Festival Retrospective

Celtic Connections 2001 – A Female Festival

10th January – 28th January 2001

In 2001 the festival hosted the very first final of BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition. Concertina player Simon Thoumire launched the competition for the growing ranks of highly talented young musicians appearing on the folk scene.

Fiddler Gillian Frame was the first winner of the award with The Herald stating “her fiddling and unaccompanied singing oozed confidence and poise”.

Artists appearing at the festival in 2001 included a strong line-up of women:

String Sisters
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Scots Women
Rickie Lee Jones
Evelyn Glennie
Shine
Karine Polwart
Kate Rusby
Mary Black
Karen Tweed
Cherish the Ladies
Alison Brown
Karen Matheson
Sharon Shannon
Eddi Reader

Nordic Nights underneath the Arches

The Arches had been through a revamp shortly before January 2001 and it played host to two world music strands at that year’s festival. One Cajun and the second Nordic. Nordic Nights took place over the middle weekend and featured one Scottish band plus three bands from either Finland, Norway, Sweden or Denmark. The Iron Horse, Blazin’ Fiddles and Deaf Shepherd played host to Ann-bjorg Lien, the Baba Yaga Band, Varttinä, SWAP, Haugaard and Høirup and Serras.

What the critics said...

First and Last

A Cunning Collaboration - Ceilidh

Phil Cunningham brought together Evelyn Glennie, Blazin’ Fiddles and The Royal Scottish National Orchestra to perform ceilidh.

Last

Well it really was the year for women at the festival and our final concert proved it by providing a platform for four of the biggest female singers around. Iris de Ment, Laura Cantrell, Janis Ian and Suzy Roche on one stage together ensured this was one of the hottest tickets of the festival.

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