{"id":2183456,"date":"2026-10-06T11:12:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T08:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2183456"},"modified":"2026-10-06T11:12:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T08:12:42","slug":"celtic-connections-reveals-2027-festival-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2183456","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Connections reveals 2027 festival programme"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/c577\/live\/e201fb20-c16e-11f1-a003-8be783290413.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"CelticCeltic Connections<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Musicians from over 20 countries will perform at this year’s festival<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A tribute to the Beatles, a takeover of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and a special gig by film composer AR Rahman are among the shows unveiled for next year’s Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 34th edition of the folk, roots and world music event will run from 14 January until 31 January and open with a special concert by Scotland’s GRIT Orchestra, playing orchestral arrangements of some of well-known folk songs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Musicians from over 20 countries will perform while a new membership scheme will offer reduced tickets to people under 26.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Last year’s festival saw about 114,000 people attend shows across the city. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The opening concert will be held at the Royal Concert Hall and features the GRIT Orchestra, which was originally assembled over a decade ago to pay tribute to the late folk musician Martyn Bennett.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It will play new arrangements of both ancient and contemporary folk tunes to launch the 2027 festival.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Slumdog Millionaire composer Rahman will perform at the Glasgow International Arena – formerly known as the Emirates Arena – in collaboration with British talents Rushil Ranjan and Abi Sampa. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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It will be the first time the show, which bridges the gap between Western and Indian classical music, is performed in the UK outside of London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Beatles themes and Irish stars<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Festival mainstay the Roaming Roots Revue will have a Beatles theme this year, with guests to be announced performing tracks from the band’s back catalogue, backed by an orchestra and live band.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Other gigs include Heartbeats singer Jos\u00e9 Gonz\u00e1lez, folk-rock band the Saw Doctors, Pogues collaborator Iona Zajac, and Irish accordionist Sharon Shannon, who will be joined by Sir Bob Geldof.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Tribute shows to Joni Mitchell, Glasgow folk singer Matt McGinn, and British folk-rock singer Sandy Denny will also feature.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart will host two nights of shows called Curiosity Cabinet at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, with songs and melodies based around some of the objects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Tall Ship Glenlee will also be used as a venue for the first time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CarysCarys Huws<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Iona Zajac is one of the acts announced for Celtic Connections<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Festival director Donald Shaw told BBC Scotland News it was important the event tried to offer affordable tickets, despite rising costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I think everyone is in the same boat in terms of challenges with logistical costs, production costs, and travel costs. We have to balance having a sensible budget with keeping an ambitious programme.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We want to include as many people as possible and what we are trying to do is put any funding we get for Celtic Connections into keeping ticket prices at a reasonable level and offer discounts for a younger generation.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CelticCeltic Connections<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Beoga recently quit Ed Sheeran’s tour<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The festival director, who has been in post for over 20 years, said he believes the festival’s eclectic approach has helped it reach more diverse audiences in recent years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Over the last decade there has been such a natural evolution of folk music, and we have seen crossover with orchestral music, jazz, electronica and world music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It has meant Celtic Connections is more colourful than ever. The scene itself is wider now, and I think the availability of music digitally and through social media has meant trad music and folk itself is even more widespread. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s a great thing and there is a sense of confidence within the music scene in Scotland now.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Among the acts booked are Beoga, the Irish folk band who recently quit Ed Sheeran’s tour in support of support act Macklemore, who was dropped from the tour over pro-Palestine comments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shaw said folk music has always had political elements to it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We are always keen to let the artist have their voice and have their say. That’s been the backbone of folk music culture for 50 or 60 years at least.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Tickets for the festival go on sale this Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c6kg5v7zk482o”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/c577\/live\/e201fb20-c16e-11f1-a003-8be783290413.jpg”] Celtic Connections Musicians from over 20 countries will perform at this year’s festival A tribute to the Beatles, a takeover of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and a special gig by film composer AR Rahman are among the shows unveiled for next year’s Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. The 34th edition of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2183456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2183456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2183456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2183456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2183456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}