A SWIMMING pool in the West End of Glasgow, closed as part of the city's cuts in education spending, is to have a new lease of life as a club during this year's West End Festival, writes Keith Bruce.
The shoestring festival, on a grant of #53,000 from various departments of the city council and #3000 from the Scottish Arts Council, is to reopen Church Street pool, off Byres Road, as The Deep End for three weekends next month.
The club is one of a number of innovations in this year's festival, which encompasses a total of 180 events from classical and contemporary music to an art show on the railings of the Botanic Gardens and the annual carnival procession along Byres Road.
Festival director Michael Dale said that the events were built on the enthusiasm and commitment of the people of the West End and the sponsorship support of local businesses, but a survey conducted by Glasgow Caledonian University last year had shown that 35% of the audience had come from outside the Greater Glasgow area.
Other innovations in this year's programme include the Glasgow debut of the Screen Machine, the mobile cinema for Scotland's rural areas, which will be parked in Vinnicombe Street outside the area's closed Salon Cinema, and events at Glasgow University's new James Arnott Theatre and Andrew Stewart Cinema, where there is a season of Sean Connery films.
This year's Midsummer Carnival on June 21 is preceded by The Longest Day, a rerun of last year's rained-off open air concert in Kelvingrove Park, headlined by Teenage Fanclub.
The festival runs from Saturday June 13 to Sunday June 28.
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