Celtic Connections 2020 PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED

From Thursday 16 January to Sunday 2 February 2020, musicians from across the world will take part in over 300 events in venues throughout Glasgow for the UK's premier celebration of celtic music.

The 18 days of entertainment will brighten up the dark, wet January nights with a mixture of concerts that include a host of one-off musical collaborations alongside talks, workshops, film screenings, theatre productions, ceilidhs, exhibitions, free events and late-night sessions.

Renowned as a musical cure for the wintertime blues, Celtic Connections 2020 will be the 27th incarnation of a festival that began in 1994, when it offered 66 events at one venue. Since then it’s grown more adventurous, experimental and diverse each year and now offers thousands of events in locations across Glasgow.

Education
More than 11,000 children across Scotland will take part in Celtic Connections Education Programme through five free morning concerts and school workshops led by leading musicians.

The award-winning Education Programme is now in its 22nd year and has reached more than 200,000 children across the country since it began in 1999. This programme is supported directly by the festival’s Celtic Rover patron’s scheme, the membership programme during the festival that offers discounted rates on bookings and exclusive experiences during the festival.

There will once again be the ever-popular programme of public workshops that will give people of all ages and opportunities the chance during the festival to learn new musical skills.

Coming of Age
Many international stars began their careers at Celtic Connections, as the festival continues to showcase up and coming and emerging artists.

On Thursday 23rd January, the festival will celebrate 20 years since the inaugural Young Scottish Traditional Musician Award in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The now titled BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year will celebrate this special birthday with a concert showcasing a plethora of talent in the form of its 19 winners who all hold their own in today’s Scottish Traditional music scene. The festival will then end on a youthful flourish on Sunday 2nd February with the 20th final of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of The Year Award broadcast live from Glasgow City Halls.

An Eclectic Mix of Genres
This year’s programme promises a dazzling array of traditional folk, roots, Americana, jazz, soul and world music.

A Celebration of Women in Piping will be a cross cultural first that celebrates women in piping and will showcase female stars of this most Scottish of instruments. Those pipers include Louise Mulcahy, Alana MacInnes, Síle Friel, Máire Ní Ghráda, Marion McCarthy, Enora Morice and Robyn Ada McKay.

For the Auld Lang Syne Burns celebration on January 23, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra will share the main stage in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall with Eddi Reader, Karen Matheson, Jarlath Henderson and Shona Donaldson.

From Celtic Connections home turf come major shows for Salsa Celtica, Blazin’ Fiddles, Mànran, Lau, Rura, Kinnaris, RANT, Hamish Napier, Sarah-Jane Summers and many others, who together will weave a unique tapestry of Scotland’s music.

As always, Americana will feature large, with Iris De Ment, Sturgill Simpson, Anais Mitchell, The Lone Bellow, Frazey Ford, Della Mae and The Felice Brothers all headlining.

World Music
Expanding those international connections still further, the 2020 line-up, meanwhile, positively fizzes with global stars, with headline acts including Malian singer-songwriter Fatoumata Diawara, Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti with Afsana Khan, Portuguese Fado singer Ana Moura, British Indian musician Nitin Sawhney and Les Amazones d’Afrique (whose album République Amazone was listed as President Obama’s top album of the year in 2017)

Looking ahead, Glasgow Life is supporting delivery of the European Indoor Athletics Championships 2019 and the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship.

For more information, visit www.glasgowlife.org.uk | Folow the conversation at @ccfest

Keep up to date

Receive the latest news, events, offers, competitions and so much more!

Advert: https://www.nms.ac.uk/rural?utm_source=PrimaryTimes&utm_medium=MPU&utm_campaign=Spring24&utm_id=NMORL
Advert: https://aboveadventure.co.uk
Advert: https://www.fairviewinternational.uk/admissions
Advert: https://citysightseeingglasgow.co.uk/
Advert: https://www.fosterglasgow.org/
Advert: https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/sh%C5%8D-and-the-demons-of-the-deep?utm_source=Primary+Times&utm_medium=MPU&utm_campaign=Scotland&utm_id=Sho