A challenging alternative to the production-line pop mediocrity of most contemporary festivals, Counterflows is one of the highlights of Glasgow’s cultural calendar. It has always been an outlier; a celebration of underground music, its schedule packed with stuff that is interesting, weird, a bit out there.

Take, for example, one of the highlights of the 2014 programme: a matinee performance of The Space Lady’s Casio keyboard-based outsider electronica. This San Franciscan ex-busker and her trademark winged helmet lit up the Queen’s Park Arena as dogwalkers and couples on a Sunday stroll looked on in bemusement.

After celebrating its fifth anniversary last year, the festival returned last weekend for another densely-packed few days of experimental performances. It kicked off on Thursday night, with the sexagenarian improvisational artist Midori Takada’s theatrical percussion show at the Glasgow University Chapel.

After each show, the late-night Counterflows Social events brought together the festival’s acts and fans at various venues across the city. That night, the arts community descended on The Doublet – one of the West End’s most beloved traditional pubs, and a venue with strong literary and artistic connections. It was here that I first sampled a West End pint as a 16-year-old before sneaking into the QMU to see one of my earliest gigs, but that is not its only claim to fame. Its regulars over the years have included writers, poets, musicians and actors of note, and its homeliness belies an alternative spirit that has captured imaginations across the generations.

What’s your favourite artwork?

John Smylie (58), west end - "It's a painting of a woman by the artist Milena Sgambato. There's a sadness about it. When I look at it, I think - I've been there".

Ornella Antonelli (40), west end - "Guernica, by Picasso - he perfectly expresses the mess that people have made".

Blake Hart-Wilson (35), London- CLUBBER OF THE WEEK

Q: Favourite club in Glasgow?

A: Pressure, when it was at The Arches

Q: Favourite pub?

A: The Doublet

Q: Favourite DJ?

A: Nicholas Jaar

Q: Favourite band?

A: Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Q: What are you drinking?

A: Riegeler Pilsner

Q: First club you ever visited?

A: Mother Crusher, in Edinburgh

Q: Describe your dancing in three words or fewer?

A: Discordant Ian Curtis

Claire Doherty (42), London - "Cut Piece, by Yoko Ono - it's like a living, breathing, exciting spectacle".

David McColl (36), Cessnock - "Boat In A Storm, by Turner. It's a painting which has always been around in my life".

Melissa Espinoza (27), west end - "Frieda Kahlo - The Two Friedas. I just like that it's her twice".

Ghieth Kazkaz (35), west end - "Dali - At The Age Of Six- Salvatore Dali - it manages to be both imaginative and peaceful".

Archie White (72), Jordanhill - "The Last Picture Of Clementine Walkinshaw, artist unknown. I just like it because she's a nice-looking Jacobite woman."

Tom Rodger (81), Broomhill - "The statue of David, in Florence. I've never seen anything like it, before or since".

David Williamson (75), Broomhill - "Rene Magritte - Ceci N'est Pas Une Pipe - it's so surreal, totally off the wall".

Andy Taylor (33), west end - "The series of Blue Note album covers. They're cool photographs, and they capture moments in time".

Johnny Da Storm (32), west end - "The entire Legend of Zelda game series. It takes you on a journey".