Latest news with #GovanhillBookFestival
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Thousands attend Glasgow Govanhill Festival and Carnival
They gathered at over 50 events in 23 venues and outdoor spaces across ten days in Glasgow's Southside. The festival, which is now in its ninth year, continues to grow following its initial inception as a joyful response to racist attacks that took place in 2017. 35 artists took part in the finale of the festival on Sunday, as Govanhill Street Music Festival set up five stages along Victoria Road, Westmoreland Street and the Cooperage. Maz and the Phantasms, Diljeet Kaur Bhachu, Aleena, Decades of Dub, Girobabies and Randa Jarrar were just some of the highlights from line-ups arranged by Love Music Hate Racism, Duende, Snack Magazine, and Cargo Signs. On Friday and Saturday, Govanhill Book Festival brought Nicola Sturgeon, Chris McQueer, Peter Mohan, Shane Johnstone, Martin O'Connor, Dareen Tartour, Mohamed Mousa (Gaza Poets Society) and Randa Jarrar to a packed auditorium where topics spanned Scottish politics, incel culture, poetry and Palestine. 81 languages are spoken within the Govanhill area and the festival shared Irish, Gaelic, Jewish, Roma, Palestinian, American, East and South-East Asian, Caribbean and Ethiopian cultural moments, all rooted in a sense of creativity, neighbourhood and activism. Thousands attend Glasgow Govanhill Festival and Carnival (Image: Rob Reid) READ MORE: Govanhill festival returning to Glasgow for ninth year READ MORE: How to get half-price food from new Indian Dishoom before it opens in Glasgow READ MORE: Incredible pictures from Govanhill International Festival parade Running through the festival programme was this celebration of activists and activism. From Mary Barbour, Cathy McCormack, Glasgow's Women on Strike, Glasgow's Anti-Racist History, Welcome to the Fringe: Palestine, and the hundreds of people who marched in the parade, the festival foregrounds those who stand up to injustice, fight against inequality, and support their neighbours. Organised by Govanhill Baths Community Trust, this year's festival unfolded as the Baths undergo major renovation, transforming into a Wellbeing Centre, shaped by over two decades of community action since the 2001 occupation of the site following Glasgow City Council's decision to close the Baths – this became the longest-running occupation of a public building in British history. Simone Stewart, Arts & Heritage Manager, said: 'This year's festival was a powerful reminder of what happens when creativity and community come together with purpose. "In a neighbourhood shaped by resistance and solidarity, we celebrated the voices, cultures and stories that make Govanhill what it is. "A heartfelt thank you to everyone who took part, contributed, performed, organised, and showed up — this festival belongs to all of you.' Karen Dick, Head of Place, Partnerships and Communities at Creative Scotland, said: 'It's wonderful to witness a vibrant celebration of cultures and creativity so deeply rooted in the heart of the Govanhill community. "Bolstered by Multi-Year Funding via the Scottish Government, Govanhill's unique tapestry of languages, stories, and activism comes alive, making this festival much more than just an event, but a powerful movement that gently reshapes how we understand and experience culture across Scotland.' Govanhill International Festival and Carnival will return for its tenth year in 2026, with the annual parade and carnival taking place on Saturday 1 August.
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Kevin McKenna: 'A warm welcome by Sturgeon confessions leave me cold'
For the record, the former First Minister is looking relaxed in a rather fetching two-piece of brown pinstriped trousers and waistcoat. She's just stepped off the stage where she'd had a chat with Jim Monaghan to launch the Govanhill Book Festival. Mr Monaghan is a much-loved poet and social activist around the south side of Glasgow and Ms Sturgeon has represented this area in one form or another for almost a quarter of a century. The contrast between this event and Thursday's official launch of Ms Sturgeon's memoirs at the Edinburgh Book Festival, is stark. Tonight, I'm with 100 or so souls paying not much more than a fiver a pop at the Queen's Park Govanhill Church of Scotland. On Thursday, more than 2,000 people will have paid through the nose at a sold out event at the mighty McEwan Hall. The conversation was interesting and even, at times, heartfelt. Ms Sturgeon discussed her lifelong love of books and how this had been a light to her in some very dark corners. Acknowledging that there be journos afoot in the audience, she dutifully threw us some scratchings about Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer. Nicola Sturgeon at the Govanhill Book Festival (Image: NQ) 'There's a sense of despair that all the wrong people are in power — not here in Scotland — but there is a sense that the wrong people are taking the world in the wrong direction. 'You've got people like Donald Trump trying to persuade people that the real challenge is not climate change, but the policies that are being pursued to try to tackle climate change.' She then turned on Sir Keir for 'trying to outdo Nigel Farage on immigration' and for not having 'the guts to stand up and say why the country needs immigration, why it's good for the country to be diverse.' This may very well be true, but she can't actually believe that right now in Scotland, the right people are in control, given that that they've failed dismally in every important area of public life and by every significant metric. And that because of this, Scotland is a bitterly divided nation where the censor's pen and the redacted document are the chief means of civic governance. There are traces of this in a pocket of silent protestors who have gathered outside the venue, including some Alex Salmond supporters. Two former SNP members tell me that they consider Ms Sturgeon to be 'worse than Trump'. And as the audience inside began to leave, one chap shouted something about men in women's toilets. However, this is a community event and a very good one at that. The Q&A session that follows the conversation isn't really for journalists to do grandstanding. The book festival is part of the wider Govanhill Festival which is now in its ninth year. It's a triumph of optimism and creativity in a neighbourhood that's had to meet and overcome some chronic adversity. For a while, Govanhill was the favoured destination of right-wing newspaper snoopers channelling racism directed at the Roma Community who have settled here and blaming Nicola Sturgeon for the perceived decrepitude of the hedges in this area. READ MORE: Ms Sturgeon has played an active part in bringing about the re-birth of Govanhill and has been tireless in her advocacy for the restoration of the Govanhill Baths. She was also a champion for the astonishing transformation in the Gorbals just down the road. She is both well-kent