TO all Glasgow Times readers and staff, a very, very Happy New Year to you!

I hope 2023 brings you only good things, and you’ve every chance of that if you are in and around Glasgow this year.

Here’s just a taste of what’s to come …

Your Dry January will be put to the test later this month when the 30th-anniversary edition of Celtic Connections hits venues across the city, it all starts on the 19th, check out the CC website for all the info.

There’s something for everyone in February with the annual Strictly Come Dancing Live tour calling in at the OVO Hydro, just a matter of days before dancers are replaced by darts players when Cazoo Premier League Darts attracts an entirely different audience! Oi oi oi …

March kicks off a run of festivals galore when the Glasgow Film Festival begins at the GFT on the 1st, it’s always well worth a look in what is one of the city’s greatest small venues.

Also beginning that month but running into April is the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, with the city’s own Frankie Boyle and Paul Black among the headliners. We all need a laugh right now, so again check out the website for all your LOL options.

To remind of Glasgow’s event hosting credentials, here’s a few incoming in May: the British Pain Society Annual Conference, the All-Energy Exhibition & Conference, the Rural Entrepreneurship Conference, The Scottish Homebuilding & Renovation Show, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Annual Spring Meeting and the International Scientific Conference. Impressed? If nothing else, that’s the word count for this column hammered!

In June, there can be only one – the 76th annual children’s trip to Troon organized by the Glasgow Taxi Outing Fund – Wednesday, June 21 – save the date!

July brings TRNSMT! (much kinder on the character count!) while August is perhaps the biggie of the year as Glasgow is host of the UCI Cycling World Championships – a huge deal, www.glasgow2023.com is your friend for that one. See - not all drivers hate cyclists!

Come September, the talk of the toon will be Scotland v England men’s football teams at Hampden, marking the 150th anniversary of the very first association football international fixture.

You can enjoy another Great Scottish Run in Glasgow in early October, date tbc, while late November will see Leona Lewis start to get you in the mood for Christmas – again – with her Christmas With Love show.

Happy New Year – and stay safe.