WOMAD Glasgow’s first edition has been cancelled.
The festival was set to take place 3-4 July at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park, and was set to welcome reggae artist Hollie Cook, instrumentalist Ustad Noor Bakhsh, the Ibibio Sound Machine band and more. The full programme was announced earlier this month.
The reasons behind the cancellation, says the festival, is due to poor ticket sales, meaning the festival could not “reach the level required to deliver the festival sustainably in its inaugural year.”
The original festival, held in Wiltshire, England, is still set to take place on 23-26 July.
The full statement from the festival reads:
Glasgow Life is deeply disappointed to confirm that WOMAD Glasgow, scheduled to take place in Kelvingrove Park on 03 and 04 July, will no longer go ahead. This has been a difficult decision and one that has not been taken lightly. Since announcing the event, Glasgow Life and WOMAD have worked together to bring the world-renowned festival to Scotland for the first time.
WOMAD Glasgow was an ambitious first edition of a globally respected festival. While audience response to the programme and the vision for the event was extremely positive, ticket sales did not reach the level required to deliver the festival sustainably in its inaugural year. This reflects the challenge of launching a new large-scale event in a competitive and crowded market at this time.
We know this news will be hugely disappointing, particularly for those who have already purchased tickets, and we sincerely apologise for that. We would also like to thank the many artists, contractors, suppliers, partners and stakeholders who have supported plans for the event over recent months.
Affected customers will receive a full refund and access to discounted tickets for WOMAD in Neston Park, North Wiltshire 23-26 July 2026. Refunds will be automatically issued within 7 working days.
