AH, Mayfest. Some Glaswegians still miss it: the teeming, unpredictable programme of events each May, the chance to see international acts we might never otherwise have caught, the amusing publicity stunts that sometimes crossed our paths.
This was one such, back in 1988. The Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Australia’s National Youth Circus’, had been launched in 1979 and went on to become a big hit there and overseas. One of the stars was Alona Smith, seven years old and less than three feet tall. A reviewer of the Mayfest show spoke of the circus’s “mesmerising routine”, which included bike-balancing, hoop-diving, juggling, and breathtaking trapeze work.
Mayfest itself began in 1983, billing itself as ‘Glasgow’s first international festival of popular theatre and music.’ Among the very first billed shows was one by the poet Benjamin Zephaniah. Each succeeding year brought a diverse range of Mayfest events, with household names, comedy, innovative drama, community events and more. Bobby Crush, who won TV’s Opportunity Knocks six times in a row, appeared in the Rocky Horror Show in 1986, to take just one random example.
Mayfest came to a troubled end in 1997, but its impact was recalled later that year by Rosemary Long, writing in the Evening Times in late 1997: “Mayfest was part of Glasgow since 1983. I can’t imagine the city without it, can you? Maybe you can. Maybe you never saw jazz on the Ferry, or the Mali theatre from Leningrad, or The Steamie, or the incredible Russian clown, or the Chicago tough kids doing a play, or the Soweto group bringing us all to our feet and tears to our eyes in the Mitchell... I have muddled memories of which years, which venues, but oh, what a buzz I used to get out of it all.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here