SCOTTISH roots music festival Celtic Connections will return in full force for 2022 with an exciting and eclectic programme of events.
Breathing life and soul into much-loved venues across the Glasgow, the 18-day programme of events – spanning traditional folk, roots, Americana, jazz, soul and world music – marks a welcome revival for the scene. The event will take place in Glasgow from January 20 to February 6 and more than 1000 musicians are expected to come together once again in the city.
The January blues are set to be well and truly banished as Glasgow comes alive with hundreds of performances, landmark collaborations, talks, workshops, film screenings, theatre productions, ceilidhs, exhibitions, free events and late-night sessions.
Celtic Connections 2022 will be the 29th edition of the world-famous event after being held online earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Next year will see the event return to its roots as Europe’s largest winter festival.
The opening concert, ‘Neath The Gloamin’ Star, will be a poignant moment for many, featuring a ream of talent from a younger generation of musicians and songwriters.
The show, named after a beloved old Scots folk song, sets the scene as a celebration of a precious heritage that is now being taken forward into a new tradition. The line-up of formidable young singers – in Hannah Rarity, Jenny Sturgeon, Paul McKenna, Innes White, Steve Byrne, The Jeremiahs, Fiona Hunter and Amythyst Kiah, with a unique house band including the Alligin String Octet of Katrina Lee, Kana Kawashima, Seonaid Aitken, Kristan Harvey, Patsy Reid, Rhoslyn Lawton, Alice Allen and Julia Wagner – heralds a bright future for a thriving traditional and world music scene.
“Celtic Connections 2022’s opening concert is a statement of the festival’s commitment to present and hold up emerging acts, recognising what is being done by young musicians in Scotland and internationally to carry the torch for Scots folk song into the future”, said the festival’s creative producer, Donald Shaw.
“There’s no doubt that this year’s festival has an added significance to it, and in the context of the last couple of years, we’re eager to capture the collective human experience that is at the heart of what’s been missing for people – the sharing of experiences, songs, music and stories.”
A bright light of emerging talent shines throughout the festival programme. This year’s Celtic Connections will present a Tradovation – a series of concerts from promising homegrown acts that seek to find innovation, inspiration and exploration within traditional music.
New commissions from musicians at the forefront of the roots, folk, jazz and orchestral scene in Scotland are set to make for exhilarating, multi-faceted performances.
Artists include Fergus McCreadie, Matt Carmichael, RANT & The Ledger, Kim Carnie, Westward The Light, Hamish Napier & Adam Sutherland, Mairearad Green, Jenn Butterworth, Mike Vass and Charlie Grey & Joseph Peach.
Indie fans are also in for a treat this January, with some exceptional and intimate shows planned throughout the city.
Highlights include a special stripped-back show by The Twilight Sad at the Old Fruitmarket on January 21, while the same venue will host revered Danish trio Efterklang on January 17.
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