The year begins, as it has done for the past three decades, with the roots music extravaganza that is Glasgow’s Celtic Connections, this January celebrating its 30th anniversary. Running from 19 January to 5 February, a bewilderingly expansive and genre-defying programme of more than 300 events will be scattered across 30 stages, with expected attendances of 110,000 – a far cry from its first iteration in1994, when some 27,000 folk attended 66 events.

Featuring traditional folk, Americana, indie, jazz… you name it, the festival ranges from concert hall heavyweights such as the superb sean-nós singer Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and a Celtic Odyssée spectacular from Brittany to innumerable more intimate events.

On a different scale, but another important anniversary for 2023, is the 50th birthday of Edinburgh Folk Club, one of Scotland’s longest running such institutions, providing essential grassroots nurturing for so many musicians, from the days when a concept such as Celtic Connections would have been unimaginable. The club’s celebratory programme will run from September of next year into the summer of 2024, featuring as many as it can of the acts it has hosted over the half-century, with its actual 50th anniversary bash pinned to 4 October.

Rhiannon Giddens PIC: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

And there are 25th birthday celebrations on 25-28 May for the popular Knockengorroch Festival, the Galloway-based folk, world music, reggae and drum ‘n’ bass fling. Also in January, Burns and Beyond in Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms includes an evening on the 29th, featuring the high-powered strings of the Kinnaris Quintet, with guests Julie Fowlis and Karine Polwart.

Moving on, 28-30 April sees international singers, academics and archivists converge on Edinburgh’s Scottish Storytelling Centre for the second North Atlantic Song Convention, to share the song traditions of the participant countries with lectures, workshops and concerts. The event complements the opening weekend of Edinburgh’s spring renewal of music-making, Tradfest (28 April-8 May), which opens auspiciously with a concert featuring the superb American roots singer (and twice Grammy winner) Rhiannon Giddens with her multi-instrumentalist collaborator Francesco Turrisi.

Tradfest will host a rich programme of music, dance and storytelling, not least the annual Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin’, which returns from 29 April to 1 May, led by Lori Watson and Phil Alexander. Later, on 7 May, Tradfest’s annual Rebellious Truth lecture, which flags up connections between folk music and societal issues, will be complemented by a recital from Edinburgh University School of Scottish Studies artist in residence, piper and saxophonist Fraser Fifield.

The ever-industrious Soundhouse organisation, who handle the music programming of Tradfest, also renew their regular nights at the Traverse Theatre Bar, January and February alone including Oregon based duo The Hackles (23 January), Glasgow’s groove-driven jazz outfit the Nimbus Sextet (30 January) and lyrical Scandinavian jazz from Norway’s Kjetil Mulelid Trio (13 February).

Meanwhile, Stoneyport Associates, the agency whose John Barrow is chairman of Edinburgh Folk Club, expects some notable acts on its books to be touring over the coming year, with the Mongolian nine-piece Anda Union appearing at Celtic Connections and touring thereafter, the Canadian folk-reggae fusion band Ashara also here in January, and Australian domiciled Scots traditional singer Fiona Ross will visit in the autumn, while there are hopes that Irish fiddle legend Frankie Gavin may tour later in the year.

The coming year’s festival calendar includes the famously no-sleep Shetland Folk Festival (27-30 April), Stornoway’s HebCelt (12-15 July), and Glasgow’s Piping Live! (12-20 August) countdown to the World Pipe Band Championships.

The long-established Traditional Music and Song Association continues its activities throughout the year with concerts, competitions and workshops across the country, including larger events such as the longstanding Keith festival on 9-11 June. The TMSA Young Trad Tour, featuring winners of the Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician competition, should return later in the year.

Like other arts organisations, the TMSA expresses concerns regarding finance, with Creative Scotland’s postponing its announcement of multi-year funding arrangements raising fears of cuts which will hamper “bounceback” from the absence of events and audiences during the pandemic.

Funding uncertainties also make it hard for the organisers of jazz events to plan too far ahead, but Glasgow Jazz Festival has set its dates for 14-18 June, while Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival will run from 14-23 July. The latter has confirmed that it will run two ancillary events – a Blues Weekend in late February and a jazz weekend – Spark: Jazz From Luxembourg – in late March, featuring Scottish and visiting musicians.

Established venues such as Edinburgh’s Jazz Bar and Wighams Jazz Club have resumed vital activity, while the Red Door concerts at St Peter's Church in Linlithgow recommence on 10 February with the jazz-folk fusion of Fraser Fifield and Graeme Stephen. Red Door presents the extraordinary Scottish-based Romanian singer-songwriter Lizabett Russo on Friday, 9 March.

Other touring jazz notables include Helena Kay (Best Instrumentalist at this month’s Scottish Jazz Awards), whose KIM Trio will be joined by pianist Peter Johnstone in the spring. Pianist Johnstone will also tour with saxophonist Tommy Smith, while another polished duo, New Focus with saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski and pianist Euan Stevenson, take the road with their Classical Connection show.

Finally, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, of which Smith is musical director, tours from 23-26 February with award-winning singer Georgia Cécile and from 27-30 April with pianist Gwilym Simcock, before invoking spring thunder with the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers, reprising their spectacular World of the Gods collaboration from 25-28 May.

2023 Arts Preview: The Year Ahead in Folk & Jazz