Sold-out shows and big energy at Glasgow Jazz 2025
With more than 200 musicians taking part in over 35 performances, the festival saw an increase in audience size compared to 2023, with several shows selling out.
Brian Jackson (Image: knkography) The festival offered a wide range of events, including free jam sessions, one-off collaborations, a children's music workshop, and a book reading.
The festival has supported the music industry's gender equality initiative, Keychange, since 2017, and this year, 75 per cent of performances included female artists.
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Jill Rodger, director of the Glasgow Jazz Festival, said: "The 39th Glasgow Jazz Festival has been one to remember – from packed venues to incredible performances, the energy brought by both artists and audiences has been wonderful.
"Our commitment to inclusivity, giving young and emerging talent a platform, and celebrating all genres of jazz, are at the heart of what we do.
(Image: Campbell Skinner) "I want to personally thank everyone who played a part in making this festival such a success.
"We're already looking forward to what's in store for our very special 40th edition.
"See you next year, Glasgow."
The Glasgow Jazz Festival 2025 was supported by Creative Scotland and the Glasgow 850 Festivals Fund.
The festival is set to return for its 40th edition in June 2026.
For more information, visit www.jazzfest.co.uk.
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The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
More than half of festivals funding still to be rolled out
The national roll-out of direct government funding for festivals was first announced exactly a year ago by culture secretary Angus Robertson. Read more: At the time, additional funding was promised to provide greater recognition of festivals as 'a jewel in the culture sector and national life.' However the additional funding has only been allocated to major events in Edinburgh and Glasgow so far. The Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow is among the events which have had an increase in their Scottish Government funding recently. The additional investment in festivals announced in December was part of a proposed £34 million boost for the cultural sector hailed as 'game-changing' by Mr Robertson. The Scottish Budget includes £6m set aside for festivals – up from £2m last year. The Hebridean Celtic Festival is held in Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, every summer. Of this £3m was earmarked for a significant expansion of the Scottish Government's Festivals Expo Fund to allow it to be expanded across Scotland. Originally created in 2007 with a £2m billion budget, the fund has been opened to a number of events in Glasgow in recent years, including Celtic Connections, Sonica and the Glasgow Film Festival, however its budget had dropped to as little as £1.7m in recent years. The Granite Noir festival is staged in Aberdeen each year. (Image: Aberdeen Performing Arts) Mr Roberson has promised that the revamped Festivals Expo Fund would be more than doubled in value to extend its reach beyond Edinburgh and Glasgow, while government arts agency Creative Scotland has told Holyrood's culture committee that it expected an additional £3m in new Expo funding to be rolled out this year. However the government has only confirmed a £1.1m increase for the Expo Fund to date, to boost support for event in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Further additional funding has been confirmed for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society and the Edinburgh International Book Festival, who have each secured £300,000 in recent months. The currently £2.3m shortfall has emerged a year on from the controversial shutdown of a Scottish Government 'open fund' for artists after more than £10m worth of arts spending commitments were put on hold or cancelled. The government eventually released £8.4m, including £3m which allowed the open fund run by Creative Scotland to return, following an angry backlash across the cultural sector and on-stage protests from performers as Edinburgh's festivals drew to a close. The spending squeeze had emerged weeks after the government promised more investment in cultural events and launched a new 'strategic partnership for festivals.' Other events which have been involved in talks over potential funding include the the Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival, the Findhorn Bay Festival in Moray, the Hebridean Celtic Festival in Stornoway, the St Magnus International Festival, the Wigtown Book Festival and Aberdeen Performing Arts, which organises a number of festivals in the city. At the time, Mr Robertson said: 'Scotland's arts festivals are a jewel in the culture sector and national life. They provide an invaluable platform for our performers and creatives, help provide hundreds of millions of pounds to the Scottish and local economies, are a cultural shopfront to the rest of the world and much more besides.' In a recent opinion column, Mr Robertson said Edinburgh was the 'undisputed centre of the cultural world' this month thanks to its festivals. He added: 'At every stage of their planning and their delivery, Scotland's festivals are renowned for ambition, creativity and excellence at home and overseas. 'As well as their outstanding work on stage, festivals provide hundreds of millions of pounds to the Scottish and local economies, supporting a pipeline of jobs and businesses. 