Those heading to Queen's Park for Melting Pot x Heverlee Presents this bank holiday weekend will enjoy a 'landmark party' for the city.
Glaswegians will gather to celebrate 25 years of Optimo in the south side this Saturday, 'one of the most influential DJs, not just in Glasgow, but across the globe.'
The Big Top tent has already been erected at this year's new site, Queen's Park Recreation Ground, as it prepares to welcome hundreds of happy music fans, for the legendary Optimo and friends to take to the decks on Saturday and the return of the famous Disco Sessions on the Sunday.
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Yet, youngsters aren't excluded, with the ever popular Mini Manoeuvres kids' dance party being a real draw for families across the weekend.
With the site in the process of being set up, we spoke to Melting Pot Director Mark Mackechnie about what Glaswegians can expect this year.
He said: "Saturday is a big landmark for Glasgow - Optimo’s 25th anniversary. Optimo are one of the most influential DJs, not just in Glasgow, not just in Scotland, but over the globe.
"We did an event with James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem in around 2004 and at the end of it, he said I’m going to hang on for an extra day, let’s go to Optimo, it’s the best club in the world. Franz Ferdinand would say the same thing, Sons and Daughters and a lot of the other acts that came through too.
"The people who went to the Sunday at the Sub Club and got inspiration to get involved in music, and with them running their Optimo music label, Optimo 25 is a real landmark and I’m really delighted we’re getting to work with Keith and Jonnie on this project.
"We get each other. I know the levels of production they require and the types of environments they play in, they’ve got trust that we can deliver that."
Yet Saturday is only the first leg of what's sure to be a sell-out weekend at Queen's Park, with the iconic Disco Sessions returning on Sunday.
Mark said: "Disco Sessions has been going since day one at Queen’s Park. It’s built up a real loyal following.
"We’ve pushed the boat out a little bit more this year. Gregg Wilson is coming along and we put on his first event after he stopped DJing from 1984 up the early 2000s, he took time out. Then he probably just woke up one day and said ‘I’m getting back into DJing’. We put him on, one of his very, very early shows he did was at Melting Pot at the Riverside Club, which sadly isn’t there with us anymore.
"He’s been an important part of the Melting Point story, so to bring him into the Queen’s Park Disco Sessions it’s great. He played Disco Sessions once before and absolutely loved it.
"We’ve got some local guys like Let’s Go Back, doing the 80s stuff, which will all be kind of club hits, some re-edits they’ve done of Madonna and various other tracks like that and it’s got a clubby edge to it.
"With Gregg and Let’s Go Back playing in the Big Top tent that will be a phenomenal atmosphere, with great music all day.
"In the Heverlee tent, we’ve got a local girl headlining it as well, Rebecca Vasmant, who is now an internationally famous DJ along with Shakara and Polka Dot Disco and Jay Gunning who is a DJ from Project Radio."
Showcasing local music talent has always been a major theme of Melting Pot and this year more than ever as Mark and his team look to support artists who were stifled by the pandemic.
Mark explained: "We’re really trying to keep this as a local thing. I wouldn’t want this event to be reliant on big name DJs.
"It happens in Amsterdam where they really champion their own DJs and bring them through and they become international acts.
"Certainly after lockdown and how everybody has been affected by that period of time - not earning, uncertainty, worry, stressing, mental health all the rest of it, it was all very real.
"When we came out of it I just had it in my mind, we really really need to support the local scene and help develop that. We were already doing it, but that cemented it in my head - this is a legacy to leave in years to come."
Of course, this is no big, brash festival coming to the neighbourhood and taking over, with Melting Pot having been welcomed by southsiders since its first appearance at the Queen's Park Arena in 2017.
This year, with the relocation to the Recreation Ground, the additional Heverlee Village stage allows for more local artists to perform in front of a local crowd.
Mark said: "I think we’ve built up a real local following and people really look forward to the events coming round each year.
"We’ve got a really good relationship with Mini Manoeuvres and we always make sure the parents in the area get the opportunity to get involved in the events as well.
"We won’t have been able to do the Heverlee Village in the Queen’s Park Arena, so that’s been a really cool development. The new location means we can engage a lot more with local acts to get them involved in it with the additional space we’ve got.
'It’s a good bitesize event people can feel they’ve got ownership of."
Above all, it's a chance for Glaswegians to let their hair down, dance, have some drinks and tuck into some top food, courtesy of The Big Feed.
Asked to describe the atmosphere for people heading to the Queen's Park for the first time, Mark said: "It’s just a big big social get together with brilliant music and great soundsystems and levels of production.
"There's less focus on people down the front frantically punching the air and jumping up and down for the duration for it.
"Big groups of friends come, having drinks, having catch-ups, going and having a dance in the various different areas, trying out the different food.
"I’d just describe it as a big party."
And for those yet to bag a ticket for this weekend's event, tickets are still available. To get yourself a spot, you can visit the website here.
