Celtic Connections reveals 2024 festival line-up

Roddy Hart's Roaming Roots Revue will perform for their 12th year at the festival

Scottish music festival Celtic Connections has revealed its line-up for 2024.

It includes shows by Eddi Reader, Dougie MacLean and Blazin' Fiddles.

The celebration of folk, roots and world music will be held in 25 venues across Glasgow in January and February next year.

The story of John MacLean and the red Clydeside era will be told 100 years since his death by Karine Polwart, Billy Bragg and Siobhan Miller.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra will celebrate their 50th anniversary with guest performances from Paul Buchanan, Aoife O'Donovan, folk band Lau and harpist and composer Maeve Gilchrist.

Over 100,000 attendees are expected to visit venues including the Royal Concert Hall, Pavilion Theatre and Barrowland Ballroom.

The celebration of folk, roots and world music will be held in 25 venues

Singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean will perform a special show, Songmaker 2024 - Celebrating 50 years of music and Roddy Hart's Roaming Roots Revue will perform for its 12th year.

International acts include Carlene Carter - daughter of June Carter Cash - and also 15-time Grammy award winner Béla Fleck and pianist Bruce Hornsby.

Alongside performances, attendees will enjoy screenings, workshops, late night sessions as well as dementia-friendly concerts.

Creative producer for Celtic Connections, Donald Shaw said: "Our 2024 edition will welcome a huge portion of international talent back to our stages, particularly our transatlantic cousins in America, and we will be back to staging one of our biggest ever capacity festivals."

Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom is one of venues hosting the 2024 festival

Celtic Connections began in 1994 and has grown to include more performances and more venues in its 31st year.

The Scottish government is supporting the festival with £101,000 funding to help raise the international profile of Scottish artists.

Scottish government Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: "In addition to engaging audiences, Celtic Connections gives artists from near and far an important platform to stage their music and perform, providing significant value to the industry and our economy."

Celtic Connections runs from 18 January to 4 February 2024.

One of the most moving moments of the 2021 Celtic Connections festival was a concert recorded in Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

The Womanly Voices of Jodhpur have performed on stages around the world, but thanks to the pandemic, this was the most local and intimate of concerts.

The five robed singers and three musicians began singing in darkness with the city lights below, and as the sun rose, it revealed the battlements of the historic Mehrangarh fortress below.

It was a moment of hope in a very different sort of festival, which has been gradually returning to form over the past two years.

The 2024 programme offers the largest collection of international performers since 2020, including performers from Rajasthan.

The connection part of the festival remains important, and they'll perform alongside Irish musicians in Citadels of the Sun.

It's not the size of the festival, but the mix which is important, not just for this festival but for future collaborations and the fact that North America, West Africa, India, Australia and Ukraine are all back, will make a huge difference to that potential.

Not that the home talent is being squeezed out. There's plenty to enjoy, whether that's Dougie MacLean, Karine Polwart, Eddi Reader or the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

They've all kept this festival alive in its darkest days. Now their only challenge is to brighten up 18 nights in Glasgow this winter.