Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival celebrates the places where the city goes out

For 37 years, Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival has been inviting people behind the scenes of the city's buildings, and the 2026 edition had a theme close to many Glaswegians' hearts. Glasgow Goes Out: The Places That Made Us celebrated the venues, dancehalls, cinemas, theatres, pubs and community spaces where generations have come together.

The free festival ran from Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 September 2026, with more than 150 participating venues and hundreds of free events, from building and walking tours to talks, performances and workshops for all ages.

A headline attraction was King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, where Oasis was famously discovered. Visitors could step onto the famous stage, see the green room and production spaces, and experience the venue from the artists' point of view. SWG3 and the Britannia Panopticon Music Hall also opened their doors, alongside night-time tours celebrating the people and places that have shaped Glasgow's social life after dark.

The festival is organised by Glasgow Building Preservation Trust, powered by hundreds of volunteers and more than 100 participating organisations. CEO David Cook said this year's theme invited people to revisit the venues that provided the soundtrack to their lives, rediscover forgotten gems and uncover the stories behind spaces that have brought generations together.

New for 2026 was a mini-festival hub at Edward House, in partnership with the Sauchiehall Street Heritage and Culture District, while the Advanced Research Centre at the University of Glasgow again served as the central hub for talks, exhibitions and family activities as part of Explorathon.

Erin Russo of Glasgow City Heritage Trust said a building's fabric is only half the story, with its value also lying in the memories, culture and communities it has sheltered over time.

The festival is supported by Glasgow Life, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, Glasgow City Council and the University of Glasgow, with the Culture and Business Scotland Fund joining as a new funder. McAllister Litho Glasgow produced 25,000 festival leaflets and posters as official print sponsor, and the trust launched its first ever crowdfunder to help secure the festival's future.

It remains one of the best ways to see a side of Glasgow that is usually behind closed doors, and it is all free.

Information about Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival, including how to support it, is at glasgowdoorsopendays.org.uk.