The Dandelion Festival is a major three-day arts event happening in Kelvingrove Park this weekend, and it’s absolutely free. Taking place from Friday 17 June until Sunday 19 June, it’ll be crammed with family-friendly activities, artist exhibitions, exciting talks and a bevvy of musical performances. 

At the heart of this first edition of Dandelion is a message of sustainable change, with discussions on urban farming and miniature vertical farms onsite. So if you want to have a good time and learn something new, then this is the long weekend for you. Also available each day is a selection of street food and pottery sheds featuring a huge array of workshops.

To help you decide if Dandelion’s worth your time, here’s a round-up of the events you can enjoy each day.

^{Rachel Sermanni}

Friday 17 June

With performances starting at 12:45am, musical acts on Friday include Darlingside, Rachel Sermanni, Awkward Family Portraits, Jason Singh and Shooglenifty. 

Talks will also take place from Creative Director of Dandelion Angus Farquhar, Rocket Scientist Naziyah Mahmood, founder and director of the Science Ceilidh Lewis Hou, social change advocate KMT and creative ethnologist Gary West.

Theatre and performance will come from Surreal McCoy, Circo Rum Ba Ba, Megabeast Productions and Mischief La-Bas. 

^{This Is The Kit}

Saturday 18 June 

Musical acts performing on Saturday include Rura, Newton Faulkner, This is the Kit, Niteworks, Hen Hoose collective (Tamara Schlesinger, Emma Pollock, Elisabeth Elektra, Suse Bear, Pippa Murphy, Karine Polwart, Jayda, Amandah Wilkinson), Orchestral Qawwali, Les Amazones D’Afrique, Lyre Lyre, Hannah Rarity, the National Youth Pipe Band and several more.

Potting Shed activity and Hot House talks include Incredible Edible founder Pam Warhust with founder member of Propagate Abi Mordan, forager Mo Wilde with chef and owner of Silo Douglas McMaster, and Social Bite founder Josh Littlejohn.

^{Admiral Fallow}

Sunday 19 June 

Artists performances include Admiral Fallow, Baque Luar and Fat Suit.

Speaking events will exclusively tackle agriculture, with Anything Grows, With Neil Butler, Christiana Bissett And Fiona Dalgetty, The Future Of Growing: Why Vertical Farms? With Fiona Burnett And Derek Stuart, and Dig Where You Stand, With Simon Preston And Steve Byrne. 

According to a press release from the festival, ‘The 16ft tall Dandelion Flower Singer will perform harvest songs and distribute thousands of free vegetable plants for the public to take home.’ We’ve no idea what that means but it sounds incredibly charming. 

The Dandelion Festival will take place from Friday 17 June-Sunday 19 June at Kelvingrove Park. 

Dandelion featured in our Guide to Scotland's Festivals, the ultimate guide to festivals and events happening in Scotland in 2022. The full guide is available to read online.