Pete Doherty to headline Scotland’s first alcohol-free music festival
Indie rock icon Pete Doherty will headline Scotland’s first alcohol-free music festival this summer, as the event announces its biggest line-up to date.
Recovery Connects, a unique event bringing together people recovering from addictions to drugs and alcohol, will be held at Queens Park Arena in Glasgow on Sunday, July 5. This year’s festival, which is free to attend, will see the Libertines and Babyshambles frontman Peter Doherty take to the stage as the headline act.
The 2026 line-up also features a DJ set from Joe Deacon, as well as a performance by Stone Roses tribute band Resurrection. Also appearing on stage will be local acts Hazy Sundays and Balderdash and the Thing, ensuring a packed afternoon of live music. Acclaimed author, broadcaster, and social commentator Darren McGarvey will host the event, introducing each act before they arrive on stage.
Recovery Connects challenges the stigma around addiction, and celebrates the fact that people who struggle with substance use issues can and do recover.
The event is sponsored by Abbeycare, which runs drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinics in Scotland and England, as well as the charity We Are With You, with funding from the Corra Foundation and support from Inhouse CIC.
It connects people in recovery with their communities, and is open and welcoming to all, including music fans who would like to experience a festival without alcohol. Now in its seventh year, Recovery Connects continues to grow rapidly. This year the event opens at 12pm and concludes at 6.30pm.
As well as music on the main stage, there will be a variety of other family-friendly activities on offer, as well as food and non-alcoholic drinks. Stalls operated by recovery, mental health and homelessness services and local social enterprises will also be running throughout the day.
The event was created by three friends who are all in recovery themselves – Eddie Clarke, Derek Watt and Shaun Kenny – who together form The Recovery Collective.
Eddie Clarke, outreach manager at Abbeycare and one of the festival’s organisers, said: “We are buzzing that Pete Doherty has agreed to be our headline act, and to have an artist of his calibre on the Recovery Connects stage shows just how far we have come.
“The festival started with the simple idea of bringing people in recovery together to celebrate what they’ve achieved, rather than hiding it away. It’s also a safe place for people to enjoy incredible live music without being surrounded by alcohol and drugs, an experience often associated with other festivals.
“With Joe Deacon and a host of other amazing acts also performing this year, we can’t wait to hear the roar of the crowd in Queens Park Arena. There is a community, family-friendly feel to this event that you just don’t get anywhere else, and we look forward to welcoming music fans from Glasgow and beyond.”
For more information about Abbeycare, please visit www.abbeycarefoundation.com
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