Roseanne Cash performed Black Cadillac at the Concert Hall

The 14th festival was the first under new artistic consultant Donald Shaw and featured more international artists.

Festival fans attended 300 concerts at 12 venues across Glasgow over 19 days in January and February.

A spokeswoman said: "Celtic Connections continues to attract visitors from all over the world, affirming Glasgow's place on the cultural map."

The final weekend of the festival saw performances from Roseanne Cash and Jerry Douglas, among others, and the winners of the Open Stage decided.

New musical talent

A near capacity audience gathered at the ABC in Glasgow on Saturday to hear dobro player Jerry Douglas and his accomplished band.

Douglas was introduced to the crowd as the winner of 12 Grammy awards and is known for his work on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack.

He is also renowned as the world's best dobro player and on the night enthralled the crowd with his virtuoso finger-picking solos.

His music, and his backing band, effortlessly delivered bluegrass, blues and jazz.

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Only a vocal presence - such as that of Alison Krauss, who Douglas often performs with - would have enhanced the gig further.

The previous evening, at the Royal Concert Hall, Johnny Cash's daughter Roseanne performed.

The influence of her father's songs was palpable throughout the show and Rosanne's own talent was warmly received.

She played songs from her new album Black Cadillac, which was written after the losses of her stepmother June Carter Cash, her father Johnny and her mother Vivian.

Scottish roots

The evening was a personal journey through her music and inspiration, using spoken word segued with a visual display of film footage and photographs.

Rosanne spoke of her delight at playing Celtic Connections and pride in her family's Scottish heritage, which she described as being "diluted in my bloodstream but intact in my heart".

Long after these giants of the music scene had left fans longing for more, Danny Kyle's Open Stage provided hopefuls with their chance of stardom.

Six winners were chosen from 82 acts who performed at the open stage.

'Boy band'

A spokeswoman for Celtic Connections said the level of talent on show at the 16 concerts was extremely high.

The winners included six brothers and sisters from Mayobridge, County Down, called The Rooneys, who have been playing together for seven years.

The New Tradition, from Dunoon, Glasgow, Inchinnan and Helensburgh - who describe themselves as a "boy band on pipes" - also proved successful.