and much admired in this constituency. Once, around ten years ago I'd taken her into Heraghty's Bar for a couple of drinks following an interview in her constituency office which sat across the road from the best pub in the south side of Glasgow. It was an establishment mainly favoured by the Irish community and she was very much at home sipping white wine spritzers at the bar amongst the regulars. Everything Ms Sturgeon said about the US President and Keir Starmer was rendered somewhat redundant though, when Boothman of the Times sidled up to me afterwards to show me his paper's breathless on-line exclusive. The Times have paid serious money to get access to Ms Sturgeon's recollections. And this evening the first fruits of it were revealed. They told us that Ms Sturgeon considers her sexuality to be non-binary and about the heartache of suffering a miscarriage. The day she was lifted by the cops in 2023 was 'the worst day of my life'. For the sake of the publishers who paid £300k for the book, I hope there is a lot more meat than this. Coming out as non-binary in Scotland these days is as risqué as getting a tattoo without telling your parents. And Ms Sturgeon has already discussed the tragedy of her miscarriage. Getting your collar felt by the cops when you think you've done nothing wrong would be the worst day in anyone's life. She would, of course have no case to answer. Meanwhile, you might ask why a fierce advocate for Scottish independence chose a London firm to publish her memoir. Pan Macmillan are amongst the world's mightiest and richest publishers and would easily have outbid the single Scottish firm which competed for them. What a message it would have conveyed to Scotland's ailing publishing sector though, if Ms Sturgeon had chosen to be published here. I ask Ms Sturgeon if she has plans to write more books. 'You'd be well-placed to write a decent political thriller,' I tell her. 'Do you think I'd need to portray you in it,' she says with only a hint of menace. 'Well, if you feel you've been too nice in your memoirs, you could settle a few scores under the cover of dramatic fiction,' I reply.
STV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- STV News
I considered quitting politics after first term, says Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon considered leaving politics after just one term at Holyrood, she has said. The former first minister was first elected as a regional MSP for Glasgow in the first term of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. But speaking at an event in her Glasgow Southside constituency as she launched her memoir, Frankly, Ms Sturgeon said she felt she had 'failed' because she was unable to win her constituency. By that point, she said, the future first minister had lost three constituency races – in 1992 and 1997 for Westminster and the Holyrood seat she contested in 1999. 'I wasn't particularly happy in myself in the first term of Parliament,' she said at the event as part of the Govanhill Book Festival. 'This dream I'd had about being a politician was going to be realised and yet I felt I'd failed because I hadn't won the constituency.' She added: 'I was really conflicted for the first few years and, of course, there was lots of teething problems with the Parliament as a whole, so it wasn't the happiest time in my political career. 'I guess I got to the end of that first session of the Scottish Parliament, not really sure whether I wanted to spend that much more time in politics. 'That obviously changed and the rest is history, but that was a moment where I could easily, I think, have taken a step out and done something different.' Sturgeon would go on to win the seat, which was originally named Glasgow Govan, in 2007 before announcing her plans to step down as an MSP at next year's election. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
South Wales Argus
4 days ago
- Politics
- South Wales Argus
I considered leaving Holyrood after first term, says Sturgeon
The former first minister was first elected as a regional MSP for Glasgow in the first term of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. But speaking at an event in her Glasgow Southside constituency as she launched her memoir, Frankly, Ms Sturgeon said she felt she had 'failed' because she was unable to win her constituency. By that point, she said, the future first minister had lost three constituency races – in 1992 and 1997 for Westminster and the Holyrood seat she contested in 1999. 'I wasn't particularly happy in myself in the first term of Parliament,' she said at the event as part of the Govanhill Book Festival. 'This dream I'd had about being a politician was going to be realised and yet I felt I'd failed because I hadn't won the constituency.' She added: 'I was really conflicted for the first few years and, of course, there was lots of teething problems with the Parliament as a whole, so it wasn't the happiest time in my political career. 'I guess I got to the end of that first session of the Scottish Parliament, not really sure whether I wanted to spend that much more time in politics. 'That obviously changed and the rest is history, but that was a moment where I could easily, I think, have taken a step out and done something different.' Ms Sturgeon would go on to win the seat, which was originally named Glasgow Govan, in 2007 before announcing her plans to step down as an MSP at next year's election.
North Wales Chronicle
4 days ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
I considered leaving Holyrood after first term, says Sturgeon
The former first minister was first elected as a regional MSP for Glasgow in the first term of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. But speaking at an event in her Glasgow Southside constituency as she launched her memoir, Frankly, Ms Sturgeon said she felt she had 'failed' because she was unable to win her constituency. By that point, she said, the future first minister had lost three constituency races – in 1992 and 1997 for Westminster and the Holyrood seat she contested in 1999. 'I wasn't particularly happy in myself in the first term of Parliament,' she said at the event as part of the Govanhill Book Festival. 'This dream I'd had about being a politician was going to be realised and yet I felt I'd failed because I hadn't won the constituency.' She added: 'I was really conflicted for the first few years and, of course, there was lots of teething problems with the Parliament as a whole, so it wasn't the happiest time in my political career. 'I guess I got to the end of that first session of the Scottish Parliament, not really sure whether I wanted to spend that much more time in politics. 'That obviously changed and the rest is history, but that was a moment where I could easily, I think, have taken a step out and done something different.' Ms Sturgeon would go on to win the seat, which was originally named Glasgow Govan, in 2007 before announcing her plans to step down as an MSP at next year's election.
