"EVEN 10 years ago, this was unthinkable, to have this amount of people celebrating our culture, our language and our tunes. Let's keep it going folks," Gary Innes told the OVO Hydro crowd to cheers on Saturday night.
The Hoolie in the Hydro organiser, broadcaster and musician – who was also celebrating his birthday – had a grin from ear to ear all evening, as star after star came to the stage for one of the biggest events of the year for Scottish traditional music.
Acts performing this year included Elephant Sessions, Trail West, Manran and Beluga Lagoon, and the theme of the evening was dedicated to the Big Yin.
READ MORE: Gaelic tale to be aired for first time over festive period
The idea was to give a show for Billy Connolly and for fans to show their appreciation for him. As Martin Compston, who was hosting the event alongside Julie Fowlis, put it prior to the event: "I think sometimes legends can leave us and then it seems after they’re gone there’s an outpouring of grief and they don’t really know.
“I’m glad the last few years it’s been made abundantly clear just how much Billy is loved and cherished."
Fittingly, the event had Parkinson’s UK as its charity partner for 2025. The legendary comedian was diagnosed with the disease in 2013.
But while the theme may have been for the Big Yin, the crowd was there for Scotland's newest sounds.
Standing in the crowd on Saturday, I was alongside a couple who have gone to all four previous Hoolie events, as well as folk from Perth who constantly travel to trad gigs across Scotland, including Skerryvore earlier this year at Kelso Castle.
The trad scene is seeing bigger and bigger venues sell out with fans of all ages coming together, and last night felt like the perfect example to promoters and legislators around the country as to just how important it is to continue riding and fuelling this wave of culture recognition.
Elephant Sessions, who are set to play Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Stirling all before 2026, opened the evening with a fantastic energy from frontman and fiddler Euan Smillie.
Trail West carried the energy with their phenomenal western Highlands and Islands sound, and the Oban Pipe Band, who have became global ambassadors for Scotland in the last few years, looked like they were having the time of their lives just as the crowd were.
Beluga Lagoon were next and brought their fun, flair, and hypnotic beats before Manran stole the show as the top act of the evening. The band, which has just celebrated its 15th year together, were beyond in their set of classics and new releases, with more to come in 2026.
READ MORE: This Scottish panto is a joyous Highland fling – here's why
Nearby to where I stood, a young group from Lochaber belted out Gaelic lyrics from 2011 as well as all the latest hits. I saw one lass from another group googling "Scottish Gaelic to English" when Trail West were playing. Others were translating for people they were with who were unsure of what the lyrics meant, and so on.
As I'm sure most of the musicians on the stage felt, it was emotional to see puirt a beal being sung by an estimated 10,000 people when the stats tell you our language is in danger.
Around 1300 students across Glasgow Gaelic Secondary School, Glasgow Gaelic Primary School, Calton Gaelic Primary School, Glendale Gaelic Primary School and Govan Gaelic Primary School were offered tickets to the evening to see the celebrations.
"The next generation are central to ensuring traditional music continues to thrive," Innes had said when announcing the ticket partnership with Glasgow 850.
A friend messaged after I shared on social media that I had been at the gig: "I absolutely love going and always feel like a fraud that I don't speak it [Gaelic]."
I understand this, and this event is doing everything right to remove that fraudulent aspect from Scotland's core. By bringing school pupils into the audience and welcoming fans regardless of fluency, the evening clearly underlined that participation, pride and visibility matter as much as language ability, and that nurturing the next generation – and even facilitating lessons and resources for those who have missed out – is key to keeping this cultural wave moving forward.
The Big Yin tribute
The night felt slightly disconnected in its celebration of Scotland's newest sounds, and then, as fun as it was, a very nostalgic billing, which a lot of the crowd did not recognise or stick around for.
Ralph McTell, a friend to Connolly for more than 50 years, led the tributes with a performance of Streets of London. McTell had spoken to Connolly just before coming out on stage, and his son came on to record the crowd shouting "We love you Billy" to send to him.
Elaine C. Smith, Clare Grogan, and Still Game star Gavin Mitchell, aka Bobby the Barman, joined the tributes to Connolly, with the first singing Super Gran and the latter donning his very own banana boots while singing the classic If It Wasnae For Your Wellies. RuMac also performed D.I.V.O.R.C.E, with the humour one can only perform the 1975 number one hit with.
The whole evening's cast came on stage for a final Oban Pipe Band performance and a message from Connolly was played.
He said: "Hello again. This is Billy Connolly, the person you've been thinking about all day. I hope I've come up with some stuff to interest you. I'm in the back of my house, the sun is shining down on me. I hope you have a lovely time. I'm proud of you".
Connolly was the man who put the Scottish working-class experience on the world stage, and inspired each and every Scottish performer and comedian who followed him. His impact is still being felt today, and no one can doubt that.
Tickets for Hoolie in the Hydro 2026 are on sale now.
Share