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Monday 10am - 4pm Tuesday 10am - 4pm Wednesday 10am - 4pm Thursday 10am - 4pm Friday 10am - 4pm

St Magnus International Festival

Name: St Magnus International Festival
Address: 13 Albert Street, Kirkwall, KW151HP, GB
Telephone: +441856871445

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St Magnus International Festival

Orkney's Midsummer Festival of the Arts

05/06/2026

We can't wait to have join us in Orkney later this month.
Listen to them talk about what you can expect from their 2 concerts!

02/06/2026

Getting around the Festival just got easier.

We’re working with Stagecoach North Scotland to provide additional bus services across Orkney from 19 to 27 June, making it simpler to move between venues during our 50th anniversary Festival.

- Additional S1 services will operate between Stromness, Kirkwall Travel Centre and St Margaret’s Hope, including later evening journeys following performances and events.

- A dedicated ST1 shuttle service will operate between Kirkwall Travel Centre and Kirkwall Grammar School for selected performances.

- Additional shuttle links will help connect festival goers with events at Hatston Auction Mart.

- All journeys will be open to the public and eligible for concessionary travel and fares will also be covered under the Scottish Government’s national £2 fare cap scheme.

Full timetables will be available via the Stagecoach website and app.

30/05/2026

Icelandic vocal magic is coming to Orkney!

We are beyond excited to welcome acclaimed Icelandic ensemble Voces Thules to St Magnus Festival as part of our 50th anniversary celebrations.

Expect haunting Nordic harmonies, ancient sagas, sacred songs, and unforgettable performances in two stunning Orkney venues:
Sagas, Skalds, Songs: Voces Thules
June 23, 3pm
South Ronaldsay & Burray Church
https://stmagnusfestival.com/festival-programme-2026/23-sagas-skalds-songs-voces-thules

Nordic Songs For Saints: Voces Thules
June 24, 8pm
St Magnus Cathedral
https://stmagnusfestival.com/festival-programme-2026/30-nordic-songs-saints-voces-thules

27/05/2026

We’re delighted to announce William Hershaw as the winner of the St Magnus Festival 2026 Poetry Competition.

A Fifer and former Principal Teacher of English, William is a leading voice in Scots language writing, with work shaped by folk song, folklore, and Scotland’s rich cultural heritage.

His winning poem, Buirds o the Air, draws on Bede’s parable of the sparrow to reflect on the transience of life, inspired by close observation of the natural world.

William said: “I’m delighted to be part of the St Magnus Festival and to win the inaugural Poetry Competition is a great honour.”

24/05/2026

This is the one for anyone who loves discovering new music, in an extraordinary space.

The Bubblyjock Collective bring QUINES to St Magnus Festival’s 50th anniversary, a brand-new programme celebrating female Scottish composers and women from Scottish history whose stories have too often been overlooked.

At the heart of the programme is a newly commissioned song-cycle by Lisa Robertson, which sets texts from Gerda Stevenson’s QUINES poetry collection, written in the voices of neglected women from Scottish history.

Alongside this, music by Isobel Dunlop, Marie Dare and Claire Liddell brings three extraordinary composers into focus, names that deserve to be better known.

QUINES: The Bubblyjock Collective
27 June, 1pm
St Magnus Cathedral

Have you booked your tickets yet?

22/05/2026

In the early 1960s, Danny Nicolson, a joiner living in Kirkwall and grandfather of musician, Chris Amer, “invested his wages in a film camera and became one of Orkney’s then small number of amateur photographers.” His images captured his favourite subject, “everyday life and the people that live in it.” When Danny’s photos were rediscovered by his son, they became “the record of Orkney’s collective memory”, giving us an “immersive insight into Orkney life of a past era.”

Decades later, those photographs became the starting point for Chris Amer’s music.

Chris said that looking through the photographs was “a deeply intense experience, like a window into another reality. It wasn’t just looking at images, it was like I was stepping into my Grandad’s world […] it was like I was getting to ‘remember’ memories that weren’t mine.”

“As a musician, feelings like that provoke me to write, and I found that my outlet was to make music. Just as my Grandad was inspired to capture moments of the normal life he lived, I was inspired to capture my response to those moments.”

Chris will be making 2 appearances at St Magnus Festival’s 50th anniversary:

Hear Chris’s response to these images in:
Making Peace With What Is: Chris Amer
26 June, 9pm
Stromness Town Hall

And also catch him at:
Chris Amer & Juliette Lemoine
22 June, 9:30pm
The Neuk, Albert Hotel, Junction Rd, Kirkwall

“This music is, similarly, a celebration of the beauty of the ordinary.”
Images credit: the Danny Nicolson Collection

21/05/2026

Plenty to look forward to in Stromness this year. Which events are on your list?

19/05/2026

Congratulations to composer Mark David Boden, winner of the 2026 St Magnus Festival Composition Competition.

His new work GUSTO takes its inspiration from the movement and energy of air, while also playing on the dual meaning of the word itself: both “gusts” of wind and the musical term gusto. GUSTO was created in response to this year’s festival theme of AIR.

GUSTO will be given its world premiere at the Hebrides Ensemble’s morning concert on Wednesday 24 June, at 11.00.

A fitting addition to our 50th anniversary programme.

16/05/2026

A throwback to Jasper, spotted “working” in the St Magnus Festival office.

A familiar face to many in Kirkwall, Jasper was known for making himself at home in shops, streets and, as this photo shows, at the keyboard too.

Though no longer with us, he continues to inspire us. Festival Director Alasdair Nicolson brings a new composition, Jasper The Kirkwall Cat, to the festival this June.

Jasper The Kirkwall Cat: The Assembly Project
23 June, 1:30pm
Orkney Auction Mart

14/05/2026

Families, don’t miss these events!

Bringing young people along to the Festival? The MagFest Explorer ticket offers £5 tickets for under 18s, making it easy to experience the Festival together. From meeting Jasper the Kirkwall Cat to bringing brilliant beasts to life, there’s plenty for young people to discover across the programme. And at the weekend, don’t miss Up in the Air as SURGE brings its anniversary street parade to Kirkwall, featuring soaring kites, local performers and the Kirkwall City Pipe Band.

Behind the scenes at the festival, pupils from schools across Orkney are also taking part in workshops, performances and creative projects. Young people are designing kites for the parade, working with visiting artists, and getting hands-on with music, storytelling and theatre. This includes sessions with Len Pennie, The Wallace Collection and The Cooperation Band, plus workshops with RBC Percussion and O Duo.

We’re proud to continue our partnership with LMN, working together each year to create meaningful opportunities for young people to take part every year.

Address

13 Albert Street
Kirkwall
KW151HP

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 4pm
Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm

Telephone

+441856871445

Website

http://www.stmagnusfestival.com/

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