The Great Western & Great Eastern update line-ups

Glasgow multi-venue music and arts festival The Great Western returns with a great lineup, and it’s joined by brand new Edinburgh counterpart The Great Eastern

Article by Jamie Dunn | 01 Sep 2021
  • Anna Meredith live at Leith Theatre, Edinburgh, 11 Aug

Any Edinburgh music fan who was looking enviously west in November 2019 when the new Glasgow multi-venue festival The Great Western made its debut can now rest easy. Edinburgh is getting its own version! And it's aptly titled The Great Eastern.

This brand new all-dayer will take place Saturday 27 November and features over 40 acts, spread across several rooms of the cavernous Summerhall and nearby venues The King’s Hall and the Queen’s Hall.

The Great Eastern

Some tantalising acts have already been announced. Bristol trio Beak>, Manchester-based US troubadour BC Camplight and North East art-rockers Field Music will join local favourites like Glasgow joy peddlers Sacred Paws, Edinburgh indie-folk heroes Broken Records and electro-spiritual duo Free Love, who are fresh from a knockout performance at Jupiter Rising. We’re also very excited to announce that The Skinny will be hosting our own stage at Great Eastern – more on that soon. Until then, read the full lineup of acts announced so far below:

The Great Eastern, 27 Nov: Beak>, Field Music, Tracyanne & Danny, Free Love, BC Camplight, The Ninth Wave, Soccer96, Sacred Paws, Broken Records, wrest, Strange Bones, One True Pairing, Calva Louise, junodream, Anna B Savage, Emma McGrath, Arny Margret, BABii, Marina Allen, Junior Brother, Kedr Livanskiy, Swim School, NANI, DEADLETTER, Russell Stewart, Mother All Mighty, The Joy Hotel, Zoë Bestel, Hamish Hawk, Eleanor Kane, Super Inuit, Bikini Body

The Great Western

Two weeks before that Edinburgh party, though, the second edition of The Great Western will be taking place in Glasgow with its own fantastic lineup. First to catch the eye is the hugely talented experimental composer Anna Meredith, whose live shows are always special. The eclectic lineup also includes Tracyanne & Danny, the collaborative project between Tracyanne Campbell of Camera Obscura and Danny Coughlan of Crybaby, on the bill in both Glasgow and Edinburgh; US indie-folk veteran Willy Mason; and Irish alt-rock champs Pillow Queens.

The Great Western is a slightly more sprawling affair, with nine venues across Glasgow’s west end taking part. Stalwarts of the city’s music scene like The Hug & Pint and QMU host stages, as well as venues like Burnbank Bowling Club, The Glue Factory, Maryhill Community Central Halls and the beautiful Mackintosh Queen’s Cross Church. Glasgow University Union and Byres Road creative hub The Alchemy Experiment also join the fold this year, while Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai and Scottish party institution SHOOT YOUR SHOT are among the guest curators. The full Great Western lineup announced so far is below.

The Great Western, 13 Nov: Tracyanne & Danny, Anna Meredith, Pillow Queens, Willy Mason, Yard Act, Part Chimp, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Smoothboi Ezra, Cassandra Jenkins, Awkward Family Portraits, corto.alto, SLIME CITY, Oracle Sisters, Scarlett Randle, Nuha Ruby Ra, Bartees Strange, Ruby Gaines, Jamie Sutherland, Speedboat, TAAHLIAH, chizu nnamdi, KLEO, Goth Gf, Pretty Preachers Club, happy tears, Pocket Knife, SHREK666, Lady Neptune, Kavari, DOSS, sarya, Basil Panagop


The Great Western, Glasgow (various venues), 13 Nov; tickets at tgwfest.com
The Great Eastern, Edinburgh (various venues), 27 Nov; tickets at thegreateastern.org