Celtic Connections

While the English accepted the creation of the devolved Scottish parliament with equanimity, the recent championing of the MacDonald Brothers as musical ambassadors for Scotland has led to a nationalist backlash. Even Guardian columnists have admitted to anti-Scottish racism during episodes of X-Factor, and the celebration of their mediocre cabaret howling as some sort of clarion call to independence by the tabloids may yet lead to the creation of the first English branches of the SNP.

Against the socially and cultural divisiveness of trite Saturday night entertainment, the fourteenth year of Celtic Connections arrives in Glasgow, celebrating the folk traditions of both Scottish and international artists. Managing to neither lose its local roots, nor succumb to West Coast insularity, it has broadened its remit to include acts with only a tangential relationship to Scottish arts, retaining a strong sense of identity and clear links with the Glasgow folk scene and the broader community.

Celtic Connections has never concerned itself with simple musical sympathy. This year, to stress the links between countries that music fosters, the education project will invite children from all over Scotland to free workshops and concerts, encouraging an appreciation of the world's musical heritage. The presence of performers such as Ritchie Havens, Peter Buck and Rosanna Cash emphasises how the festival is able to attract major stars from America.

At the same time, Scottish musicians have not been excluded from Celtic Connections. A special recreation of the Radio 2 documentary 'The Ballad of the Big Ships' will celebrate the history of Clyde ship-building, while Shetland fiddler Chris Stout will be at the City Halls on the 20th of January.

With nearly four hundred events over three weeks, the festival accommodates nearly every musical taste, from the purist (Gaelic music from Tiree on the 21st January) to the experimental (Island Tapes, 20 Jan, featuring guitarist David Allison). World music is represented: from Mauritania comes Daby Toure and from Uzbekistan the award-winning Sevara Nazarkhan. It becomes impossible to identify any single artist as the highlight of the festival, although John Martyn performing his 1973 album Solid Air and the concert of Jewish music by Moishe's Bagel and the Klezmatics will certainly be memorable.

Celtic Connections is an argument against the stereotyping of folk music as insular, dogmatic and exclusive. When traditional music is increasingly ignored and multi-national companies dominate the air-waves, serving up what is all too often complacent, pre-packaged, bland entertainment, these events remind us of the depth and possibilities hidden in our heritages.