For us, and for music-lovers all over Scotland and throughout the UK, October means Oxjam. And this year is a special celebration as Oxjam celebrates its 10th birthday.
Oxjam started in 2006 with the aim of bringing together people all over the country who were passionate about music and wanted to raise money to fight poverty and reduce suffering around the world.
10 years on and Oxjam is still going strong, with hundreds of exciting gigs taking place each October. For Oxjam, each gig is different ranging from our multi-venue Takeover events to concerts in Oxfam shops and even people’s living rooms. We are hugely grateful for the support that we have had from big name musicians like Damon Albarn, Fatboy Slim and Jarvis Cocker, but it is just as important that Oxfam remains at heart a grassroots festival. That means we can only run Oxjam because of the thousands of volunteers who give us their time, energy and
passion to organise gigs showcasing musicians from their local communities.
In Scotland, Oxjam events are happening in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Ayr and will cater for all musical tastes from jazz to psychedelic rock and reggae to folk. We hope that this diverse range of music will give people an appetite to sample music that they may not have tried before.
In Glasgow, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary, the Oxjam Takeover team are planning a one-wristband music festival which will enable people to access 10 music venues on and around Sauchiehall Street on Saturday 15 October. Oxjam Glasgow Takeover Manager, Lindsey McGhie, says:”The goal for this is to raise £10,000 which will help Oxfam in our attempt to eradicate world poverty in the next 15 years. We are really excited about what is now one of the biggest multi-venue music festivals in Scotland. What’s fantastic is that we have the support of big and
well-known venues like O2 ABC and NICE N SLEAZY as well as smaller bars so it is sure to be a festival that will bring musical brightness to October.”
Not to be outdone by Glasgow, on Saturday 15 October from 12 midday until 1 am, Edinburgh will be a host city for Oxjam. Oxjam Edinburgh Takeover Manager, Karl Wood, says: “This year we’re showcasing more than 30 acts over 5 venues throughout the day at a pop-up outdoor stage at the Grassmarket and also at Stramash, Paradise Palms, Brewdog and the Grassmarket Community Project. There will be a really exciting range of performances from spoken word to reggae and trip hop to rock. Edinburgh is enjoying an explosion of grassroots arts activity and music nights at the moment,
and we’re proud to be here to witness it and help promote some of the exciting acts appearing on the scene.”
- You can find about the Glasgow Takeover event on their Facebook page and you can buy tickets now.
- Details of the Edinburgh Takeover event can be found here and you can find updates on their Facebook page.
- You can find your nearest Oxjam event on the Oxjam map.
- And if you want to get involved in Oxjam yourself by organising your own event next year or volunteering at a local gig you can fine out more here..