A horde of Shetland Vikings led a warm welcome to the festival with a torch lit parade. To celebrate the opening weekend. with Up Helly Aa songs.
The festival is staging 2 Shetland concerts for the 550 years since Shetland joined Scotland.
This year’s hybrid festival will be both in person and online – with around 60 in-person concerts, a number of intimate filmed and a digital offering with 500 artists beginning 26th January. The festival will include Scots singers Iona Fyfe, Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart as well as ceilidh bands and more.
Tickets for the newly confirmed shows are now on sale and organisers are encouraging “everyone who is able to support the festival” by joining them over the next three weeks.
Digital tickets are priced at £25 and will go on sale this Friday. A digital ticket will allow music fans access to at least 12 hours of exclusive filmed live content from across the festival for a three-week period starting Wednesday 26th January.
Celtic connections said – “We warmly welcome confirmation that live indoor performance can proceed without the capacity limits in Scotland form Monday 24th January. We have more than 50 shows still programmed between then and Sunday , February 6th. The safety of audiences , artists and suppliers is central to all our plans and we are working with the Scottish government and venues to ensure we put all necessary public health measures in place of Celtic Connections 2022.”
