Womad Glasgow cancelled due to ticket sales
Womad Festival’s 2026 edition in Glasgow will no longer go ahead due to poor ticket sales.
The festival, which was co-founded by Peter Gabriel in 1980 and has travelled all over the globe, was due to visit Scotland for the first time this summer.
Womad Glasgow, which celebrates world music, was slated to take place at Kelvingrove Park on July 3rd and July 4th, with a line-up boasting names such as Hollie Cook, Ibibio Sound Machine, and Ustad Noor Bakhsh.
However, in a statement issued on June 2nd, the festival confirmed, “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.”
The message continued, “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.”
It went on, “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.”
Those who had purchased tickets for Womad Glasgow will receive an automatic refund within the next seven working days.
Additionally, they will also be offered discounted tickets for its sister festival Womad, which is set to be held in Neston Park, North Wiltshire. It is held between July 23rd and July 26th, featuring the likes of Alfa Mist, Barrington Levy, José González, and Emma-Jean Thackaray.
Womad Glasgow is not the only festival in the Scottish city to suffer the same fate this year; GlasGael, an Irish music festival, was also cancelled.
It was due to take place in a 5,000-capacity Big Top tent on May 2nd and May 3rd in Glasgow Green, but was axed just weeks before, with organisers explaining that “the ongoing cost of living crisis has created unprecedented challenges.”
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