THERE'S a statistic about New York, that you’re never more than six feet away from a rat.

Well, this weekend, prepare to experience the exact same all over Glasgow. Except with gigs instead of rats.

You’re never going to be more than six feet away from a gig or a comedy show or a DJ set or a spoken word event or a screening or a book launch or a Q&A or something similarly culturally enriching – and to top it off, there won’t be a rat in sight.

It’s all thanks to the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival, which kicks off in earnest tomorrow night. The truth is, I’m struggling to come up with words to describe how much is going on. It is quite unlike anything we’ve witnessed in some time, with so many highlights it seems impossible to pick them all out.

Let’s start at tonight. As part of the Festival Fringe, the past four days have been chock-full of events at venues ranging from bars and clubs to record stores and cinemas. That continues tonight, as the Parisian beatmaker Onra takes over Broadcast’s basement with his soulful hip-hop.

After tomorrow’s opening night, which sees the Jesus and Mary Chain, Goldfrapp and Cate Le Bon headlining the Barras, O2 Academy and St Luke’s respectively, the party continues at the Sub Club. There, the peerless crate-digger Gilles Peterson gets a go on Melting Pot’s hi-fi soundsystem for the first time, with local girl Rebecca Vasmant in support.

A particularly saturated Saturday boasts more high-profile gigs and shows than some major countries have had in the past year. Early doors, you can catch Craig Charles’ travelling funk and soul show at the Tramway, before heading into town for Freakender’s Spring Fling at the Old Hairdressers: an all-day lineup of scuzzy, noisy pop from the likes of Peluché, Rapid Tan and The Bellybuttons. Meanwhile at the Barras, Bonobo’s lush, introspective, goosebump-inducing electronica gets a live airing before he takes to the Subbie for a DJ set of banging, four-to-the-floor house.

While that’s happening, an almost comically meaty lineup takes over SWG3 for the festival’s official late night party.

Local heroes Optimo top the bill, with veteran electro duo Simian Mobile Disco, maximalist ravers Dusky, and Norwegian space disco producer Linstrøm playing live. That’s just in one room. The Warehouse has the bassy, UK garage-influenced local producer Nightwave, Radio 6 presenter Nemone and Andy Butler of New York house favourites Hercules and Love Affair, while trap queen K4CIE, Femme Fresh, and Happy Meals run things in the Poetry Club. It is a festival’s worth of talent concentrated in one venue over four hours. Unreal.

It doesn’t end there however. If you’re more indie-inclined, Gonzo is having a free noughties nostalgia session in Bloc from 11pm, while hip-hop aficionados can catch Pro-Vinylist Karim in Duke’s for squat. Disco lovers have Al Kent playing the Admiral with Melting Pot, too. It’s wild. Things come to a head on Sunday at the Subbie, as trip-hop godfather and longtime Fabric resident James Lavelle, of UNKLE, takes to the decks at Depeche Mode’s unofficial after party. Whatever you do, make sure to absorb this movable feast of music, this smorgasbord of culture, because there might not be another weekend like it.

• Onra, tonight, Broadcast, 10pm – 3am, £10

• Gilles Peterson and Earl Zinger, tomorrow, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £15

• Craig Charles DJ Set, Saturday, Tramway, 10.30am – 5.30pm, sold out

• Freakender Spring Fling, Saturday, The Old Hairdressers, 5pm – 2am, £7

• Bonobo, Saturday, Barrowlands, 7pm – 11pm, sold out

• Subculture with Bonobo, Saturday, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, sold out

• Optimo and Simian Mobile Disco, Saturday, SWG3, 11pm – 3am, sold out

• Pro-Vinylist Karim, Saturday, Duke’s Bar, 8pm – 12am, free

• Gonzo, Saturday, Bloc, 11pm – 3am, free

• Melting Pot with Al Kent, Saturday, The Admiral, 11pm – 3am, £10

• James Lavelle, Sunday, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £5/6

David Rodigan

David “Ram Jam” Rodigan is the world’s most unlikely champion of Jamaican music: a Sergeant Major’s son from the English countryside who looks “like a bank manager” (his own words) and speaks in the clear, clipped tones of a home counties headmaster. But there are few who have done more to promote reggae both at home and internationally, and that fact is reflected by Rodigan’s position as one of the most respected, revered reggae elders in the world. As part of the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival Fringe, this remarkable character drops into The Art School on Saturday for a Q&A session with local soundsystem Mungo’s Hi Fi, before taking to the decks for a one-off set of tunes taken exclusively from his extensive collection of dubplates (exclusively-made records that namecheck the DJ). On a chaotic weekend of parties, this is an unmissable opportunity to see a true hero who’s quite literally worshipped from Kingston to King’s Park. If you can’t wait for that, there’s a special Fringe edition of Mungo’s weekly night Walk N Skank tonight at the Berkeley Suite with the residents lining up alongside the 527 Crew. Yes Irie!

• Walk N Skank, tonight, The Berkeley Suite, 11pm – 3am, £3/5

• David Rodigan, Saturday, The Art School, 8.30pm – 3am, £12/19

Animal Farm: Blackout

After 12 years of pushing the envelope with their Subbie and Art School residencies, Animal Farm bring you this 11-hour techno marathon that will test the stamina of even the most hardened ravers. Expect dark, brooding beats at The Glue Factory from Abdulla Rashim, a live set from Berlin’s Somewhen, and furious noise from Dax J. Then it’s onto the city’s newest venue, the Joytown Electric Theatre in Cowcaddens, where the residents and guests will assault your senses with back-to-basics minimal techno.

• Animal Farm: Blackout, Saturday, The Glue Factory/Joytown Electric Theatre, 4pm – 3am, £25/20/17/12