasgow pub The East End funnyman revealed the show will include 'tons of Still Game' chat. He added: "I was in Chewin' The Fat before Still Game for a long time, and there are lots of stories and different things about growing up in the East End, being an actor and becoming an actor in a place where no one was an actor. "I look forward to speaking to the audiences, that's a thing I quite like doing. "People come, they know who I am, and it feels as if you're in the right place, you're not trying to impress, you come with the stories and other stuff you've got to tell them, and audiences are great. "They eat it up, they love it." READ MORE: Still Game legends spotted with chuffed fans at Glasgow store READ MORE: Still Game legend pictured at Glasgow's iconic Barras Market READ MORE: Famous faces in Still Game you probably forgot about As part of Mark's run of shows, which will start in Aberdeen on Saturday, August 9, and end in Kirkcaldy on Saturday, October 25, the star will also host events in Irvine, Bearsden, Dumbarton, and Kilbarchan. Here is exactly where and when each show will take place: Aberdeen, Breakneck Comedy Club, Saturday, August 9, 2pm. Lockerbie, Lockberie Town Hall, Saturday, August 9, at 8.30pm. Perth, Salutation Hotel, Friday, August 22, at 6pm. Bo'ness, Bo'ness Town Hall, Saturday, August 23, at 6pm. Irvine, Volunteer Roos, Saturday, August 23, at 8m. Bearsden, Kilmardinny House, Friday, September 5, at 6pm. Dunblane, Victoria Halls, Friday, September 5, at 8.30pm. Dumbarton, Denny Civic Theatre, Friday, October 24, at 6pm. Kilbarchan, Kilbarchan Performance Arts Centre, Friday, October 24, at 8.30pm. Glasgow, Woodside Hall, Saturday, October 25, at 6pm. Kirkcaldy, Styx Kirkcaldy, Saturday, October 25, at 8.30pm.
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Scotsman
Meet the Edinburgh Fringe comedians who are also carers: 'Making light in dark moments is important'
Among an estimated 5.4 million carers in the UK, some are also comedians. Jay Richardson speaks to several performers bringing shows to the Fringe shaped by their experience of looking after sick or disabled family members Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... James Gardner can recall a frustrating meeting with BBC Scotland. The Glaswegian stand-up and disability rights advocate was pitching a travelogue that would feature him performing his 2023 Edinburgh Fringe show, Born in a Wheelchair, at accessible venues around the country. Discussing caring for his brother, Alexander, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and is non-verbal, Gardner would eschew comedy club basements and rooms above pubs, chatting to audience members along the way. 'That seems like an able-bodied person talking for a disabled person,' he was told. Gardner can't hide his despair. 'Being able-bodied doesn't mean you're not disabled,' he points out. 'And why should me talking about disability take away an opportunity from a disabled person? That's tokenism.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Fate could make any of us carers. Yet carers are rarely given a platform. The government estimates that 5.4 million people, or around 8% of the UK population, currently provide unpaid care for family members or friends. The Carer magazine has found that 44% of carers receive no government support for respite, which can essentially confine them indoors and limit their opportunities. Sharing responsibility for Alexander with his parents and younger sister, Gardner 'had no access to the arts, particularly as a child'. With his father and mother working, he says, 'it wasn't possible for me to be taken to clubs or after-school initiatives.' Ben Pope | Mark Jones 'I didn't leave Glasgow until I was 27. Quite simply, my parents couldn't have afforded or been able to cope without me. I shared a room with my brother, helped put him to bed, washed and dressed him… the complex and demanding nature of his needs most likely meant my own ADHD was missed for decades, only coming to light when I came to lead a more independent life.' Caring, observers stand-up Ben Pope, is 'invisible, tied to how disability is treated in this country in general'. Pope looked after his late father and says the message was that 'if you're even minorly inconvenient and we can sweep you under the carpet, we will.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Gigging while also running an independent bookshop five days a week, the former Cambridge Footlight recalls coping with his father's Parkinson's Disease as 'very draining', even with his mother as primary care giver. Yet 'difficult and frustrating' as it was, he says, 'it also felt very intimate. Most people my age don't spend a lot of time with their parents. I was dressing him and we developed a very tactile relationship because he lost his voice. Doing things with him became more meaningful.' 'I once thought of humour as a coping mechanism being a bit of a cliché. But no more,' says Pope, whose show relates how gardening became a fondly shared pastime, even if he was ultimately forced to withhold the power tools. 'There were some close calls. Helping my dad chop firewood, I was essentially operating him while he operated the chainsaw. If you've seen the movie Ghost, it was as ridiculous as that. 'I had reservations talking about him and his condition on stage. He didn't choose that and I can't protect my other family from hearing random audiences laugh at things they consider quite personal. [But] I process things through writing material. It would seem a wildly large omission and in some sense dishonest to myself and an audience not to talk about it. It cements my memories of him, makes them something living and breathing that I'm interacting with.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Mary Bourke had no idea how many comedians were carers until she made her Radio 4 series Who Cares? earlier this year. The show featured fellow acts Josephine Lacey, Al Barrie and Imran Yusuf, plus professional carer and comic Pope Lonergan and doctor-comedian Michael Akadiri. 'It's like anything,' she reflects. 'All of a sudden, you're hyper-aware of it because it affects you in a selfish, narcissistic way.' Bourke cares for her husband, retired stand-up Simon Clayton, who suffered a stroke in the 2020 lockdown. Sharing the couple's circumstances on stage, 'a lot of comedians would talk to me afterwards about their situation, punters would talk to me afterwards. And I thought 'oh, we should get this out to more people'. It's good for me to talk about it and get things off my chest. But it's also a lovely way for carers to feel seen because no-one ever talks about them.' Caroline McEvoy's first Edinburgh hour is about her relationship with her profoundly autistic younger brother, Jonathan. Almost 30, he still lives with their parents. 