As the clock ticks down to the start of the Celtic Connections festival, English folk star Kate Rusby and Grammy Award-winning Malian superstars Amadou and Mariam are among the highest-profile casualties of a programme badly affected by Scottish Government restrictions on audience numbers.
A government update on January 11 regarding the potential lifting of restrictions on indoor events and venues suggests that restrictions may be lifted on January 24, four days after the start of the festival. Until then a definitive list of what is going ahead has yet to be compiled. Celtic Connections organisers are currently in frantic discussions with artists and venues to see which performances can take place, in what form and to what size of audience.
But joining Rusby on a list of over 30 cancellations currently listed on the Celtic Connections website are the Roaming Roots 10th Anniversary Revue, the Conundrum International Piping Night at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, planned tributes to Hamish Henderson and Jackie Leven and appearances by iconic Irish band Dervish and Quebec five-piece Le Vent Du Nord. An Elephant Sessions 10th Anniversary Special, scheduled for Glasgow Barrowland, has been re-scheduled for September 23 at the same venue.
Among the venues affected are the CCA, Saint Luke’s, Drygate Brewery, the Mitchell Theatre, the Old Fruitmarket, Òran Mór, the National Piping Centre and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
In a statement released last week, organisers confirmed that a number of shows would not be able to go ahead and that the majority of shows would be affected to some degree. The statement continued: “[T]he uncertainty and disruption caused by the Omicron variant has meant it is not feasible for us to continue with our existing plans on the scale we had originally hoped … We are currently working through many different scenarios and options and reviewing all shows in line with existing event restrictions.”
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