The energy company confirmed its support for the festival which celebrated an extremely successful 18th year in 2011. For the fourth year running ticket sales reached over £1m with overall attendances at the 100,000 mark.
The festival scored major coups in 2011 with a programme which featured Sir Tom Jones, The Waterboys, Mavis Staples and a very special Love and Money reunion show. The 2012 festival will be the sixth year the festival has been supported by ScottishPower.
In 2011, music fans attended approximately 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, which took place in 20 venues across Glasgow over 18 days in January.
Musicians from all over the World came to perform at the festival with acts from India, Cameroon, Japan, Israel, Argentina, South Africa, Senegal, Cuba, Bahrain, as well as Europe, the USA and Canada all taking part.
The ScottishPower Pipe Band, who are celebrating after coming third in this year’s World Pipe Band Championships, also participated leading the torchlight procession through Glasgow city centre to help launch the event.
ScottishPower’s support for the festival has also been recognised by Arts & Business Scotland and has been shortlisted in the Sustained Partnership category for this year’s awards. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Aberdeen in October 2011.
Ann Loughrey, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at ScottishPower, Celtic Connections’ Principal Sponsor, was delighted to announce the renewal of the partnership, saying:
“ScottishPower makes a substantial commitment to the arts in Scotland and as part of this commitment we are delighted to continue our relationship as principal sponsor of Celtic Connections.
“We are pleased to offer our backing to such a world renowned festival that celebrates the vibrancy of the Scottish music scene, its Celtic traditions and heritage.
“ScottishPower is proud to have supported the growth of the grassroots festival over the past six years. Celtic Connections will continue to have a large role in Scotland’s cultural calendar and we are pleased that our sponsorship will help the festival go from strength to strength.
“The ScottishPower Powerful Performance competition aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in celebrating traditional music continued at the festival in 2011 for the second year. We were overwhelmed at the response we received from schools and pleased that we can get young artists of the future involved with the festival. The 2011 winners, Montrose Academy, put on a strong performance on the prestigious main stage of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall bringing Celtic music culture to a younger audience through the festival’s education programme.”
Around 2,100 artists performed at more than 300 events across 20 venues in the city in January of this year including many sell-out gigs.
The funding from ScottishPower will enable festival organisers to continue to bring the highest calibre of leading names in the music world to Glasgow.
Donald Shaw, Artistic Director for Celtic Connections, said: “Celtic Connections and ScottishPower have enjoyed a very successful partnership since the company commenced its sponsorship in 2006, and we are thrilled that this much valued support is to continue in 2012. ScottishPower’s commitment will ensure that audiences can continue to enjoy performances by the finest international and home-grown artists in Glasgow next January.
“ScottishPower’s investment also provides key support to the festival’s Education Programme, and the ScottishPower Powerful Performance has encouraged children across the country to explore Scottish traditional music and enjoy their country’s cultural heritage. Celtic Connections is proud to be supported by ScottishPower, and we are very much looking forward to working together to deliver another great festival in 2012.”
Councillor George Redmond, Chair of Glasgow Life, said:
“We’re delighted that ScottishPower are once again giving their support to Celtic Connections as Principal Sponsor. The festival enjoys a very successful relationship with the international energy company, and ScottishPower’s support means that music fans will once again be able to enjoy performances by world class artists in Glasgow this January.”
Celtic Connections 2012 runs from Thursday 19th January to Sunday 5th February. The programme for the 2012 festival will be announced on Tuesday 18th October 2011.
Issued by The BIG Partnership on behalf of ScottishPower.
For more information please contact:
Susanne Grant on 0141 333 9585 / 07824 388 472 or email susanne.grant@bigpartnership.co.uk
or
Kay McCarthy on 0141 333 9585 / 07736 774 338 or email kay.mccarthy@bigpartnership.co.uk
or
Claire Snedden, Celtic Connections press office on 0141 353 8070 or email clairesnedden@glasgowconcerthalls.com
Notes to Editors:
ScottishPower became Principal Sponsor of Celtic Connections in 2007. Through the sponsorship, the company encourages its staff and the communities it operates within to experience and enjoy the arts. ScottishPower’s partnerships reflect the company’s belief in the importance of enabling culture to be accessible for all.
Every January, fans and musicians from around the world flock to Glasgow for the city’s 18 day folk, roots, world and traditional music festival – Celtic Connections. The largest winter music festival of its kind and ranking amongst the finest folk festivals in the world, Celtic Connections comprises 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, workshops, free events and late night sessions taking place over 18 days in 20 venues across Glasgow.
Renowned for its diverse and ambitious programme, Celtic Connections’ fundamental aim is to make links through traditional music and culture. Every year the festival brings together a top line-up of 2,100 artists from around the globe to celebrate the influence of Celtic music on cultures around the world.
For background on ScottishPower log onto www.scottishpower.com and more details about Celtic Connections, log on to www.celticconnections.com.