The Barras Market

The Barras Market

The Barras (more properly The Barrowland market) is a major street and indoor weekend market in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Barras was founded by James and Margaret McIver in the interwar years. Several of the smaller 1921-era market halls still bear the McIver name, although the main Barrowland Ballroom building was rebuilt after a fire in 1958, reopening in 1960.

The original building opened in 1934 in a mercantile area east of Glasgow's city centre. The Barrowland building includes large street-level halls used for the weekend markets, with a sizeable weatherproof dance hall above. The front of the building is decorated with an distinctive animated neon sign.

Although still very popular with visitors and Glasgow natives alike, the second-hand goods traders have either retired or moved to the cheaper and more lucrative weekend car boot sales, reducing the feel of the Barras. A large number of street hawkers selling counterfeit DVDs and CDs or smuggled tobacco have also moved into the street market area. Some regard the Barras as a prime source for illegal goods or services and often resent the authorities attempts to control the street hawkers.