Castlemilk Community Centre,
121 Castlemilk Drive, Glasgow
G45 9UG
G45 9UG
The Castlemilk Folk Festival was organised by C Sharp Music Factory,
a community run recording studio and rehearsal facility which came
into being in the late eighties. The creation of C Sharp coincided
favourably with Glasgow being selected as the International City
of Culture in 1990, as well as the setting up of Castlemilk Partnership,
a government led initiative with dedicated funding aimed at making
major improvements to the local area.
As well as a range of one-off music events, C Sharp established a monthly folk club, the success of which paved the way for Castlemilk Folk Festival, an ambitious annual three day event, which ran from 1992 to 1999, and featured an impressive line-up of artists appearing in daytime events and evening concerts. The festival gained publicity nationwide and consolidated Castlemilk’s growing reputation as a respected Scottish venue, something that would have not seemed feasible a few years earlier.Being a peripheral housing estate, and lacking both the intimacy of a village and the ambience of a town, Castlemilk was not the typical setting for a folk festival. However, compensatory factors such as focussing the event around a single venue and presenting a varied programme, gave the festival a flavour of its own. The term ‘folk music’ was used in the widest sense, because Castlemilk, having been built from scratch in the 1950's, was more rooted in contemporary music as opposed to what was generally accepted as ‘traditional’. This was reflected in, and was a marked feature of Castlemilk Folk Festival.
Acts that have appeared over the years have included Billy Connolly, Loudon Wainwright III, Midge Ure, Steve Harley, Alan Price, Eddi Reader, Hue & Cry, Steeleye Span, Kiki Dee, Geno Washington, Vikki Clayton, Bill Bailey, Jacqui McShee, June Tabor, Sally Barker, Ralph McTell, Old Blind Dogs, Ronnie Browne, Robin Wiiliamson, Ricky Ross, and a host of solo guitar artists such as John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and Pierre Bensusan, Isaac Guillory, John Martyn, Stefan Grossman, Wizz Jones, Gordon Giltrap and Nick Harper. This list is not inclusive as many support acts appeared over the years.
From 2000 onwards, the festival transformed into the Castlemilk Music Festival and was administered by Castlemilk Community Forum. Acts that appeared have included The Pearlfishers, Michael Marra, Karen Matheson, Lindisfarne and Belle and Sebastian.
As well as a range of one-off music events, C Sharp established a monthly folk club, the success of which paved the way for Castlemilk Folk Festival, an ambitious annual three day event, which ran from 1992 to 1999, and featured an impressive line-up of artists appearing in daytime events and evening concerts. The festival gained publicity nationwide and consolidated Castlemilk’s growing reputation as a respected Scottish venue, something that would have not seemed feasible a few years earlier.Being a peripheral housing estate, and lacking both the intimacy of a village and the ambience of a town, Castlemilk was not the typical setting for a folk festival. However, compensatory factors such as focussing the event around a single venue and presenting a varied programme, gave the festival a flavour of its own. The term ‘folk music’ was used in the widest sense, because Castlemilk, having been built from scratch in the 1950's, was more rooted in contemporary music as opposed to what was generally accepted as ‘traditional’. This was reflected in, and was a marked feature of Castlemilk Folk Festival.
Acts that have appeared over the years have included Billy Connolly, Loudon Wainwright III, Midge Ure, Steve Harley, Alan Price, Eddi Reader, Hue & Cry, Steeleye Span, Kiki Dee, Geno Washington, Vikki Clayton, Bill Bailey, Jacqui McShee, June Tabor, Sally Barker, Ralph McTell, Old Blind Dogs, Ronnie Browne, Robin Wiiliamson, Ricky Ross, and a host of solo guitar artists such as John Renbourn, Bert Jansch and Pierre Bensusan, Isaac Guillory, John Martyn, Stefan Grossman, Wizz Jones, Gordon Giltrap and Nick Harper. This list is not inclusive as many support acts appeared over the years.
From 2000 onwards, the festival transformed into the Castlemilk Music Festival and was administered by Castlemilk Community Forum. Acts that appeared have included The Pearlfishers, Michael Marra, Karen Matheson, Lindisfarne and Belle and Sebastian.
