2026 marks a special year for Platform at The Bridge in Glasgow as they celebrate 20 years of participatory arts and community outreach in Easterhouse, having first opened their doors in autumn 2006 as part of the award winning The Bridge complex.
Platform started the year with a bold approach to turning 20, supporting, creating and delivering 26 creative projects and live events throughout the year, one being Made In Easterhouse the multi-arts festival come birthday bash which takes place on Friday 23 October, from 4pm.
The festival heralds the past and the future – 20 years of Platform in motion; live, open, experimental and still making space for what happens next.
The line-up will include live music by DICK50 featuring L + R.AGGS, GLOSS and Sacred Paws, written and spoken word by Helen Charman who is researching the Platform archive to create a piece of writing that opens a dialogue on ‘What is an arts centre’ as well as visual art from Cranhill Art’s Glaswegians exhibition, comedy and performance from David Sherry, screen printing with Print Clan, Durty Beanz, live portrait painting workshops with Project Ability and some insightful, lively performances from the beating heart of Platform – the Taking Part groups.
Tickets are priced from £5 and they invite you to celebrate, eat some birthday cake and enjoy a varied line up of things to see and do.
Matt Addicott, Artistic Director for Platform said: “It is twenty years since we first opened the doors here at Platform. In that time, we’ve hosted art and artists from across the world here in Easterhouse and supported communities to watch, participate and collaborate in this work.
“To celebrate two decades of creative activity, we have supported twenty-six different projects to be developed, produced, shared and celebrated as part of our programme this year. Twenty-six projects celebrating twenty years, all made here under the banner Made in Easterhouse 20:26.
“Throughout the year, we’ve had visits from owls, roller discos and world-famous comic book illustrators. Films have been made, cakes eaten and carnivals paraded. As we gear up for the Made in Easterhouse 2026 festival on 23 October we make a nod to the multi-artform celebrations which have formed a key part of our programming over the past 20 years. Outskirts, Eastern Promise, Headspace, Flutter Echo, Big Days Oot and Wee Days In have all looked to make space for the magic that happens when performance, music and visual art collide. Those moments when you find something you were not expecting, a new artist to follow, a new artform to try or just a great day or night out you were not expecting”.
Eoin McKenzie, Performance Programmer at Platform and who has co programmed the Festival with Visual Arts Programmer Margaret McCormick, first came to Platform’s drama clubs as a child when the building first opened, moving into leadership roles with the groups to performing at various Platform festivals – and has now come full circle as part of Platform’s programme team.
Eoin said: “Made in Easterhouse feels like a chance to celebrate not just what has happened here over the last two decades, but the particular kind of arts centre Platform has become – and what it might become next.
“Across a much wider programme of live music, performance, participation and visual art, artists including Sacred Paws and David Sherry sit alongside work that has grown directly out of the building. Yer Da Works At Tesco, for example, is an anarchic anti-capitalist performance made by Monday Night Drama – a group of teenagers who meet at Platform every week to make performance.
“In the lead-up to the festival, writer Helen Charman will spend time with Platform’s archive and groups – and with the work happening here now, asking a deceptively simple question: what is an arts centre for? It feels like exactly the right question to ask at twenty”.
Made in Easterhouse takes place on 23 October 2026, tickets are available from https://www.platform-online.co.uk/whats-on/event/1238