'Festivals, like the entirety of the culture sector, have been hit hard in recent years by a series of challenges. Recovery from the pandemic and addressing the challenges brought by Brexit have been made more difficult by increased costs and inflation, together with a challenging public funding environment. 'The 2025/26 Scottish Budget has provided an important foundation for the work of festivals, recognising the importance of stability and certainty through long term sustained multi-annual funding to support festivals' ambitions for the future. 'Increasing investment in festivals, as part of the biggest ever increase in funding for culture, underlines the value the Scottish Government places on the arts. 'Through this increased investment we want to drive up opportunities for participation in creative pursuits, support the festivals commissions and collaborations on new and exciting works, ensuring Scotland's cultural output have platforms at home and abroad.' A spokesperson for the government said: 'As a result of this year's culture funding uplift, a record number of cultural organisations are now benefitting from multi-year funding, around a third of which run a festivals. 'In total, 251 culture organisations across Scotland, from Argyll and Bute to Shetland, Na h-Eileanan Siar, and the Borders now have stable, year-on-year funding, with 141 of those receiving multi-year funding for the first time, and those previously in the portfolio receiving a significant uplift. 'The Scottish Government has so far provided £2.8 million for the Festivals Expo Fund, £300,000 for the Fringe Society, £300,000 for the Edinburgh International Book Festival's school programme, and £200,000 for Festivals Edinburgh. 'We are committed to expanding the reach of the Expo Fund across the whole of Scotland. 'The culture secretary is working with festivals across the country through the Strategic Festivals Partnership to realise this commitment in the coming months. 'Ministers are committed to delivering the remaining funding promised for festivals this financial year. Details will be announced shortly.'
The National
03-08-2025
- The National
Scottish filmmakers at ‘breaking point' amid lack of support
The spin is that these Hollywood movies prove the film industry in Scotland is thriving – but this is fiercely disputed by independent filmmakers who work in the sector and are having to crowdfund to support their work. They claim that rather than supporting and encouraging homegrown talent, too much public money is being spent on attracting big-budget films that do nothing to foster skills and creativity in the Scottish sector. READ MORE: Police remove pro-Palestine protesters from John Swinney's Edinburgh Fringe show The Sunday National spoke to Scottish independent filmmakers about the problem. Award-winning writer, director and producer Fraser Coull (below) has a proven track record in film and TV but says he is at 'breaking point'. His new short film, Faithful, is currently showing on STV Player and was screened at the San Diego Comic Con last week but he could not afford to attend to promote it further. He was awarded £777 from Creative Scotland to go to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival this year, but said he had to 'jump through hoops' to get it. Otherwise, he says, he has been 'banging his head against the wall' of Creative Scotland and Screen Scotland, formerly Scottish Screen, for 20 years. 'They did put a little bit of money into a short film I did, but when it comes to proper development funding – which I need to live and which I need to hire people and to develop longer, bigger projects – they just keep saying 'no',' he said. 'They keep saying I'm not experienced enough, but I've been doing this for 20 years, and I've had an award-winning web series, an award-winning short film, a documentary on BBC Alba and my feature film opened at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2012. 'I've done everything, but I'm genuinely at breaking point in terms of my career. I don't know what to do next. 'I've been crowdfunding since 2013 successfully but I can't crowdfund anymore because I can't keep going back to the same people for money so I can pay my cast and crew minimum wage.' Although '99.9%' of the crew live in Scotland and it's Coull's Scottish production company that produced Faithful, he was turned down for Creative Scotland funding because director Lucy Linger is from England. Sandy Henderson and Ian Gordon of SquareGo Films were refused Scottish Screen funding to travel to Cannes to promote their new Scottish/Gaelic film, The Gudeman, about the Highland Clearances, which features stunning Scottish scenery (below). An application was made in March but they were told just 11 days before the festival that they had been unsuccessful. They'd already found cheap accommodation, so decided to go anyway and were rewarded by interest from a major distributor. 'One reason I was given for the refusal of the travel grant was that they give priority to projects that have already received Screen Scotland funding, which is a bit of a chicken and egg situation,' said Gordon. 'Prior to our trip to Cannes, they were quite helpful with tailored advice, and I appreciate that they took the time to help and show interest, but I never felt that there was a pathway for ongoing help.' SquareGo Films relies on crowdfunding to develop its films, but says it is not sustainable. 'We are credible propositions – we have a good foundation and a good level of experience, but we find it almost impossible to get funding,' said Gordon. 