Riverside Festival 2023 in 26 pictures: The first big weekend in Glasgow’s summer of music

The sun shone down as Riverside Festival opened its gates for its milestone tenth edition on a Saturday.

With a line-up packed with the best in international electronic music and Scottish talent throughout the day and night.

Global superstar Patrick Topping took to the Square Stage for a high octane dance under the sun and set the bar high for the first day.

Creative force SHERELLE brought her high-energy blend of footwork, jungle, and drum and bass to Riverside for an outstanding debut.

Multifaceted Australian producer and DJ Mall Grab was an epic closer on the Square Stage with his infectiously energetic selections on the first day of the festival. While over at the Waterfront Stage Panorama Bar favourite Avalon Emerson packed the dancefloor with her trademark maverick and diverse selections.

Brooklyn duo AceMoma brought their raw and energetic sound to Scotland for the first time with globally in demand Palms Trax playing a set packed with his modern twist on house.

Scotland is renowned for its musical talent which was on show at Riverside Festival as masterful Scottish selector Denis Sulta returned for the first time since 2019 with a signature genre hopping set.

Local legends Eclair Fifi and Big Miz got the party well and truly going with a jubilant back to back.

Renowned DJ, curator and founder of Glasgow’s number one inclusive and alternative queer party Shoot Your Shot, Bonzai Bonner played a transcendent set while Hayley Zalassi and Beth made their festival debuts and Optimistic Soul made a very welcome return.

The Satellite Stage was wall to wall from start to finish with a line-up full of rising Scottish acts.

Mark Mackechnie, Co-Festival Director, said: “It feels amazing to be celebrating our tenth edition especially with such incredible weather. All the artists and crowd brought the energy from start to finish and we can’t wait to welcome everybody back again tomorrow.”

On Sunday, the 10th year of the Riverside Festival closed in spectacular style when techno giants Slam joined forces with Frazi.er to bring the weekend to a transcendent close.

Spanish vinyl-only extraordinaire Hector Oaks and the hard-hitting Paula Temple both blew the crowds away while 999999999 (live) made a powerful return with Charlie Sparks making a Riverside debut with his energy-filled, rhythmic pounding trademark sound.

Berlin-based visionary Patrick Mason ignited the main stage with an eclectic mix of hard and fast dance cuts and edits.

Techno’s shadowy overlord SNTS brought the ultimate rave vibes, with SPFDJ playing a blistering high-tempo take no prisoners set. With local rising stars Farnaz and Kairogen also playing incredible sets.

Dave Clarke, Co-Festival Director, said: “We couldn’t have wished for a better weekend as we celebrated our tenth edition of Riverside Festival in glorious sunshine.

“Bringing homegrown talent as well as international acts to Glasgow every year for the event is always a really special experience, and 2023 was one of our best to date. Here’s to ten more years of Riverside.”