“A lot of people aren’t fully aware it’s happening,” says one man working on a stall selling Commonwealth Games merchandise in Glasgow city centre on Wednesday, a day before the competition begins.

“It’s been slow – the first two days we didn’t really sell anything but it’s picking up now.”

The lacklustre sales of T-shirts, baseball caps and miniature mascots so far are perhaps indicative of a wider lack of fanfare over 2026’s pared-back offering.

Glasgow came to the rescue and offered to host the games when the Australian state of Victoria pulled out at short notice, citing rising costs. Without the city’s offer, there would be no games at all.

Glaswegians on the whole have good things to say about hosting once again. Fond memories of the heady success of 2014 have not faded, even among people who were barely old enough to remember.

“I came through last time when I was about nine,” says Joshua Lamb, a law student at the University of Glasgow originally from Livingston. “I watched the swimming and it was great fun.”

The 21-year-old added: “It’s nice when the city gets busy. Edinburgh gets all the credit normally, but it’s great here with the weather, it’s a nice vibe. After the World Cup, people are looking at Scotland for good fun.”

After a dramatic fire brought a sizeable chunk of the busiest part of Glasgow – including Glasgow Central station – to a standstill, the city has worked hard to reopen and lay on a version of the games that will be a success.

It is by design a stripped-back affair. There are fewer events and fewer tickets available. Only 10 of the 17 sports from 2014 are being staged in this competition, and half a million tickets being sold, compared with 1.5m when Glasgow last held the event.

The budget is less than a third of previous games, at £150m, compared with £550m in 2014, funded through the Commonwealth Games Federation and relationships with commercial partners.

Some of the funding has also come from compensation paid by Victoria after it pulled out, having already spent A$589m (£300m), according to an official report in 2024.

Glasgow’s rescue of the 2026 games, which came after Birmingham stepped in four years ago when the South African city of Durban pulled out, puts into focus the challenge many cities have in finding money to cover the costs, which usually involve new venues and transport infrastructure.

“It’s good for the economy,” says Callan Cuddihy, a scaffolder who wants to watch the boxing. “I know it’s happening but just not exactly when.”

His friend, Bobby Monteith, agreed. “There’s not much advertising compared to last time.”

They are disappointed to hear they will have to pay to watch it on TV if they do not get tickets. While the opening ceremony on Thursday evening and some of the highlights will be shown on Channel 5, for the first time since 1954 the BBC will not be showing any of the events, with the rights instead going to Warner Bros Discovery.

“It shouldn’t be a subscription,” says Monteith. “If it’s for the people they should put it on TV.”

Despite that, a day before the official start of the games, the majority of the events are not sold out.

“If we hadn’t come here, we wouldn’t have known it was on,” says Elisha Massiah, on a trip from Streatham in south London for a wedding, with her partner Nathan and daughters Iman, 9, and Nailah-Rose, 6.

Though Iman is good at athletics and Nailah-Rose is “the fastest girl two years in a row” at school, it was not on their radar until they arrived and saw a bagpiper and highland dancers welcoming the teams from across the world to the city.

For Carolanne Connal, a theatre nurse in north Lanarkshire who is on her way to a Palestine demo, it is the colonial origins of the games holding her back.

Though there are 74 member nations competing, many of them are unable to invest much in their athletes. She says: “Do they get a fair shot?”

Criticisms are often made of the value of the Commonwealth Games, historically known as the British Empire Games, which has been racing to modernise and shed the colonial connotations to attract younger audiences.

In Candleriggs, in central Glasgow, national flags are flying alongside black mourning ribbons of the 28 Commonwealth countries where same-sex relationships are still criminalised.

The exhibition, laid on by Glasgow 2026, is part of a number of initiatives which the chief executive, Phil Batty, said “remind us that while we celebrate our differences, we should never accept inequality or injustice”.

He added: “Glasgow is a city that has never been afraid to stand up and speak out. It is a city that campaigns for equality and believes everyone deserves to live openly, safely and with dignity.”

But despite criticisms, athletes continue to speak of the importance of the games.

Two England swimmers, Gabrielle Idle-Beavers and Evie Lambert, think that among athletes, the Commonwealth Games still carries a lot of significance in the calendar. Both 18-year-olds are making their debuts in major adult competitions.

“So many people do want to take part,” says Lambert, a para-athlete. Her teammate adds: “Obviously the Olympics are the goal, but it’s personal preference too, the dynamics are different.”

The overwhelming feeling in Glasgow is of optimism and positivity about the games. Even those who try to be grumpy about it do not quite seem to manage it.

“Well I know which places to avoid,” says one older woman, about the crowds coming to the city. Then a grin spreads across her face. “That’s a lie, because the last time I thoroughly enjoyed it.”