Acts from as far afield as Canada, Australia, and Finland are set to take to the stage at the 42nd Orkney Folk Festival this year.
The full programme for the 2025 festival, which will be held across Orkney between 22 and 25 May, has been announced, with general ticket sales to get underway on 2 April.
In total, 60 acts will take part in 55 different events, with concerts to be held in four different islands. The festival’s spiritual home, Stromness, will play host to more than half of all the scheduled performances, as well as the famed pub sessions.
And in the year Orkney hosts the International Island Games, a bumper contingent of islander musicians will be taking part, including artists from Shetland, Skye, the Isle of Man, Ireland, Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island, and Manhattan.
The diverse 2025 line-up includes:
- Canadian Celtic superstars Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, who are appearing as part of their first UK appearances in 25 years.
- Cape Bretoners, Rachel Davis and Darren McMullen, with Zak Cormier from Prince Edward Island; esteemed singer-songwriter Buddy MacDonald; and master of the fiddle and piano, Troy MacGillivray and Mac Morin.
- Dreamers’ Circus, in one of the few Scottish dates in their 16-year career, as well Sámi artist Emil Kárlsen and Finnish folk supremos, Frigg, as they mark their 25th anniversary.
- Some of the festival’s furthest travelled acts; Australians, The Maes, and Guy Davis and Natalie and Brittany Haas from the USA.
Some of the acts set to appear at the 2025 Orkney Folk Festival
As always, the finest Orcadian talent will take centre stage too. The Gathering concert returns with a feast of music and culture from both Orkney and Cape Breton, and there will be a 30th anniversary celebration of Hadhirgaan, Orkney’s prestigious music education project. Founded by local musician and Scots Trad Music Awards Tutor of the Year, Douglas Montgomery, the group has nurtured some of the finest local talent over the years, and this special concert will include past and present pupils as well as folk acts Fara, Gnoss and Auskerry, which all feature current or former Hadhirgaan members.
The programme includes concerts, ceilidhs, lounge performances, workshops and family events, and has been designed to cater for all tastes to celebrate both local and visiting artists, as well as contemporary and traditional folk music.
As well as the concerts in Stromness, performances are also planned in Birsay, Deerness, Finstown, Harray, Hoy, Kirkwall, Sanday, Sandwick, St Margaret’s Hope, Stenness and Tankerness.
Tickets will go on pre-sale to members of Orkney Friends, the festival’s supporter scheme, on Saturday 29 March, ahead of the general release at 7pm BST on Wednesday 2 April.
Find out more on the official Orkney Folk Festival website.