Hotels near the Celtic Connections

Celtic Connections is Britain's premier Celtic festival, started by Glasgow Royal Concert Hall in 1994 and now promoted by Glasgow Life. The festival now reaches out across the city, to venues including City Halls, Old Fruitmarket, O2 ABC Glasgow, the Arches and more.

The first decade saw a rapid expansion of the festival so that, by the tenth year, audiences were approaching an amazing 100,000 across ten venues. A focus on new and young talent is enshrined in such strands as The Young Tradition and Inspired Apprentices.

The main acts to have appeared at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Barrowlands, the Old Fruitmarket and the Carling Academy over the years have included the likes of Sinead O'Connor, Altan, The Waterboys, The Dubliners, Billy Bragg and Bob Geldof, as well as the very best in homegrown and international Celtic artists.

Amidst the plethora or workshops, ceilidhs and smaller gigs are headliners who, in 2012, include Béla Fleck and The Flecktones, Tigran and the Song of the Oak and the Ivy, The Unthanks, the Cecil Sharp Project, Orquestra Baobab, Bonny Prince Billy, Kathryn Tickell and Mull Historical Society