'You can't make films with their support unless you've done it before with them. But how do you get the start?' Henderson added: 'It pains me when they constantly harp on about the Scottish film industry. There isn't a Scottish film industry – there's a bunch of people struggling while they work full-time jobs. And then there's Hollywood.' Robbie Davidson, also of SquareGo Films, has had to crowdfund twice to make his movie Dick Dynamite 1944, which was lauded in the UK Parliament because it involved a whole community in its production. He said he had approached Screen Scotland and Creative Scotland at various points but got nowhere, even though it is 'very much a Scottish production'. 'Once the film was completed, I did manage to get my foot in the door and speak to someone, but it became very apparent very quickly that they were in no space to help me with my needs,' he said. 'I was passed from department to department – it almost felt as if it was intentional to put you off. 'It seems like the funding is either for people who already have money or already have awards.' He added: 'It just feels like there's zero help for people on our level. It feels like they're only going to help English and American movies when they come. 'Ian and Sandy have been to Cannes and took it by storm. I've been to Hollywood and have sold out showings all over the world, yet we're all working other jobs to make a living.' Mark Forbes, an independent filmmaker from Aberdeen who has been making award-winning films for 26 years, with five of them shown at 90 film festivals worldwide, was recently turned down for travel grants from both the British Council Film and Creative Scotland. He wanted to attend the Galway Film Fleadh where his latest feature film documentary, Quiet On Set: The Class Division In The Film Industry? was receiving its world premiere, before being screened at West Lothian Film Festival. 'It's always been a battle with Creative Scotland and Screen Scotland,' said Forbes, who is currently based in London and has to take on zero-hours contract jobs outside the industry to support himself. 'I keep winning awards and getting into festivals so the lack of support from my own country is disappointing and frustrating. I do think there's a class ceiling, which is why the film that I made now is starting to get traction. 'I've got three feature films under my belt, but I'm having to film my fourth feature by myself again. I've been rejected a lot. Unless it fits their agenda, you don't get support. It's really sad. They seem to have a hidden agenda or tick box about who they want to support.' Forbes believes the film industry in Scotland is in limbo while the sector in places like the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland thrives. 'There's definitely an excitement in Ireland for making films,' he said. 'There's a real buzz about it, so why can't it be like that in Scotland? It was bad enough when it was Scottish Screen but now it is Screen Scotland, it seems even more corporate.' He said there was a lot of talent in Scotland, but with so many barriers to the funding process, it was in danger of dying out. 'It's an unfair, biased, classist system that's in place, and it just needs to change as it could be a thriving sector here with all the talent,' Forbes explained. 'They've got to invest in their own people like they do in Ireland. 'Funding bodies think they need to commit hundreds of thousands of pounds for a film, but even small things would make a difference. I've got two pieces of broken equipment that I'm desperate to replace, and getting funding for those would be amazing.' Maureen Hascoet has set up a Scottish Screenwriters Festival and a Scottish producers' network in order to bring people in the industry together and believes that the strategy of Screen Scotland and Creative Scotland is all wrong. 'It seems they just want to attract big-budget movies here, but that money does not trickle down, whereas if you film in Ireland, you have to have a certain percentage of local crew,' she said. 'The writers' strike in LA almost brought the industry here to its knees, and it still has not recovered completely, so what does that tell you about sustainability? 'Screen Scotland always seems so gated – the starting position seems to be about why they can't help you. There is definitely a cultural element to shift – a mindset of negativity, which is the opposite of creativity.' Creative Scotland said the majority of its production funding remains focused on films and TV programmes from Scotland. 'Recent projects from Scotland developed and produced with Screen Scotland's support include Only Child, Mayflies and Dinosaur for BBC Scotland, An t-Eilean (The Island) for BBC Alba, Summerwater for Channel 4, The Rig for Amazon Prime and the feature films The Outrun, Aftersun, My Old School, Janey, On Falling, California Schemin' and Tornado,' said a spokesperson. 'Screen Scotland recently doubled its investment in new film talent from Scotland to £1.2 million with the creation of Talent Builder – a bold new programme of integrated initiatives designed to develop the next generation of Scottish filmmaking talent and increase creative origination from Scotland. 'Designed to support Scotland-based writers, directors and producers working in film, Talent Builder offers a clear and comprehensive pathway from early-stage through to the completion of a first feature film script. Talent Builder more than doubles the number of funded short film opportunities available across Scotland. 'Talent Builder sits alongside our Film Development and Production Fund, a £4m fund per annum that directly invests in films from Scotland-based producers, directors and writers, and the £2.5m Broadcast Content Fund for television projects from Scottish production companies.'
