Orkney Folk Festival: The 2021 Orkney Folk Festival, due to take place over May 27-30, is once again set to be a digital event, as a result of ongoing restrictions and uncertainty surrounding the covid-19 pandemic.
With just four months to go until the festival weekend, the team behind the award-winning, voluntary-run event have pivoted towards creating a new, online celebration over the festival dates. This follows the success of their 2020 Big Lockdown Special, which amassed over 31,000 views between Facebook and YouTube broadcasts.
Whilst last year’s online weekend was brought together just weeks into the ongoing pandemic, using live footage from festival archives spanning nearly four decades, over the coming months – where conditions allow – organisers aim to create brand new content celebrating Orkney and Orcadian musicians, singers and groups, alongside content from visiting artists; shining a spotlight on the isles to whet the appetite for visitors returning to a live festival in 2022.
Until very recently, festival management remained hopeful of being able to stage a live festival in the spring, following the event’s cancellation in 2020 – the first time in the festival’s 38 years that it had been called off. Over recent months, a number of adaptations to the festival’s format were explored, both logistically and financially – including the creation of an outdoor event, which would enable both social distancing and ventilation. However, the recent resurgence of covid-19 cases throughout Scotland and the UK, combined with associated lockdown restrictions upon both gatherings and travel, has created a rapidly-changing and ultimately unworkable backdrop upon which to plan for a live event just months away. The festival programme would usually consist of over 35 ticketed events across just four days, alongside innumerable pub sessions and other free events, annually attracting over 6,500 attendees from around the world to the islands.
As was the case following 2020’s cancellation, most, if not all, visiting artists scheduled to appear at the festival will now do so in 2022. Although now two years later than originally scheduled, Scottish headliners including Skerryvore – who are currently celebrating their third week on the BBC Radio 2 daytime playlist, with their new single, You And I – and Blazin’ Fiddles, who recently appeared on BBC1’s Hogmanay 2020 alongside Deacon Blue and Amy Macdonald, have already confirmed their appearances.
Next year’s Orkney Folk Festival will take place over May 26-29, 2022. Whilst the festival would usually precede the late spring UK Bank Holiday, this has been moved into June 2022 to align with the Queen’s platinum jubilee – however the festival dates will remain unchanged.
Reflecting on the festival’s move to a second online event this year, Festival Director Bob Gibbon said: “We are all hugely disappointed to be unable to bring you the festival we created over a year ago and still want to put on – hopefully now in 2022. However, safety comes first and making this decision now gives us time to engage with artists in Orkney, and potentially acts from south and further afield too, to create something really special.
“In these hard times it’s important to look ahead positively, and do what we can with what we’ve got, whilst following appropriate rules. It’s really difficult at the moment – particularly as groups can’t gather for practice and can’t perform – but folk should keep playing and keep singing, for their own mental well-being if nothing else. It would be great if we can capture some of that festival spirit, which has been so badly suppressed by this awful situation. There is of course a small chance that if restrictions are lifted by May we could potentially stage something small, but at the moment that is looking unlikely.”
Festival chair, Elaine Grieve added: “No one could have predicted how 2020 would turn out, and we were all so looking forward to welcoming visiting artists and audiences back to Orkney this year. Clearly that is not to be, or at least not in May – and our thoughts go out to the great many local businesses affected by another uncertain year ahead for tourism. So too do we feel for all of the artists, who have had an incredibly difficult year with live performances, and the majority of their income, frozen for the time being.
“Whilst we are all heartbroken to postpone for a second year, absence really does make the heart grow fonder, and we cannot wait to see everyone back at the festival once this is all behind us. Recent online events and festivals have been really inspiring, showing positivity and opportunity in adversity, and we can’t wait to get to work planning our version of just that, and bringing some of Orkney’s famed festival spirit to folk in these uncertain times.
To keep up to date with festival developments and news, head to orkneyfolkfestival.com and follow the festival on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Photo Credit: Sean Purser