Brightening up the coldest days of the year with a whole host of acts and events, Celtic Connections 2017 brings the largest annual winter music festival of its kind to Scotland’s largest city. From January 19th through to February 5th, Glasgow will play host to more than 2,100 artists and 300 events across 20 stunning venues. Everything from folk music to rock will be featured at this wonderful world music festival across 18 days of concerts, with plenty of talks, workshops, and art exhibitions to excite the tastes of anyone with a musical or artistic bent.
Centred around the vision of Artistic Director Donald Shaw, founding member of Celtic supergroup Capercaillie, the festival has become famous for bringing together a retinue of one-off acts, and last year’s event was awarded the Art and Culture Award at the Inspiring City Awards ceremony organised by the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce.
The festival is set to move from strength to strength, with a wonderful selection of performers confirmed for 2017. Joanne Shaw Taylor, the United Kingdom’s number one blues star, will be singing for fans on January 20th, while US folk rock trio The Felice Brothers will be coming on the 21st. Billy Bragg and Joe Henry will play tracks from their recent Shine A Light tour, plus a stream of favourites from their back catalogues, on the 26th, and the legendary King Creosote & Charlie Cunningham will be entertaining you on the 27th.
Further confirmed acts to watch out for include:
- Mexrrissey on January 25th
- Shovels and Rope on February 4th
- St Paul and the Broken Bones on January 29th
- Tom Paxton on January 25th
- Tommy Emmanuel on January 23rd
Whisky connoisseurs should find themselves particularly at home; Celtic Connections 2017 will be hosting the first annual National Whisky Festival of Scotland. Created to showcase the best that the industry has to offer, the event will bring 2,000 whisky enthusiasts together to enjoy masterclasses, talks, food, and many drams of Scotland’s iconic national drink, all set to a fantastic programme of live music. Two sessions will run back to back on January 28th.
Whether you want to warm your blood against the midwinter air with a few tipples of world-class Scottish whisky, enjoy the vocal stylings of some of the most sought-after performers, or simply take part in a milestone cultural event to chase away the post-Christmas blues, Celtic Connections 2017 could be just what you’re looking for.