'With the climate around benefits and government support gradually being taken away, responsibility inevitably falls back on families,' she argues. 'But at least there's discourse about the parents of disabled children. What about the siblings who likely end up as the carer?' Like many performers, McEvoy wrestled with when to make her Fringe debut. But she figured, 'if not now, when? Because I don't necessarily know what the next 10 to 15 years is going to look like. I'm in my early thirties, my partner and I are talking about maybe having a family. Right now, I'm operating without responsibilities. But those responsibilities are coming my way.' Caroline McEvoy | Contributed Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Another debutant, Aaron Wood, has helped care for his mother since he was nine and she was diagnosed with the ultra-rare condition Medium-Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency, which can lead to dangerously low blood sugar levels. He became her full-time, paid carer three years ago. He's happy to joke about his father leaving before he was born, his autism and ADHD. But looking after his mother, he says, 'isn't something I've ever tried to explore for material. 'I don't love the fact that my mum was ill and I didn't get exactly what I wanted out of my upbringing. Stand-up is something I adore so much and I don't want to blur its lines with something I don't like. I don't think I can make it funny enough to justify. And I'm never trying to be the comic who gives the crowd all my issues as well as their own.' Even so, despite his grapples with the organisation involved, he finds that comedy and caring support each other. 'My mum can get bogged down and depressed about things, so constantly being there to make her laugh is an upside. Stand-up means you look at things a little differently, try to explore multiple points of view. It makes me more compassionate.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It works the other way too. Alexander employs a communication aid to point at with his eyes, which requires his carer to interpret icons, creating a dialogue through yes and no answers. Gardner believes his 'comic style has been greatly influenced' by this, articulating in 'Alexander's adopted persona … as has my habit of talking so often!' There's clearly an intersection between the two vocations, Pope agrees. 'Making light in dark moments, finding funny silver linings is obviously important for processing trauma and the ongoing indignity and ridiculousness of physical deterioration. And the skin you build from bad gigs helps shrugging off the painful, difficult moments.' James Gardner: Jockney Rebel, Shanghai at Le Monde, 6.45pm, until 24 August Ben Pope: The Cut, Assembly George Square, 5.05pm, until 24 August Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Caroline McEvoy: Train Man, Assembly Roxy, 1.20pm, until 24 August Aaron Wood: More to Life, Hoots @ the Apex, 4.50pm, until 25 August Mary Bourke is performing as part of The Best of Irish Comedy at The Stand Comedy Club 3 & 4 on 19 and 20 August
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Daily Record
Popular Glasgow IMAX cinema reopens after 'major' upgrade including new laser system
Movie-lovers will be able to enjoy some of the biggest new blockbusters on the newly upgraded screen The cinema is always a top day out for adults and children alike. Whether you're dying to see the latest big release or are just looking for something to do to escape the rain or have a bit of respite from the summer heat. And from blockbusters to scary movies, there really is a genre for everyone. Scots will be excited to hear, then, that ODEON's IMAX cinema at Xsite Braehead has reopening its screen today, Tuesday, August 5. It comes after a "major" upgrade, which includes a brand-new Laser system to elevate your viewing experience. The upgrade is going to give moviegoers "an unparalleled visual and audio experience." The new screen will "enhance" cinema trips for the local community and visitors, too, cementing XSite as many people's go-to destination for fun and leisure. "We're excited to unveil the brand-new ODEON IMAX with Laser here at XSite," Bruce Harley, XSite Centre Manager, said. He added: "As a leading entertainment destination, we're committed to providing our visitors an elevated experience, and the arrival of these screens will be a fantastic addition – making every visit to XSite even more special." ODEON Braehead's transformation includes a major investment to upgrade to IMAX's most advanced cinematic technology, IMAX with Laser. The system sets itself apart with its 4K laser projection system featuring a new optical engine and a suite of proprietary IMAX technologies that deliver crystal-clear IMAX laser projection, enhanced resolution, deeper contrast, and the most distinct colours ever available on-screen. In addition to the visual upgrade, the cinema now boasts a multi-channel audio system that delivers greater dynamic range and precision, offering the ultimate audio immersion exclusive to IMAX screens. The system is also supported by IMAX's 24/7/365 Network Operations Centre and features built-in image calibration and audio tuning to ensure optimum performance at every screening. Laura Canavan Doyle, Senior Marketing Manager at ODEON Cinemas said: "We're delighted to expand our long-standing partnership with IMAX as we continue investing in our cinemas to elevate movie experiences. "We look forward to welcoming guests back to our Braehead cinema at XSite." Guests will be able to enjoy some of the biggest new blockbusters on the newly upgraded screen. This includes Marvel's The Fantastic Four: First Steps and the hotly anticipated horror film Weapons. It comes as Braehead Arena has become the first arena and the biggest venue to commit to not charging artists fees for selling merch. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The Arena – home of the Glasgow Clan ice hockey team - has partnered with Ghostwriter Consultancy & Events to work on developing a programme of world class live music, entertainment, comedy and sporting shows and events. With a bigger focus on live music in the Arena set to bring even more big names, previous shows have included Oasis, Beyoncé, Bob Dylan, Paul Weller, Blondie, SUM 41, Blink-182 and Beyoncé. XSite is an entertainment hub situated near the Braehead Shopping Centre in Renfrew, just outside of Glasgow. It features laser games, a climbing wall, bowling alleys, and a cinema, as well as a range of food and drink venues.
