Celtic Connections 2026 announced!

World leading and award-winning festival offers major music gigs to intimate performances from – Thursday, January 15 to Sunday, February 1 2026.

A programme with 1200 artists over 300 events and 15 venues. 2026,  Rich showcase of trad, folk, roots and world music, Celtic Connections has grown over three decades to become Europe’s biggest winter music festival.  With a wide range of genres that include blues, soul, Americana and indie to acoustic, orchestral, jazz and electronic.   

Delivered by Glasgow Life in partnership with Innis & Gunn, the 2026 festival — its 33rd edition — will take place in venues including the Barrowland Ballroom, Old Fruitmarket, King Tut’s, Pavilion Theatre, Óran Mòr, Saint Luke’s and SWG3. The newly-refurbished Citizens Theatre will also make its debut and the Emirates Arena will host Scottish folk-rock super groups Skerryvore. Celtic Connections 2026 kicks off with a World Connections Opening Concert at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.  A World Connections Opening Concert Glasgow Royal Concert Hall – to celebrate music’s global connections and power to unite people all over the planet. The universal language. With unique collaborations with innovative partnerships Malian singer Roki Koné – feminist supergroup Les Amazones d'Afrique – performing with one of Scotland’s leading folk bands RURA.

Festival highlights include:   Scottish fushion band Shooglenifty; Orcadian bands The Chair, Fara and Gnoss; Highland band Dàimh; Celebrated Cuban collective Buena Vista All Stars; Senegal orchestral sensation Baobab; Mexican drumming dynamo Antonio Sanchez, with harpist Edmar Castañeda and American Bela Fleck; Grammy-winning Americana singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams.

A tribute to one of the world’s most influential folk singers — Scotland’s Dick Gaughan — featuring a large cast of artists and rising Scots stars singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-McLeod and indie accordionist RuMac.

Our Mother Tongue to celebrate Celtic tradition languages – Irish Gaelic, Québécois, Welsh Gaelic, Scots Gaelic. A vibrant expression of cultural pride and linguistic resilience that boldly pushes creative boundaries. A celebration of music and songs in minority and Indigenous languages, Our Mother Tongue showcases an exciting line-up of artists who are proudly honouring their linguistic heritage while boldly pushing creative boundaries.

25 years of new Gaelic songs. Special interpretation of the songs of Robert Burns, the Scottish ballads, and two special nights of Gaelic song including Òran Ùr . 

The Transatlantic Sessions will be held on February 1, 2026, and will feature performers like Darrell Scott, and three singers who’ve been working together, Karine Polwart, Mary Chapman Carpenter and Julie Fowlis.  The packed 2026 festival programme also sees the return of many regular firm favourites, including the Danny Kyle Open Stage showcasing new talent, Festival Club, which returns to the Art School, and the Glee Club nights. 

 **Celtic Connections creative producer, Donald Shaw, said: “At the very heart of our 33rd festival are celebration, collaboration and connection. We are very excited that our 2026 edition will bring together such a wealth of talented musicians from Scotland and all over the world – from award-winning performers to young newcomers. And we can’t wait to welcome so many fantastic artists and acts to Glasgow in the new year to perform for our audiences in every corner of the city. 

“Celtic Connections is a celebration of the boundless power of music to connect and inspire; to transcend borders and provide a platform where Scotland’s own musical might is matched by global talent. Our diverse programme showcases a wealth of musical genres and styles, and we hope as many people as possible will take advantage of the opportunity to experience and enjoy all that’s in store. As we champion the universal language of music, we invite lifelong music fans and curious newcomers to join us as there’s something magical waiting for everyone at Celtic Connections 2026.”

Bailie Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, added: “Glasgow is immensely proud that Celtic Connections continues to be such an incredible success in Scotland’s cultural events calendar, and every year shines a global spotlight on our vibrant UNESCO City of Music and its legendary reputation for audiences which are among the world’s best.

SCOTS Activists Groups

 Here are some of the most significant major Scots activist groups, who since 2014

 - working hard for Scotland’s future democracy. 

 

Scotland Act 1998 – to give us a referendum.

Is Scotland colonised?

 

 

Liberation Scotland

 

Salvo

 

Believe in Scotland

 

Common Weal

 

Scottish Currency Group

 

Scottish Constitution Group

 

The National Newspaper

 

Scots Poet Len Pennie

I attended a talk last week by the Scots poet Len Pennie at Dreamworks Bookshop Milngavie

Pennie’s poems have more lilting lyrical musicality than her English poetry. Her poems pack immediate emotional directness and punch. She says it was all the grandmothers who kept the Scots voices and language alive. 

