Scottish Live Music Highlights: August 2025

It’s a big festival month, and kicking things off in Newport-on-Tay is the Lughnasadh Music & Art Festival (2 Aug). Taking place on the grounds of the Forgan Arts Centre, the all-dayer features a stacked lineup with Kathryn Joseph, corto.alto, Sacred Paws, Free Love and Becky Sikasa all set to play. The following Saturday in Arbroath, Hospitalfield’s Pollinate Festival (9 Aug) returns with a really varied and interesting music programme, featuring Glasgow-based Belgian saxophonist, electronic musician and audiovisual artist Sonia Killmann, Turkish-born, Glasgow-based experimental artist Isik Kural and award-winning smallpipes player Brìghde Chaimbeul.

In Glasgow, the Mogwai-curated Big City Festival (16 Aug) returns to Queen’s Park Recreational Ground with Lankum, Gruff Rhys, Snapped Ankles, Rev Magnetic and more, while at the end of the month, PITCH, Scotland’s international conference of hip-hop and underground culture returns from 27 to 29 August. On 30 August, Ayrshire rapper Bemz’s M4 Festival returns for its second year, where the likes of Bellarosa, FER4Z, LAMAYA, Tayoh, Junglehussi, ISO YSO and more will take over SWG3's Warehouse from 3pm.

In North Berwick, Fringe by the Sea returns, with a bumper programme featuring everyone from Air (2 Aug) and Ezra Collective (9 Aug), via local talent like Hamish Hawk and Cloth (8 Aug), Pictish Trail (9 Aug), MALKA and Carla J. Easton (10 Aug); Easton’s documentary Since Yesterday also gets a screening by the seaside on the same day. In the city, Lomond Campbell is musician turned mad scientist in MŮO at The French Institute (1-25 Aug), as he turns cosmic rays into music (more about that here), while the Made In Scotland programme also brings Waxen Figures by Muto Major to Summerhall (1-11 Aug), Aud the Deep Minded by Joanna Nicholson to The Space Triplex (13-17 Aug) and Windblown by Karine Polwart to The Queen’s Hall (9-13 Aug). Or discover the next wave of new Scottish contemporary talent with Made In Scotland Gigs presented by Wide Days as they take over Sneaky Pete’s and La Belle Angele (15 Aug) with Man of Moon, Pippa Blundell, KuleeAngee, Bottle Rockets, The Ayoub Sisters and more.

While the Edinburgh International Festival’s contemporary programming is somewhat lacking this year, their Up Late programme features Alabaster DePlume (8 Aug), Kathryn Joseph (9 Aug) and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith (16 Aug). At Leith Depot, seek out Siobhan Wilson’s Live Music and Chats series (12-17 Aug), featuring Cloth, Haiver, Broken Chanter and more. Big Nights at La Belle brings some big names to the city centre as Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na (11 Aug), LA’s Thumpasaurus (18 Aug), and Kate Stables’ This Is the Kit (26 Aug) are all set to light up La Belle Angele’s stage, while if you want to go even bigger, do what you can to nab tickets for Sam Fender (22 Aug) or Chappell Roan (26 & 27 Aug) at the Royal Highland Showgrounds. On 31 August, multi-venue all-dayer Edinburgh Psych Fest returns to the capital with Nadine Shah, Getdown Services, Du Blonde, Anna Erhard and more on the bill.

Back in Glasgow, King Tut’s Summer Nights and The Hug & Pint’s Endless Summer runs both continue; highlights include PVC (7 Aug) and Mercy Girl at King Tut’s (17 Aug) and Pistol Daisys (6 Aug) and Bikini Body and Isabella Strange at The Hug (15 Aug). On 8 August, Martha May & The Mondays celebrate the launch of their Zeroes & Villains EP launch at Nice N Sleazy, while on the 9th, if you can’t get through to Edinburgh, Welcome to the Fringe, Palestine lands at The Glad Cafe for one night only for a celebration of Palestinian culture, art and music. On the 13th, Franz Ferdinand have a massive hometown show in SWG3’s Galvanizer’s Yard, while at the end of the month the Mackintosh Church hosts the posthumous album launch for the much-missed Beldina Odenyo, aka Heir of the Cursed. On what would have been her 35th birthday (30 Aug), a band made up of Inge Thomson, Andrew Wasylyk, Sarah Hayes, Susan Bear, Liam Chapman and Joe Rattray will be joined by guest vocalists like Kathryn Joseph, Rick Redbeard, Callum Easter, Sacred Paws and Djana Gabrielle for a reflective night of celebration.