Edinburgh Reporter
29-07-2025
- Edinburgh Reporter
Fringe 2025 – four shows by an Edinburgh-based producer
Local theatre producer and director, Emma Ruse, is behind four shows on the Fringe this year. Funding is a big part of all theatre productions – but it is particularly brought to the fore when we hear that some of Emma's shows have been rehearsing in Glasgow since it is cheaper to travel there by train than it is to secure rehearsal space in the capital. This is one of the hidden costs to staging a Fringe production, although we have heard of others rehearsing in London for similar reasons. Although Emma wanted to be an actor when she was younger, she feels that becoming a producer has been the most accessible route into theatre. After studying at Edinburgh College from 2015 she has never left Edinburgh and now lives in Musselburgh. After graduation she found that she was more curious about what goes on behind the scenes 'and in making things happen for people with that sort of oversight rather than being the person on stage delivering the performance'. So she left acting behind completely – although joked that she may find herself doing am-dram in 20 years time in a production of Les Mis. But she does not envy actors the haphazard existence involving auditions often organised at the drop of a hat. She is quite modest about her role saying it is 'in many ways a glorified project manager and in many ways so much more than that. It is basically everything that you don't see. So, it's all the scheduling, it's the fundraising, it's the bringing people together, finding the right jigsaw pieces to make the creative magic happen.' Emma Ruse Fundraising In June a fundraiser performance at Leith Arches included 15 -minute excerpts from all four shows. Mary: A Gig Theatre Show had a short run at the Traverse last December with its all female cast which includes the writer, Rona Johnston, who are mainly Queen Margaret University (QMU) graduates. Mary is the only one of the four productions which is self-funded along with a bit of support from QMU's Santander Fund. The others are helped by a mix of crowdfunding and some backing from Creative Scotland's Open Fund. On the thorny issue of the Creative Scotland (CS) Open Fund, Emma is diplomatic, saying: 'I think it's really challenging. It's public money, so there needs to be a due diligence done to make sure public money is being used in the appropriate way. And I think Creative Scotland have a really hard job because there is a lot of great art, and not enough funding for the arts. So I think it's almost impossible for them to be able to win.' But the Leith Arches fundraiser was a good opportunity to see all four productions side by side. Emma said: 'It was really magical actually. When you work on everything so separately, it is brilliant to bring it together and the audience were very warm and very excited about it.' Emma was also pleased that Jumper Bumps received funding from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society's Keep it Fringe fund, and that in relation to r/Conspiracy Creative Scotland stepped up 'with a bit of funding'. Homo (Sapien) is written by an Irish writer and the show premiered in Dublin in May with a bit of funding from the CS Open Fund. Emma was notably included on the 2024 30under30 list compiled by The Young Women's Movement. Part of the reason for her recognition is that the East Lothian producer spent eight years as a member of the National Youth Arts Advisory Group for Scotland – advising on cultural strategy and supporting the way that youth arts funding was distributed. The Young Women's Movement seeks to 'celebrate young women, girls and non-binary people in Scotland who are making changes in their lives, communities and wider society'. The day job involves running Emma Ruse Productions and also Framework Theatre Company which she set up with a few friends providing bespoke support to emerging Scottish theatre makers. Emma credits Framework as being the start to her career. Although she prefers working on stories told through a feminist or queer lens and anything which supports those considered underrepresented, her work also involves directing some work and also producing plays written by others. Being a local Emma agrees that being able to produce four shows locally is a great opportunity, but asked whether the Fringe is a truly great launching pad for the work she considers her reply carefully. She said: 'I think you have to be so strategic. I think a lot of what I see is people not thinking strategically about what sort of work they're bringing, and expecting all sorts of work to be able to achieve the same things at the festival. So as much as I do have four shows, and that might feel like a lot, but they're four shows that I feel really strongly have a space and have an audience at the Edinburgh festival. So I think you have to be strategic with what you're bringing and realistic with your expectations. I am not expecting any of these shows to be Fleabag. 