A NEW plan has been introduced to "safeguard and strengthen" Gaelic language, arts, music and culture in Glasgow.
The Gaelic Arts Plan, which spans from 2025 until 2029, focuses on Scotland’s most important cultural identities within the city – which has the largest concentration of Gaelic speakers outwith the Western Isles.
Glaschu Beò: Plana nan Ealan Gàidhlig lays out key ways to ensure artistic expression in Gaelic, as a living language in Glasgow, is expanded and embedded within the city’s broader cultural offer to widen engagement and increase public participation.
The plan sets out a range of initiatives integrated across Glasgow Life’s museums, sports, libraries, learning and community services – as well as major festivals Celtic Connections, Merchant City Festival, Mela, Aye Write, and Glasgow International.
The projects are also designed to act as a catalyst for collaborations to hopefully create and cultivate opportunities for creative expression in Gaelic by artists, musicians and writers.
Glasgow Life's senior projects and programmes manager Katie Duffy, said: “Glasgow has strong, historic links with Gaelic, and while it remains an endangered language, interest and engagement has grown considerably – as was highlighted in the 2022 census which revealed an 84% increase in Glasgow residents with Gaelic skills.
"We want to build on that and increase appreciation of Gaelic creative expression so we can boost its social and economic impact by ensuring it is an integral part of Glasgow’s cultural offer.
“Glasgow Life’s work is based on a belief in the power of the arts to enrich lives and strengthen cultural identity. Reflecting that, our new Gaelic Arts Plan will forge a pathway for Gaelic culture, arts and music to thrive in our modern, multicultural city by engaging city communities and visitors in relevant ways – for both Gaelic speakers as well as those who have no experience of the language or culture.”
Highlights of other initiatives noted in the Gaelic Arts Plan include the introduction of an inclusive, inter-generational cèilidh to offer people an opportunity to experience Gaelic through music, dance and poetry – with three of these events a year taking place in venues across the city Gaelic musical pathways for youth.
Glasgow Life will also partner with Glasgow’s five Gaelic schools to integrate arts into the curriculum, and promote creative learning by including community drama initiatives, such as the Litir gu Glaschu (Letter to Glasgow) competition and Bàrd Baile Ghlaschu (Gaelic Bard for Glasgow).
Ealasaid MacDonald, ceannard (CEO) of Bòrd na Gàidhlig, said: “Bòrd na Gàidhlig welcomes the launch of Glasgow Life’s innovative Glaschu Beò: Plana nan Ealan Gàidhlig at this exciting time for Gaelic arts in the city.
"We look forward to working with the charity and its partners to implement these proposals which will encourage, inspire and enable artists, organisations and communities across Glasgow to use Gaelic.”
The Gaelic Arts Plan 2025-2029 can be accessed here in both English and Gaelic.
