Pussy Riot: Russian punk band to headline Glasgow Great Western Festival 2022

Russian protest punk group Pussy Riot have been announced as headliners for Glasgow’s Great Western Festival 2022.

The festival, which is dedicated to musical exploration and discovery will return to the city’s West End on Saturday 12 November.

This year marks the third edition of the all-day multi-venue music and arts festival, which organisers say will be the boldest and most memorable yet, beginning with the announcement of this year’s headliners: Russian feminist art/protest collective Pussy Riot.

Following a hugely successful UK tour in 2019 which included a 10-night residency at Summerhall for Edinburgh Fringe, Pussy Riot return to Scotland at a very poignant moment for world affairs, with a revised show that now spans the prosecution of political prisoners and Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Pussy Riot previously played at Summerhall.

Joining Pussy Riot in Glasgow this autumn will be: BC Camplight, Los Bitchos, Scalping, Luna Li, Dan Mangan, The Bug Club, Connie Constance, Plastic Mermaids, Martha Ffion, A.A. Williams, DEADLETTER among others.

The festival will also play host to an abundant line up of exciting local/Scottish talent too, including: Dutch Wine, Lewis McLaughlin, Iona Zajac, Bin Juice, Raveloe, Amelia Bayler, Flinch, Sean Lìonadh and Bee Asha Singh.

Festival organiser Brian Reynolds said: "We are so happy to bring back our community festival for 2022 and I'm truly delighted to have our Russian friends Pussy Riot headlining the event.

"This serves as a timely reminder that dissident Russian voices will ultimately have to bring about the necessary changes within Russia and that these voices deserve our full support.

“The line up is so rich in awesome new talent that I wish I could attend twice. I'm really looking forward to hosting live music in our new venue addition The Piping Centre on Otago Street and I'm pleased to have made the festival footprint much more compact this year to cut down on travel time between venues.”

In May it was reported that Pussy Riot lead singer Maria Alyokhina, who was under house arrest, had fled the country disguised as food courier – in an escape she likened to a "spy novel".

The Great Western Festival tickets are on sale via tgwfest.com.