SATURDAY NIGHT saw over 20,000 people take to Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow to dance in the sunshine and rain as part of the ongoing Dandelion Festival.
The free non-ticketed outdoor music and arts festival explores sustainability, community growing and climate action through a varied programme including live music, street theatre, talks, workshops and creative activities.
Attendees on Saturday danced to headliners Les Amazon d’Afrique, Newton Falkner and Niteworks in front of the Pavilion of Perpetual Light – a “living stage” made from 60 of Dandelion’s unique 1x1 metre accelerated growing cubes, with live vegetable plants inside.
“Pure, unadulterated joy! Just joy!”, festival goer John Webster tweeted. “And basically in ma front garden!”
@amazonesafrique at Kelvingrove park for Dandelion Festival tonight! Pure, unadulterated joy! Just joy! And basically in ma front garden!! 🪴 pic.twitter.com/RLA30icJFq
— John Webster 🏴 (@johnauldwebster) June 18, 2022
The festival is part of Dandelion, a dynamic creative programme celebrating sustainability through community growing across summer 2022, bringing together music and art with science and technology to inspire people to "Sow, Grow and Share" music, food, ideas and stories.
Alongside the music line-up sits a creative programme of activities for all ages. Scientists, activists, technologists and writers will come together with chefs, musicians, artists and performers to spark conversations around Dandelion’s core theme of how people can creatively engage with topics such as food poverty, climate action and sustainability.
On Sunday June 19 there will be a Dandelion "Free For All", a mass free plant giveaway to inspire the public to grow at home, while a 5m-tall singing art installation made of flowers and plants called the Dandelion Singer serenades the growers with harvest songs. The festival culminates with live music from Admiral Fallow and Mercury Prize nominee Sam Lee, and a special long-table “Meal of Thanks” celebrating unsung heroes of the past two years, nominated by members of their community.
Music Director for Dandelion, Donald Shaw said: “Just as plants can grow from tiny seeds, great music can grow from small ideas that we nourish till they bloom into full art forms. After the pandemic, it seemed even more pronounced to consider the medicinal value of music and its positive impact on mental health, social cohesion and community spirit – similar to the visceral experience of feeling the earth in your hands and the joy you get from watching something grow.”
“All of the musicians who feature on our Dandelion Festivals line-up have a passion for the values of Dandelion, sharing our beliefs in environmentalism and individual action against climate change.”
For further information on the festival or the full Dandelion programme visit dandelion.scot.
