Our 5 favourite Glasgow summer party venues

The BackYard at BAaD is a beer garden to compete with West Brewery. With a whopping capacity of 350 people standing, the outdoor space is comprised of shipping containers, with an indoor bar, two external bars, a BBQ, a covered seating area, and an elevated deck and beer garden with gourmet food trucks.

The good folks at BAaD are no strangers to hosting events and the BackYard is a suntrap if you get lucky on the day of booking your summer ‘do (it’s still Glasgow after all). And if you don’t want to gamble with the weather, the venue has other spaces available for private hire, including the glass-domed Courtyard with all the AV equipment you could want and space for a DJ. What else do you need?

When you think of a Glasgow summer party venue, Red Sky Bar on the 9th floor of the Radisson RED Hotel should come to mind. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out over the Clyde, the Armadillo, and the old shipyard area of the city, with an open-air terrace attached.

From house to disco, techno and Italo, Red Sky Bar is your cocktail-sipping, cold beer-drinking, throwin’ shapes to dance music venue. The west-facing bar catches the sun from midday through to sunset. Arguably one of Scotland’s best bars for nightlife, it can accommodate up to 180 guests and is available for exclusive hire.

Long-standing and beloved Scottish restaurant tucked away down Ashton Lane, the Ubiquitous Chip is more a botanical garden-turned-restaurant than the other way around. With sunlight spilling down on the tables and a plethora of greenery, it’s easy to feel like you’re not in Glasgow.

The roof terrace at Ubiquitous Chip is toaty but worthy of a (wee) summer party if you’re after something for a small group.

Floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over Glasgow Central and down Argyle Street off to the west, the top floor of Yotel Glasgow is the only sky-high bar that boasts a bowling alley and karaoke.

Popular on the Gram, Vega is becoming a destination for DJs to play sets of hip-hop, house, disco, and other dance genres. For a private party, Vega has a table for 10 and space for 30 people standing, and you can add on karaoke hire for £75. For a bigger summer ‘do, exclusive hire can host up to 226 people, and the semi-private areas of Vega can accommodate groups of up to 70. There’s a minimum spend and food and drinks packages available.

Maximalism and decadence are the middle names of House of Gods, the luxury hotel overlooking Merchant City. The Sacred Garden Rooftop aims to be an exclusive oasis in a glass-enclosed roof terrace. The patio furniture and decadent dècor feel more like Rodeo Drive than Glassford Street but when the sun is shining and you’re sipping on a cocktail on a rooftop, does it matter?

For some of you, the exclusivity, glossy maximalism, and sweating cocktail glasses are exactly you’re idea of a summer party and the closest you can get to Ibiza without flying out of Glasgow. This one’s for you.