 

Welsh Labour are proud of Welsh Gaelic and the Welsh flag. We cannot say the same of Scottish labour, would they stand in front of the saltire and speak in Scots Gaelic or Scots? There’s been a long story of religious divisions in Scotland – the divide and rule tactic of the empire elites.

 

She suffered dreadful trolling online abuse. For many years the Scots language has been treated as a ‘pretendy language’ and oddly often by hostile Scots, it’s a centuries old saga. Yet Scots have been historically influenced by their connections and trade to Flanders and Ireland. 

II  Back when James VI held a clan gathering on Iona, he insisted that the clans had their eldest son educated in England, and taught to speak ‘correct English’. This practice continues to this day, with the private school accents. All the assimilation, repression of cultural difference. In the 20^thcentury English managers and middle class professionals came to Scotland – and Scots speaking workers were treated as second class citizens in their own country. 

Revival Scots Language

 

I attended a talk last week by the Scots poet Len Pennie at Dreamworks Bookshop Milngavie

Pennie’s poems have more lilting lyrical musicality than her English poetry. Her poems pack immediate emotional directness and punch. She says it was all the grandmothers who kept the Scots voices and language alive. 

 

Welsh Labour are proud of Welsh Gaelic and the Welsh flag. We cannot say the same of Scottish labour, would they stand in front of the saltire and speak in Scots Gaelic or Scots? There’s been a long story of religious divisions in Scotland – the divide and rule tactic of the empire elites.

 

She suffered dreadful trolling online abuse. For many years the Scots language has been treated as a ‘pretendy language’ and oddly often by hostile Scots, it’s a centuries old saga. Yet Scots have been historically influenced by their connections and trade to Flanders and Ireland. 

II  Back when James VI held a clan gathering on Iona, he insisted that the clans had their eldest son educated in England, and taught to speak ‘correct English’. This practice continues to this day, with the private school accents. All the assimilation, repression of cultural difference. In the 20^thcentury English managers and middle class professionals came to Scotland – and Scots speaking workers were treated as second class citizens in their own country. 

 

The opposite was true back after union 1700s though – the Scots were the workers of the British empire, when after Reformation many Scots were highly educated and there were more ancient universities in Scotland – 

 

So what changed?

During the 1700s several poets wrote to keep the scots language alive  - Allan Ramsey, Robert Fergusson and notably Robert Burns. Burns wrote in English, the language of his education in books. But it was when he read the Scots poems of Fergusson he was inspired to write in Scots, the language closest to his heart. His mother knew and sang all the old Scots ballads. Burns collected, added to and edited the auld Scots songs from his many Scotia travels. 

 

English is of course the global language after the spread of the British empire. But crucially cultural diversity matters so much – both back in Burns day and today. We can have global trade and connectedness AND also have our own voices. We can have both. Why must it be either or?

 

For decades Scots children were rapped over the knuckles if they spoke with a Scots accent or belted if they used Scots words or dialects. Broadcaster Lorraine Kelly was initially told she must tone down her Scots accent if she wanted to be successful - and she thought why should I? 

 

In the 1950s most radio and tv presenters spoke with a clipped Oxford English. Today we have many accents – yet worryingly Scots students attending Edinburgh university continue to be mocked for speaking with a Scots accent – and told to ‘speak more correctly’ by English private school students. When I travelled across Edinburgh on the top of the bus I heard English accents of students in brightly coloured blazers and thought, where are they from? Around 25% of Edinburgh students attend private schools. This creates an unhealthy two-tier society which holds many children back.  

 

At Celtic Connections there are many hauntingly beautiful Gaelic singers 

When Scots writer Billy Kay gave a speech in Scot in the Scottish parliament, he was ridiculed by many Scots. The usual Scots versus Scots. In Switzerland they can speak both local and high German languages – the two languages sit by side by side and not in opposition to each other.

 

Why must Scots chose a side? Religious wars are now centuries old – while the British Constitution of 1688 continues to dominate. Why cant we have English and Scots and Scots Gaelic alongside each other?

 

The Scots language is not merely a side issue – its crucial to our Scots identity and unique voice. Diversity matters. 

 

**The Scots language has been recognised on Spotify – Iona Fyfe

 

Scots is now taught in Scottish schools.