World-renowned winter festival Celtic Connections opens in Glasgow
Europe’s premier folk, roots and world music festival Celtic Connections is set to open in Glasgow for what will be one of its biggest-ever capacity programmes.
Running until Sunday 4 February, the renowned 18-day event will kickstart Scotland’s annual cultural calendar, welcoming celebrated artists and enthusiastic attendees from around the world for an inimitable celebration of cultural exchange and musical innovation.
Over the course of the next two weeks, 1200 artists will perform at over 300 events, lighting up 25 venues across the city with world-class performances and exclusive collaborations for what is the biggest winter music festival of its kind in Europe.
Europe’s premier folk, roots and world music festival Celtic Connections is set to open in Glasgow for what will be one of its biggest-ever capacity programmes.
Running until Sunday 4 February, the renowned 18-day event will kickstart Scotland’s annual cultural calendar, welcoming celebrated artists and enthusiastic attendees from around the world for an inimitable celebration of cultural exchange and musical innovation.
Over the course of the next two weeks, 1200 artists will perform at over 300 events, lighting up 25 venues across the city with world-class performances and exclusive collaborations for what is the biggest winter music festival of its kind in Europe.
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00:57 This will be the 31st version of Celtic Connections.
01:02 I believe the first year was round about 12 concerts,
01:05 and this year is about 160.
01:07 So the artists are coming from all over the world.
01:10 Obviously, the backbone of the festival
01:11 is folk, traditional roots music from Scotland,
01:15 and then artists from around the UK and Ireland,
01:18 and then from all over the world, including India,
01:21 Australia, West Africa, Ukraine on Saturday night.
01:25 So yeah, pretty much all over.
01:27 The group Daka Braka, who are a Ukrainian all-girl band who
01:31 are based in Paris now playing.
01:33 And yeah, I think what you find generally
01:37 is that the unique shows that have never happened before
01:41 are collaborative shows.
01:42 So we put together a lot of musicians
01:44 that have not played before.
01:45 So kicking off tomorrow night, for example,
01:49 tribute to John McLean, the great Glaswegian socialist
01:52 and revolutionary, has a unique bill
01:56 with artists like Siobhan Miller and Billy Bragg and Eddie
02:00 Reader, Paul McKenna, artists like that.
02:03 So you'll find that right across the festival
02:06 where there's a unique meeting of minds and music minds here.
02:10 Yeah, right across the city, well, here,
02:12 the concert hall, of course, is the main venue
02:14 for the festival.
02:16 But up to 25 venues, other theaters,
02:19 including the Pavilion and Theatre Royal.
02:22 And clubs like Oran War and St. Luke's and Drygate.
02:26 Yeah, you can find music in venues from 100 to 2,500.
02:32 Glasgow is an extraordinarily supportive city for music,
02:36 generally.
02:36 So we have great audiences from the city itself.
02:39 But then audiences coming from all over the country
02:41 and worldwide.
02:42 It's exciting, the current state of folk music in this country.
02:47 And I think that that's beginning
02:49 to have an effect worldwide.
02:50 I think that Scotland, the brand, if you like,
02:53 is growing every year.
02:57 And culturally, we're holding our own
02:59 and showing some great music.
03:00 Tickets are going very fast.
03:01 And it's selling very fast.
03:03 So I think, yeah, get in there quick
03:05 if you want your tickets.
03:05 You can get them online, CelticConnections.com.
03:07 So my name's Donald Grant.
03:09 I live here in Glasgow.
03:10 And I'm a musician playing at Celtic Connections this year.
03:13 I'm here under a few different projects this year.
03:17 Beginning on Saturday night, I'll
03:20 be one of the musicians playing with the Scottish Ensemble.
03:22 I've put together some Gaelic songs
03:24 with Gaelic singer Misha Macpherson.
03:26 And we have a band.
03:28 And I've written some arrangements for the ensemble
03:30 to play with us.
03:31 I have played at the festival before, yes.
03:33 I've played numerous times.
03:34 Always love it.
03:35 And it's also a festival that I came to.
03:38 You know, I came as a teenager.
03:40 I was here at the very first Celtic Connections.
03:42 And it's kind of part of the routine of my year
03:46 is to be here.
03:47 And it has been for a long time.
03:49 It's something that all Scottish musicians look forward to
03:52 hugely.
03:54 It's not only a chance to kind of catch up
03:57 with friends and loved ones every year,
04:01 but it's also a chance to meet new people.
04:04 There's possibly a way of collaborating.
04:05 You hear new music that you might not have heard otherwise.
04:10 And it kind of opens your ears and your mind.
04:12 And I don't know.
04:14 I just love that that happens here in Glasgow,
04:16 in my home city, that we welcome all these amazing musicians
04:19 from all over the world to make music in our city.
04:22 It's amazing.
04:23 The audiences are amazing.
04:24 Yeah, I mean, it's incredible how big they are
04:28 and how enthusiastic they are.
04:31 And Glasgow gets flooded with people coming
04:34 to see all these amazing shows.
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