Port Glasgow 250
During 2025, Port Glasgow celebrates its 250th anniversary.
To mark the historic year, Inverclyde Council has organised various activities and is working with partners to make sure everyone in the community is included. A consultation at the start of the year asked residents what they’d like to see during the year and the results have shaped much of the planning.
These include:
- An extended Comet Festival on 21 and 22 June covering the full weekend and incorporating the Port Glasgow 10k
- An arts project with schools in Port Glasgow
- Bespoke floral displays in the town
- Commissioning of pipe music
- An exhibition of Port Glasgow images at the Watt Institution
A wealth of other projects will also be delivered by the council including documenting community voices; a Port Glasgow-themed Dungeon and Dragons adventure; special talks and more. Groups, communities, organisations and businesses are all encouraged to get involved by organising their own projects with many already planning fringe events to take place in the town around the Comet Festival weekend.
The origins of Port Glasgow date back to the late sixteenth century when the authorities in Glasgow purchased land by the village of Newark to establish a port for the city.
In 1710, the principal custom house on the River Clyde was constituted at the Port of Glasgow.
The settlement around the port grew quickly and soon absorbed the fishing village of Newark.
Newark was a burgh of barony belonging to Hamilton of Wishaw, while Port Glasgow remained under the municipal authority of the City of Glasgow.
Recognising the complexities of this arrangement, an act of parliament was passed in 1775 establishing Port Glasgow as a burgh in its own right.
The Port Glasgow (Improvement) Act 1775 defined the burgh’s municipal responsibilities and its authority to raise duty.
The Act was passed on 22 May 1775 and Port Glasgow was born.
The B-listed King George VI building (left) is the oldest in Port Glasgow and dates back to the 1700s.
Newark Castle in Port Glasgow is managed by Historic Environment Scotland. https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/newark-castle/
The former Port Glasgow Council celebrated the launch of the Comet Ship every 25 years with a festival.
The Comet was the first passenger carrying steamship in Europe. The festival has been part of the Port Glasgow community since 1986.
The annual event takes place at Port Glasgow’s Coronation Park. It is organised by the Comet Festival Committee with support from Inverclyde Council.
The festival is free to attend and will feature live music, funfair, children’s activities, stalls, and food and drink tents.
This year an extended Comet Festival is planned over two days and will include the Port Glasgow 10k.
The now iconic Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow statue opened in March 2022.
The huge 10-metre (33 feet) tall stainless steel figures by renowned artist John McKenna are in the town’s Coronation Park.
It is thought to be the largest sculptural figure of a shipbuilder in the UK and one of the biggest of its kind in Western Europe.
The statue is lit at night and is often lit certain colours to mark various events.