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Celtic Connections wraps up record-breaking year

News imageCeltic Connections A band performing onstage, with the backdrop saying Celtic Connections in large letters. Emmylou Harris is centre stage - a woman in a black dress with blond/white hair, playing an acoustic guitar. Other musicians playing guitars, keyboards and drums are also on stage. Celtic Connections
Artists including Emmylou Harris performed at this year's festival

The Celtic Connections folk and world music festival has wrapped up its 2026 programme with organisers saying the event sold more tickets this year than ever before.

About 114,000 people attended shows throughout the 18-day festival in Glasgow, with more than 300 gigs taking place at 25 venues across the city.

Creative director Donald Shaw said the success of the event reflected "the strength of music, cultural identity and collaboration".

Artists and participants spanned more than 35 countries, including Palestine, Iraq, Ukraine, Mexico, Cuba and Brazil. The festival is already booked to return in 2027, running from 14 – 31 January.

More than 200 shows sold out this year, with Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams and Celtic rock band Skerryvore among the acts performing.

Last year's event - which saw a day of shows cancelled due to Storm Éowyn - sold about 110,000 tickets, with 125 sell-outs.

Shaw said: "Such a unique coming together of performers as a global family sends a powerful message about the strength of music, cultural identity and collaboration, especially at a time when the world can feel more fragmented than ever.

"From the Drygate to Donbas, Byres Road to Baghdad, Candleriggs to Palestine, these past incredible days have been forged in friendship, fortitude and the freedom to express ourselves through song, dance and performance, filled with hope, inspiration and togetherness."

He added that he was grateful to audiences attending during "a cold and wet winter month" and that he was already looking ahead to next year's programme, which will be the festival's 34th year.

Among this year's events were four free concerts for nearly 7,000 children and young people from across Scotland, held at the Royal Concert Hall.

Celtic Connections is delivered by the city council's arts body Glasgow Life.

Chairwoman Annette Christie said the festival had launched "a landmark year of international events in Glasgow in spectacular style."

The city will host the Commonwealth Games over the summer, as well as the Royal National Mòd in October.