'I think they're all brilliant. I think they have the potential to do that sort of thing. But I think a lot of people go into Fringe with these really high expectations based off Fleabag, based off Baby Reindeer. And it's just so unlikely with the wealth of work that is happening that yours will be the one in every five years that gets picked up that way. 'So I think for us what's really useful is it's a chance for our work to be seen. It's a chance to do a long run, which is practically unheard of in Scottish theatre unless you're in one of the big venues, and it's a chance to learn your craft that way as well. You learn so much from doing a show 25 times that you will never learn when you do it for three nights and then that's the end. So I think in these ways it's a really useful platform.' And her advice on how to get through the Fringe? Emma said: 'My top tip is that you cannot do everything. You cannot see everything no matter how much you might want to and you cannot talk to everyone you want to meet. At some point you have to say that is it for today, that's all I can do. It's a marathon not a sprint.' The shows Her thoughts on the four shows are that they are all 'a bit different' but held together by the same values. She said: 'Homo (Sapien) is a very overtly queer piece. It's about growing up gay in Catholic Ireland. So that one definitely fits in. And Jumper Bumps is about a woman's right to choose in coercive relationships, and the challenging political climate we live in at the moment. So that feels really strongly feminist in theme. 'But then you have shows like r/Conspiracy, which on the surface is potentially not fulfilling either of those, but kind of does both of them because it's really rare to see a woman on stage talking about Reddit and existing in those sorts of internet sleuthing spaces. So it does it in a potentially more subverted way. And Mary is definitely a feminist retelling of Mary's story which feels really exciting and important and the music in that show is truly phenomenal. I saw it at the Fringe last year and fell in love with it. They were self-producing last year so I was delighted to come on board and we got a short run at the Traverse before Christmas which sold out. It felt right to bring it back to the festival on a bigger scale and give more audiences an opportunity to engage with the work.' The shows Homo (Sapien) by Conor O'Dwyer – 'Joey is a Bad Gay™. He's never had sex with a man, not even once. But tonight is the night, and he is determined to make sure he will not die a virgin. Filled with Catholic guilt, internalised homophobia and fear of the local GAA lads – Joey embarks on a hapless quest to 'get his hole' before it's too late. Homo(sapien) is a joyful, queer, coming-of-age one-man show about overcoming your fears. The debut play from Conor O'Dwyer – an Irish playwright and performer based in Edinburgh.' Tickets here. r/Conspiracy – 'r/Conspiracy is a play for messy girls, hungry sleuths, and the chronically online. Alex tumbles headfirst into the rabbit hole when she spots a Reddit thread documenting a man with a machete roaming her local park. But the harder she digs, the deeper she falls… A timely reminder of the flaws of the internet, and a virtual mystery romp for 20-somethings with too much time on their hands, and the weight of the world on their shoulders, r/Conspiracy is written and performed by Ella Hällgren, and directed by Emma Ruse.' Tickets here. Jumper Bumps – 'What happens when the thing you wished for your whole life turns out to be your worst nightmare? Eris wants a baby. Atlanta doesn't. They're best friends with very different views of motherhood. Eris sees it as a chance to create a better version of herself. Atlanta sees it as the opposite, an end to her freedom. As similar as they are different, their friendship is stretched when Eris finds herself pregnant. The debut play by Amelia Rodger about a woman's right to choose, coercive relationships and female friendship.' Tickets here. Mary: A Gig Theatre Show – 'Through powerful original music and spoken word, a folk-rock band retells Mary Queen of Scots' story. The bold gig theatre show searingly questions what Mary faced at the hands of men, offering a mesmerising and riotous response. The hit show is back for 2025, following acclaimed sold-out runs at the 2024 Fringe and the Traverse Theatre in December.' Tickets here. Like this: Like Related
