Arcadia Scotland

Art and Culture

Art of Billy Connolly: Through 31 January, People's Palace & Winter Gardens
Drawings and sketches made by the Big Yin over the years, as well as items from the collection, such as the famous banana boots and a guitar made from a White Horse whisky box.

Ballet of the Palette: Through 31 January, Gallery of Modern Art
Twentieth-century paintings from the gallery collection, selected by contemporary artists Neil Clements, Lotte Gertz, Charlie Hammond, Louise Hopkins, Merlin James, Victoria Morton, Carol Rhodes, Tony Swain, Hanneline Visnes and George Ziffo.

A Century of Style: Costume and Colour 1800-1899: Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum
A look at the glory and diversity of 19th century clothing, with examples from leading Glasgow department stores and dressmakers and a beaded couture dress from Paris. This was the period when industrial dyes and the sewing machine were invented and perfected, leading to an explosion in mass-produced garments.

Colour and Light II: Through 5 January, The Lighthouse
An installation of hand-folded paper shades.

Devils in the Making: Through 31 January, Gallery of Modern Art
A look at the Gallery's collection through its connection with the Glasgow School of Art, featuring work by artists such as Christine Borland, Jim Lambie, Roderick Buchanan, Victoria Morton and Simon Starling.

Kathy Hinde: Submerge: Through 9 January, The Lighthouse
A sonic exploration of Glasgow's streams, combining underwater recordings with data from OPAL Community Scientist Joanne Dempster and the labs of Glasgow Scientific Services.

Ripples on the Pond: Through 31 January, Gallery of Modern Art
A selection from the gallery's collection curated by Katie Bruce, designed as a conversation between works on paper by women and the moving image. 

Music, Comedy and Dance

Celtic Connections: Beginning 14 January, Various venues and times
Glasgow’s annual folk, roots, indie, world and traditional music festival celebrating the links between Celtic music and cultures across the globe. An international cast of over 2000 musicians descend upon Glasgow, to create over 300 events. These include ceilidhs, workshops, talks, dancing, art exhibitions, free events and a torchlight parade through Glasgow.

Altan and Mischa MacPherson: 29 January, City Halls, 7:30pm
Together with its myriad other outstanding qualities, Altan’s 2015 album The Widening Gyre is brilliantly titled, evoking its creators’ steadily expanding influence and artistry, throughout their 35-year career, by citing Yeats’s The Second Coming. The poem’s intimations of a new age struggling into existence, born of the cyclical clash between ancient and modern, resonate tellingly within traditional music today. 

Blazing Fiddles: 30 January, O2 ABC, 7pm
On fiery form, these contemporary fiddle players from the Highlands and Islands mix solo and ensemble sets to create a unique blend of energy and sensitivity.

Burns--Life and Love in Harmony with Amy Lord: 30 January, 1:15pm, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Now in its fourth year, the Celtic Connections Song School returns home to the heart of the festival – the Concert Hall on the final weekend.  Using venues all over the building, the weekend will feature some of Scotland’s top singers and tutors in various different styles of singing, to teach some of their favourite songs and harmonies.

Burns Night Special: 24 January, The Stand, 8:30pm
Robbie Burns was funny, right? So toast the bard in a manner he'd have fully appreciated: a night of beautiful, filthy comedy.

Lectures, Sports and Local Festivals

Irn-Bru Carnival: Through 17 December, SECC Centre
From the traditional whirl of the waltzers and the crash of the dodgems to the brand new Voodoo Dancer and equally stomach-churning Matterhorn, Speed Buzz and Extreme. Plus of course there are gentler rides for wee ones such as the Teacups and the Carousel.