Celtic Connections and is an integral and vibrant part of cultural life in Glasgow, with the economic impact on the city reaching £5.8 million in 2007. The festival actively promotes artistic links and cultural exchange across countries, reinforced by Showcase Scotland which brought 200 music industry delegates from 35 different countries to Scotland looking to book Scottish bands for festivals abroad in 2008. The 2008 festival opened with the Common Ground concert where many of the artists taking part in the event performed together. Donald Shaw, artistic director of the festival, spoke about the future of Celtic Connections as well as the
Saptak Annual Festival of Music Saptak Annual Festival of Music The Saptak Annual Festival of Music is an annual thirteen-day Indian classical music festival held in Ahmedabad, India. It is organised by Saptak School of Music and takes place January first to the thirteenth every year, and is attended by hundreds of people. The festival started in 1980 by Nandan Mehta and his wife Manju Mehta, Rupande Shah, Bharti Parikh and D.D. Trivedi, with the inauguration by Pandit Ravi Shankar and Pandit Kishan Maharaj. The one-day event in 1980 expanded to the performance of more than 130 musicians in 15 sessions spread across 13 days