Musicians in Exile return for Refugee Festival Scotland 2026 with Under One Sky, a performance that brings audiences into the heart of their shared musical journey.

The event takes place on 21 June at Platform in Glasgow from 6pm to 7:30pm and offers an evening filled with emotion, connection and the voices of musicians who have rebuilt their creative lives in Scotland.

Founder Paul MacAlindin says audiences can expect “passion, joy, pathos and beauty in the refugee soul and spirit” and “an array of well‑loved songs from different cultures, performed from our hearts, our lived experience as asylum seekers and refugees.”

Paul shared more about the group’s beginnings:

“Musicians in Exile began in 2018 as a small pilot project of The Glasgow Barons – a charity formed to revitalise Govan through music in schools, community groups and local people.

“Our aim of the pilot was to find out whether musicians with lived-experience of the asylum system needed support to return to music.

“We started searching for folk who made music in their homelands but now found themselves in a place called Govan without the means to make music – instruments, rehearsal space, gig opportunities.”

As Paul and the team got to know their neighbours, they discovered that many people forced to flee their country had rich musical lives before arriving in Scotland.

“The pilot quickly grew into a community that now rehearses every Tuesday evening and has performed across Scotland, receiving several awards.

“Even though our musicians come from different backgrounds and speak different languages, music unites as a common language and mutual support that many need to get them through the trials of asylum and the transition to refugee status that Musicians in Exile is about a family away from home.

“Faced with a hostile political climate, we are more grateful than ever to be courageous, confident and gallus on stage. We love sharing the spirit of the New Scot with all other participants of Refugee Festival Scotland!”

Events details

Under One Sky – Musicians in Exile

When: Sunday 21 June, 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Where: Govan & Linthouse Parish Church

This year’s festival runs from 12-21 June. Over 10 days, hundreds of events will take place across the country. View all event listings here.

*Image credit: RSNO