ORKNEY’S CULTURAL CORNUCOPIA
CELEBRATING THE ARTS WITH THE ISLES CALENDAR OF FESTIVALS
Orkney is perhaps home to more artistic festivals than anywhere else in Scotland. When Orcadians enjoy something, they certainly feel it should be celebrated, which accounts for the many music, arts and cultural festivals that run throughout our annual calendar of events.
So esteemed are some of our festivals, that they are branching out to wider audiences than ever before.
This year, in a special pre-orkney Folk Festival event, the county’s finest folk musicians packed out venues in London to give them a flavour of the isles trad scene — and people just can’t seem to get enough. If that was an appetiser, then the feast is yet to come.
One of the headline events sees musicians from around the globe descend on Stromness for the world famous Orkney Folk Festival, held in May.
Winner of Event of the Year at the prestigious Scottish Traditional Music Awards, the festival, now in its 41st year, mixes spectacular concerts from the finest musicians around, with up-andcoming acts and impromptu sessions taking place in halls, pubs and bars.
This year’s line-up will see the return of Orkney folk music royalty Ivan Drever, and a 20th anniversary stomp from Orkney folk supergroup, The Chair. They will be joined by a host of international acts, and the cream of Orkney’s young folk talent.
If you can’t make it for the folk festival, don’t worry, Orkney has plenty of local musicians who are delighted to share their talents all year round.
In fact, you’d be hard-pushed to not find a pub gig or a dance taking place during your time here.
From folk to rock’n’roll, and everything in between — Orkney offers it all when it comes to music talent. We even have our own AC/DC tribute band!
The same goes too for the island’s thriving amateur drama scene.
No matter their walk of life, it is common to see members of the community coming together to tread the boards in colourful costumes.
The dramatic calendar traditionally opens with Kirkwall’s Amateur Operatic Society (KAOS) liven up the cold February nights, with a packed out musical show.
Orkney is a keen participant in the Scottish Community Drama Association (SCDA), and each February/march sees amateur drama groups gather for a One Act Play Festival. With a variety of plays from diverse drama groups competing against each other, this is an excellent opportunity to laugh, cry and be entertained by the cream of Orkney’s thespian crop.
Midsummer brings Orkney’s premier arts festival, The St Magnus Festival, which sees an international line-up of some of the finest contemporary orchestral musicians arrive in the islands. Founded by composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who made Orkney his home, and Stromness-born poet and author, George Mackay Brown, the festival celebrates the finest in music, drama, literature, dance, and art, with Orkney’s magical midsummer providing a spectacular backdrop.
Summer also sees a host of gala days and community events held in villages, parishes and islands.
One of the finest of these is Stromness Shopping Week, which sees one of Orkney’s most picturesque places, host days packed full of community activities, culminating in a fancy dress parade, open air dance and firework display.
Many of the outer isles also stage sublime arts and music events, such as the Sanday Soulka, the Hoy Hoolie, or Westray Connections — and a taste of Orkney’s unique and ancient traditions can be found at South Ronaldsay’s Festival of the Horse.
August sees Orkney at its traditional best as summer goes out with a moo, baa, and sometimes even a few clucks!
The agricultural show season sweeps across the isles in a week of excitement, finishing with the County Show, a fantastic opportunity to see some of the renowned livestock that Orkney is famous for, and surely the biggest single gathering in Orkney.
The event includes over 90 stalls and a host of fairground rides to keep you entertained, and plenty of music and merriment, not to mention a large showcase of business, local arts and craft.
If you thought that once summer is over it’s time to batten down the hatches, Orkney will prove you wrong as it cranks up the volume for two more music festivals.
The Orkney Rock Festival, held across an early August weekend in Kirkwall, sees metal bands from across Scotland join local rock’n’rollers for three nights of mayhem.
A fortnight later, the Stromness-based Orkney Blues Festival attracts some of the finest British blues acts alongside Orkney’s most accomplished musicians. The event has been nominated for UK Blues Festival of the Year, and will see the Grammy Award-winning Jimmy Carpenter headline in 2024.
If music isn’t your bag, then maybe a deep dive into science will spark your imagination?
In the first week of September, venues across the county are given over to the Orkney International Science Festival, offering lectures, workshops, tours and other activities, which will intrigue and interest one and all.
After all these festivals, you’d surely think that folk would be a bit tired out? Perhaps it’s fitting then that the final event in our annual calendar of festivals is the Orkney Storytelling Festival.
With guests from across the globe, this festival promises to transport audiences over the rolling hills and stormy seas of our island home through folk tales — both traditional and new — as well as to further shores.
But we’re not finished yet! Just because there is not a festival, does not mean that there is nothing going on.
Orkney’s arts scene is packed, from touring musicians to acclaimed exhibitions. The islands are full of venues and galleries all year round, and that is surely something to celebrate.