Joe Smillie of the Glad Cafe

Glasgow Conversations

Meet Joe Smillie, venue manager and director of the Glad Cafe in the southside of Glasgow. In this conversation, Joe talks about the cafe's beginnings, and its growth from a humble bar to the beating heart of something absolutely magical taking root in the local community.
Learn about the Glad Foundation, Glad Rag Mag, Glad Academy, Glad Rags Thrift Store, and the many arts, film, street food and musical events gravitating every day around this spectacular venue, including what's in store in the coming months. Listening to Joe's laid back, matter of fact chat, you'd be forgiven for thinking that he doesn't really appreciate just how jaw-droppingly inspirational this place is, and you may come to agree that it's the work of people like Joe, his mum and the amazing team around them, work they just get on with day in, day out, that continues to revitalise and re-imagine Glasgow from the bottom up.
So visitors to Glasgow, and folks living across the water who think there's a full stop at the end of the west end & city centre, make sure you cross the water for a bit, and in places like the Glad you might find yourself breathing in more than you ever thought possible this far from the tourist-beaten track.