The weather in Glasgow in January might be mild days with bright sunshine. It might also be snow, sleet, rain, and blustery winds. Over the nearly three weeks of the Celtic Connections Festival, you can very likely count on all of that. What you’ll also be able to count on is warm welcome, lots of great music, and perhaps unexpected musical surprises.

Celtic Connections is one of Europe’s premier winter festivals, and one of the largest Celtic music festivals in the world. The Celtic and the connections are both always strong aspects of the festival’s programming. This year, there will be concerts by Tom Jones and Mavis Staples, the Scottish folk big band The Unusual Suspects, American banjo plater and composer Alison Brown, and a contingent of musicians from Nova Scotia in Canada, as well as artists from Scandinavia, and from all across the many traditions and regions of Scotland.

The festival begins the year, as is its tradition, with a torch light parade up Buchanan Street to the Royal Glasgow Concerts Hall, which is the hub of many festival activities through its eighteen days of events. On opening night, it will be the scene of a concert in the main hall featuring Indian tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain sharing the stage with musicians from Ireland and Scotland, in a evening called Pulse of the World.

The main auditorium at the concert hall will be the site of other high profile performances. Tom Jones will appear there, as will Richard Thompson, and Seth Lakeman. Phil Cunningham will join up with Eddi Reader and Karen Matheson for an evening honoring the Trossachs region of Scotland, and the work of Sir Walter Scott, who was inspired by the area. Later in the festival the brightest stars from the Scottish Highlands will gather to share their music as well.

Celtic Connections is not just about the big shows and the headliners, though. There are more than three hundred performances across fourteen venues, from the West End to Merchant City, from the rock club ABC to the restored eighteenth century church Saint Andrew’s in the Square. In venues large and small, audiences and performers connect across genres and generations to share their love for and excitement about music. Award winning singer Emily Smith will launch her new album during the festival, and Grammy nominee Mavis Staples will bring her legendary gospel sound to Glasgow. Generations of singers from the Campbell family will share their songs in Scottish Gaelic, progressive bluegrass band Crooked Still, always a hit at the festival, will come from America to bring along their distinctive take on the high lonesome sound, and The Waterboys will celebrate the work of W. B. Yeats.

That’s just a fraction of the concerts that will take place, and there are other things going on as well. Weekend days see master classes from the likes of cellist Natalie Haas and fiddler Alasdair Fraser, along with come and try classes for those who’ve never held a fiddle or a bodhran before . There will be several levels of harp instruction, and al sorts of singing classes too. Radio hosts will bring their programming to the festival, and conduct live interviews.

In addition to the classes, there are piping competitions, and open stage performances featuring up and coming musicians, as well. There are art exhibitions in the concert hall, too, and on at least one night of the festival, a big after hours ceilidh, or dance party, is held there. Every night of the festival, there are late night sessions. The after hours festival club, where the acts are not announced in advance and anyone might show up to play, is always a hot ticket -- and even if your favorites don’t appear on stage, you can count on lots of good music and lively conversation lasting as late into the night as you care to stay.

This year, Celtic Connections runs from 13 through 30 January, in fourteen venues across the city center of Glasgow, Scotland. There is information about tickets, venues, performers, and what events will be broadcast on radio and television, at the festival’s web site, www.celticconnections.com.

Kerry Dexter is the Music Editor for Wandering Educators.
Kerry’s work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, CMT,  Strings, The Encyclopedia of Ireland and the Americas, and other publications. She also writes about the arts and creative practice at http://www.musicroad.blogspot.com Music Road. You may reach her at music at wanderingeducators dot com.