The grand opening concert of this year’s 30th Celtic Connections festival was ambitious. The platform was huge enough to encompass the world at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
The Celtic Connections have always kept their grand opening grand. And this year there was no change at this point. The 30th Edition of this grand musical event has returned after 2 years of a pause due to the pandemic. On Thursday, the celebration of Celtic, folk, roots, and world music got an exceptional opening. The artist list included huge artists from all over the world. For over three decades they have taken part in this magnificent musical meet.
The event started on the 20th of January and continues to the 5th of February. There are about 1500 performers, 150 shows, and 30 venues across Glasgow. This is an 18-day festival including ceilidhs, workshops, talks, and exhibitions. In January 2020, during the last “live” festival of Celtic Connections took place. About 130,000 attendees were there to celebrate music. Next in 2021, the entire program was streamed online.
But last year with the omicron variant, several Celtic Connections events were canceled. Some took place with a smaller audience limited to 200 people only so that the social distancing could be maintained. However, this year there were no mandated rules that should be followed in order to make the show happen. And it started with a bang at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 20th January.
Donald Shaw, the creative producer said he went into the festival with “feelings of immense determination, pride, and gratitude”. He added, “Sharing our music and our arts is a vital part of our human existence – it allows us to feel rooted in place and connected to one another, enriching our lives in the process. Over the last 30 years, this is what Celtic Connections has always been about.”
Everyone in the crowd witnessed the embodiment of music that day. From Sierra Hull’s lightning dexterity on mandolin to Peat and Diesel’s folk punk tub-thumping to Maeve Gilchrist’s commanding solo harp, this day was making every music enthusiast excited. The 22-piece National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland has got named by Massie as “Top Gun for pipers”. More excitement is yet to come and the opening scene has foreshowed the amount of audience engagement they are about to experience in this 30th Anniversary Concert of Celtic Connections Music Festival, “Europe’s leading traditional music festival”.
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