Celtic Connections: Hothouse Flowers and Altan added to lineup

IRISH supergroups the Hothouse Flowers and Altan have been added to the bill of the 20th Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.

They are among a clutch of new acts revealed in the final programme for the 17-day event, who also include singers

Martha Wainwright, Donnie Munro and Martin Stephenson.

Veteran politician Tony Benn will be appearing to present a documentary on his life story and take part in a live Q&A will comic Mark Thomas, while the festival will stage a musical revival of the classic tale Para Handy.

A new “indie version” of traditional hot ticket Transatlantic Sessions, to be curated by Glasgow singer Roddy Hart, will feature Beth Orton, Lau, Rachel Sermanni, Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons, and Admiral Fallow frontman Louis Abbott.

Other indie acts appearing at the Sunday afternoon “Hazy Recollections” strand include Randolph’s Leap, This Silent Forest, the State Broadcasters and Jo Mango.

Other one off events at next year’s festival include the reunited 1960s Glasgow beat outfit The Beatstalkers appearing at the Barrowland ballroom, a showcase for Cape Breton’s “Celtic Colours” festival at the Tron Theatre and a ghostly night at St Andrew’s in the Square with Opera North’s Crows Bones project.

A special Burns Night programme, funded by the Scottish Government, will see Kelvingrove Art Gallery host a ceilidh dance, while Jamaican and Indian stars will take to the stage at the Old Fruitmarket for the “Burns and Beyond” event.

National poet Liz Lochhead will be joining singers Dougie MacLean and Kathleen MacInnes at the gala Big Burns Night event at the Royal Concert Hall.

MacLean will be among those paying tribute to the late “Bard of Dundee” at a special concert, along with Eddi Reader, Kris Drever, Riley Briggs and Rab Noakes.

A new late-night club event, Beat Bothy, will be returning to The Arches after a successful trial run last year, with Glaswegian Sikh duo Tigerstyle and Lisbon outfit Batilda among the line-up.

Mark Radcliffe, Simon Mayo, Ricky Ross and Vic Galloway will be among those presenting special BBC broadcasts from the festival.

A venue for the late-night festival club, which never announces an advance line-up, will be unveiled on Saturday.

Tickets for all shows at Celtic Connections, which runs from 17 January to 3 February, are on sale now.