Looking back on some highlights from Celtic Connections, Glasgow’s cathartic annual festival of roots and traditional music.

Making JANUARY SOUND BETTER

The slogan of Glasgow’s annual Celtic Connections is “Making January Sound Better” and it’s hard to argue with that when 1,600 artists from all over the world descend on the city to perform over 300 concerts over 18 days. This year’s event, the 33rd, broke records for attendance with over 114,000 tickets sold to world and roots music events across the dear green place.

Such a huge event is next to impossible to review in its totality, so I can only give you a taste of one person experience across the three weeks. I skipped the blockbuster shows – Skerryvore and Emmylou Harris both played at the Emirates Arena – in favour of taking in a variety of musicians at smaller venues. In this round up you can see some of my favourite photos taken of the course of the festival,

celebrating the upcoming Commonwealth Games

Celtic Connections kicked off on January 15th with the traditional opening concert at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which featured a sampler of artists from the weeks to come. This year the theme was “Global Connections”, celebrating the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be hosted there in the summer, and a string of artists from Palestine, Mali, Morocco, Gambia and Canada, as well as Scotland of course, gave a taster of what was coming up.

how delightful discoveries are made

No traditional music festival finishes at 10pm, and for many the good stuff only really starts after hours. Celtic Connections has two streams of late night music, the Festival Club which parties until 4am, and the slightly more sedate Late Night Sessions which runs until 2am.

I no longer have the legs to stand, let alone dance, until 4am so it’s the Festival Sessions for me. Both events run along similar lines – five or six artists play short sets; and the audience has no idea what they are going to see in advance. With a packed schedule which often has up to 10 shows a night, the after-hours sessions gives you an opportunity to see performers you may have missed earlier in the day. The random nature means you see some that you might not have chosen to seek out – and that’s how delightful discoveries are made. Stand out discoveries for me this year? Amythyst Kiah and The Wildwoods.

QUIRKY ARCHITECTURE

Celtic Connections is spread out over 25 venues, from the Emirates Arena, to dedicated concert halls, to rock venues like the Barrowlands Ballroom, to tiny stages in bars.

Some of the highlights are when the festival takes over places which do not normally see music. Two in particular this year were the MackIntosh Church with its quirky architecture, and the magnificent Barony Hall, more normally used for student graduations.

HOTBED OF CREATIVITY

Glasgow is the centre of Scottish traditional music, hosting the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as well as the National Piping Centre and young people from all over the country go there to study, meet their fellow musicians and form bands and collaborations.

Celtic Connections encourages this hotbed of creativity by not only booking many of these fledgling acts to play in support slots to established artists, but also commissioning new work for a series of New Voices concerts. This year these featured guitarist Luc McNally, fiddle player Roo Geddes and pianist Amy Laurenson .

next generation of Scottish artists

As part of encouraging the next generation of Scottish artists, Celtic Connections is completely integral to the process of breaking new music onto the scene. Every afternoon of the festival has the Danny Kyle Open Stage where opportunities are given to 70 artists – often life changing ones. The festival also hosts the finals of Hands Up For Trad‘s Battle of the Folk Bands and BBC Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year. Pictured are Evie Wadell, finalist of the Battle of the Folk Bands, and Rachel Groves who won the Young Traditional Musician prize.

uniquely Scottish high energy

Of course the core of Celtic Connections is the incredible array of the very best of Scottish traditional music on show. Some favourites pictured below included Kinnaris Q, Imar, Staran, RURA, Ciaran Ryan, Mec Lir, FARA, The Chair and Sian. Many blend traditional instrumentation and singing – often in Gaelic – with more modern musical styles creating uniquely Scottish high energy which is quite irresistible.

TRADITIONAL ARTISTS FROM NEAR AND FAR

Joining the Scots are traditional artists from near – England and Ireland – and far. Quebec featured heavily this year, and African and Asian musicians were also well represented.

Pictured below are the hugely energetic Quebecois Bon Débarras, Irish/American Cherish the Ladies (with their nice reversal of stereotypes of an all female band with male dancers), somewhat more subdued The Unthanks with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the SAZ Trio from Rajasthan, Boubacar Samake from Mali and Gambian Sidiki Jobarteh.

legendary Transatlantic Sessions

The legendary Transatlantic Sessions have become an integral part of the final weekend of Celtic Connections, with the final Sunday concert being close to a closing ceremony. What started as a TV series in 1995 is now a live showcase of artists from both sides of the ocean. Stalwarts Ali Bain and Jerry Douglas are joined by an all-star house band and guest singers who this year included Karine Polwart and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.

guaranteed to lift the post Christmas gloom

18 days of globally influenced traditional music is one hell of a way to start the year, guaranteed to lift the post Christmas gloom no matter what the actual weather is like. There is nothing quite like it; if you’ve not been, remember that festivals are not just for summer and pay Glasgow a visit.

Celtic Connections will return for its 34th edition on January 14th 2027.

All live photography by Stuart Anderton

Celtic Connections: Website

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