The former Libertines frontman will headline a free Glasgow festival focused on recovery, sobriety and community.
Pete Doherty – the frontman of The Libertines and Babyshambles, who was once as famous for his severe, highly publicized battles with crack and heroin addiction as he was for his music – has been announced as the headliner for Recovery Connects, billed as Scotland’s first alcohol-free music festival.
The event brings together live music and addiction recovery culture, aiming to create a safe, family-friendly festival environment completely free from drugs and alcohol.
Taking place on Sunday, July 5 at Glasgow’s Queen’s Park Arena, the free event is organised by The Recovery Collective – a group of friends all in recovery themselves – and hopes to challenge stigma around addiction while celebrating sobriety and community connection.
During the 2000s, Doherty’s £200-a-day drug habit made him a fixture of tabloid drama, and many fans genuinely feared he wouldn’t survive his youth. However, after marrying his wife Katia in 2021, Doherty successfully got clean.
Organizers revealed that it took nearly four years of discussions with his management to lock him in for the gig. Having an artist of his legendary indie status –who openly lived through the darkest sides of addiction and came out the other side –headlining a sober festival carries immense symbolic weight for the recovery community.
While Pete Doherty is the headline act, Recovery Connects has assembled its biggest lineup yet for the festival’s seventh year.
The event will be hosted by author and broadcaster Darren McGarvey, alongside performances from DJ Joe Deacon, Resurrection and local Glasgow acts Hazy Sundays and Balderdash and the Thing.
Alongside the live music, organisers are also planning food stalls, alcohol-free drink vendors, family activities and community hubs run by local mental health, homelessness and recovery organisations.
Given the scale of the headliner and the fact that it’s a free event, organizers are warning people to arrive very early, as they are expecting their largest crowd to date.
