The Merchant City Festival 2013 is set to be a Vintage year!

The Merchant City Festival will take place from 24 to 28 July 2013. Festival dates and programme highlights were announced in the city today (Thursday 28 February), by Leader of Glasgow City Council and Chair of the Merchant City Festival, Councillor Gordon Matheson. He was joined by designers Wayne Hemingway MBE and Gerardine Hemingway MBE to launch Vintage Glasgow, which is tipped to be a festival highlight this summer. In total some 300 events and performances across 11 arts strands will combine to wow an expected audience of around 100,000 this summer.

Vintage Glasgow at Merchant City Festival will be a truly unique event, which is set to celebrate seven decades of British cool. Making its Scottish debut, the award winning Vintage Festival will bring together and rejoice in the music, fashion, film, art, dance, food and design from the 1920s to the 1980s that has made Britain the world’s capital of cool. Vintage explores this rich cultural history and the extraordinary influence that it has had on the modern world.

Merchant City Festival will also launch the one-year to go celebrations for Glasgow 2014. The Commonwealth Games will be the largest multi-sport event Scotland has ever hosted and a key theme for the 12th Merchant City Festival.

Plans were unveiled for a massive commonwealth inspired interactive installation entitled The South Brunswick Street Rope Factory, which will be produced by Ice Cream Architecture. It is an intricate web of coloured ropes representing the 71 sovereign states of the Commonwealth that will come together as one large map, which participants can walk through.

The Merchant City Festival will again work in partnership with Conflux’s Surge festival to bring some of Europe’s premier street performers to the cultural capital ofScotland’s biggest city, for five specially commissioned shows, including a number of UK and Scottish premiers.

While a family zone will take over the southern part of the Merchant City ensuring Glasgow continues to build a love of the arts and a pool of incredible artist talent in the next generation. Once again there will be the Merchant Square Dance Stage, continental markets and music stages in Brunswick and Blackfriars Street.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, Chair of the Merchant City Festival and Chair of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, said: “We have the challenge of topping last year’s record breaking festival and looking at the highlights unveiled today I’m confident that we can succeed. This is just a taste of the exciting and ambitious programme of events that will make up the 2013 Merchant City Festival. In total some 300 events and performances across 11 arts strands will combine to wow an expected audience of over 100,000 people this July.

“The wealth of music, culture and artistic vision that will be on show across the five days are a reflection of the fantastic arts organisations and venues our city has to offer. By attracting events of the calibre of Vintage to Glasgow reinforces our claim to be Scotland’s cultural powerhouse. These highlights also demonstrate our ability to deliver a world-class cultural programme in 2014.”

Designer Wayne Hemingway MBE said: “We loved visiting Glasgow when we had our Red or Dead shop on Buchanan Streetand have always enjoyed visiting Glasgow’s Merchant City. Its iconic architecture and independent spirit will provide the perfect venue to hold The Vintage Festival. Over the past few years hundreds of thousands of lovers of Britain’s music, fashion, film, art and design heritage have glammed up and danced on London’s South Bank and on the Sussex Downs and the Vintage team are really looking forward to working with Glasgow Life, The Dollshouse and a local team of creatives to deliver an event that will live long in the memory of Glaswegians of all ages and tastes.”

A flavour of Vintage Glasgow came to town today as vintage clothing gurus We Love to Boogie and The London Make up School added a touch of glamour with a 1940s and 1950s hair and make up styling session. A vintage Zodiac car, a 1950s Western bus and fire engine, all belonging to the Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust based in the former Bridgeton Bus Garage inGlasgow, turned a few heads on Candleriggs.

The festival has commissioned The Dollshouse to produce Vintage Glasgow in partnership with Hemingway Design for the Scottish debut of Vintage. VintageGlasgowwill take over Candleriggs, the Old Fruitmarket and City Halls in Merchant City, Glasgow on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July and transform it into a Vintage Festival delight.

Festival goers can puruse the authentic vintage marketplace, watch dance displays through the decades, take part in workshops from sewing and knitting to kids’ comic superheroes and more. There is a Makeover Salon where people can choose their decade of style from the menu and get transformed! There will be a vintage photobooth from which festival-goers can take home memories of their day. There will be clubs from Rockabilly to swing and of course Disco, with an opportunity to first learn the dances with organised dance lessons during the day. There will be fashion shows and film, one of the film programme highlights will be special screenings of old footage of Glasgow, including the Empire Exhibition that took place in Bellahouston Park in 1938, some 75 years ago. Everyone, young and old, is encouraged to dress up and take part in Vintage Glasgow’s ‘best in show’ a true celebration and sensual feast for all ages.

At night Vintage Glasgow comes alive, with two big nights programmed as part of the festival, tickets for which are now on sale. On Saturday 27 July the legendary The Soul Casino will transform the Old Fruitmarket, with DJs Eddie Piller, Bob Jeffries and Wayne and Jack Hemingway on the decks. Tickets £15.

The evening of Sunday 28 July sees the closing party of the Merchant City Festival. The famous Torch Club will take to the Old Fruitmarket for a glamorous evening of 1940s entertainment curated by DJ Snowboy, with the 18 piece Swing orchestra The New Squadronaires playing live, with dance lessons to help revellers get in the mood. Tickets £20.

The Merchant City Festival encourages locals and visitors to the city to explore some of the rich heritage, architecture and history of the area, before stopping to appreciate its vibrant café culture, shops, bars and restaurants.

The Merchant City Festival will run from 24 July to 28 July, for live updates on additional events and performances as they are added to the programme follow @MerchCityFest on Twitter or visit www.merchantcityfestival.com.

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EDITOR’S NOTES

· Merchant City Festival is funded by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Creative Scotland and Glasgow Arts. It is also supported by Glasgow City Council and sponsored by Merchant Square and Fraser Suites.

· Tickets for Soul Casino (£15) and Torch Club (£20) are available to book online at www.merchantcityfestival.com, by phone on 0141 353 8000 or in person at the Box Office at City Halls & Old Fruitmarket or Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. (Bookings are subject a transaction fee of £1.00 for online and £1.50 for phone. Does not apply to tickets purchased in person.)

· For more on Vintage visit www.vintagefestival.co.uk or like it on Facebook at facebook.com/thevintagefestival

· Merchant City Festival programming is organised by Glasgow Arts www.glasgowarts.org.uk.

· This is the 12th Merchant City Festival.

· Glasgow Life has commissioned The DollsHouse to Produce Vintage Glasgow. The DollsHouse are working in Partnership with Hemingway Design, creators of the award winning Vintage Festival.

· Vintage Glasgow is being curated by Wayne Hemingway MBE and Gerardine Hemingway MBE, and the team at Hemingway design.