Shetland.org

Festivals

Enlarge photo

Festivals mark our seasons and celebrate those things that we hold dear. In Shetland, they come in many flavours. Music plays a part in many of them and is the dominant theme for several. 

The year kicks off with a series of fire festivals, held in several communities throughout the islands between January and March.  Much the largest of these, indeed the largest of its kind in Europe, is the Lerwick Up Helly Aa, an extraordinary spectacle by any standard.  However, whatever their scale, these are memorable events, featuring flaming torches, fancy dress, the burning of a Viking longship and convivial parties in a number of local halls.

Around the beginning of May, the first of Shetland’s musical festivals attracts musicians and audiences from all over the world.  Now into its fourth decade, the Shetland Folk Festival is an eclectic event which, though never neglecting its roots in the Shetland fiddle tradition, embraces delta blues to hot club swing, African drums to didgeridoos.  Concerts are held all over the islands and visiting musicians stay with host families, making this a real community celebration.  

If the coming of lighter days after deep midwinter is special in Shetland, midsummer is even more so. There is no darkness between mid-May and the end of July, only a twilight as the sun briefly dips below the northern horizon. This is a time that we call the simmer dim. In the summer months, the pace of community life quickens and all kinds of events take place, from fishing or sporting competitions to agricultural shows. Lerwick is the scene of a colourful Midsummer Carnival and the district of Northmavine holds the inimitable ‘Big Bannock’, which features (among other treats) races involving garden cultivators.  Sailing is popular: as well as local regattas and the annual Bergen-Lerwick race, the islands also occasionally host round-Britain yacht races and the magnificent Tall Ships Races, which visited in 1999 and 2011.  

The pace hardly slows in late summer and autumn.  Around the beginning of September, well-known writers and their readership enjoy a weekend of talks and readings in WordPlay, Shetland’s literary festival.  Running alongside it is a film festival, ScreenPlay, which, as well as featuring internationally-known directors and producers introducing their work, offers local film-makers a chance to show new and innovative productions.  Also in September, there’s the annual Blues Festival, drawing well-known performers from Britain and abroad.

October’s main event is the Accordion and Fiddle Festival, attracting enthusiasts from far and wide for a long weekend of skilful playing and exuberant dancing.  In November, there’s the Shetland Food Festival, which offers demonstrations, tastings and a producer’s market as well as special menus at many local eateries; it’s accompanied by a Christmas craft fair featuring a great range of high-quality local work that usually includes jewellery, leather, woodwork, knitwear, photography and much else besides.