ORKNEY FOLK FESTIVAL RELEASES FULL PROGRAMME FOR 2026 EVENT
- Orkney Folk Festival has announced its full programme for the 2026 event, with acts from around the world set to perform across the islands between 21 and 24 May.
- Leading artists from the USA, Canada, Finland, Ireland, England and throughout Scotland will join home-grown Orcadian musicians as part of the 52 acts appearing at the festival in its 43rd year.
- The programme features 53 events, including concerts, dances, stomps, lounge performances, workshops and family events, at venues across Orkney.
- It’s been designed to cater for all tastes, to celebrate both local and visiting artists, as well as contemporary and traditional folk music.
- While more than half of all events will take place in the festival’s hometown of Stromness, performances are also planned in Birsay, Deerness, Finstown, Harray, Holm, Hoy, Kirkwall, Orphir, Rousay, Stenness and Tankerness.
- Tickets go on general release at 7pm BST on Wednesday 1 April, following a pre-sale for members of the festival’s supporter scheme, Orkney Friends.
Orkney Folk Festival has announced its full programme for the 2026 event, with acts from around the world set to perform across the islands between 21 and 24 May.
Leading artists from the USA, Canada, Finland, Ireland, England and throughout Scotland will join home-grown Orcadian musicians as part of the 52 acts appearing at the festival in its 43rd year. The Orkney Folk Festival is Orkney’s largest festival, with almost 9,000 tickets sold at the record-breaking 2025 event.
This year’s festival offers a diverse line up. Audiences can look forward to performances from visiting artists includingCalifornia’s Kenneth Pattengale, one half of The Milk Carton Kids, making his debut appearances in Orkney in his first solo tour in 16 years.
USA representation is boosted with appearances from Louisiana’s Dirk and Amelia Powell and Cedric Watson who bring Cajun, Creole and Old Time Appalachian influenced sound. Meanwhile, Damn Tall Buildings, from Brooklyn, bring their seamless harmonies and captivating solos.
Canada is also represented at the festival by three quarters of the legendary Cape Breton band Beòlach. Wendy MacIsaac, Mairi Rankin and Mac Morin. Finnish group, Polenta, are also one of this year’s international acts, who bring their Fenno-Scandinavian influenced music.
The programme features 53 events, including concerts, dances, stomps, lounge performances, workshops and family events, at venues across Orkney. It’s been designed to cater for all tastes, to celebrate both local and visiting artists, as well as contemporary and traditional folk music.
While more than half of all events will take place in the festival’s hometown of Stromness, performances are also planned in Birsay, Deerness, Finstown, Harray, Holm, Hoy, Kirkwall, Orphir, Rousay, Stenness and Tankerness.
The popular Gathering concert returns, with this year’s event having a Transatlantic focus to bring together talent from both sides of the Atlantic. Musicians will journey from Orkney to the Black Isle and Ireland, before crossing to Cape Breton and Louisiana, under the musical direction of Orkney’s Douglas Montgomery.
The festival continues to offer its popular Friday and Saturday night stomps. Friday’s event travels to Kirkwall this year to bring the legendary festival stomp experience to Orkney’s new nightclub, Rapture. Festivalgoers will have the chance to enjoy performances by globetrotting folk-funk Highlanders Elephant Sessions and Ireland’s Gráinne Hunt.
Saturday’s stomp remains in Stromness Academy, with The Chair and Auskerry bringing a double Orkney special to the venue. Those looking to enjoy traditional dancing can also join Rory Matheson and his Scottish Dance Band to take the floor in Stromness on Friday night and Stenness on Saturday.
Fans of island hopping have the chance to head to either Hoy or Rousay on Friday night. Hoy’s acoustic Strings over the Shore event returns for the second year running, with performances by Rebecca Hill and Charlie Stewart, and Orkney’s Erika Shearer. Meanwhile, the festival makes a return to Rousay for the first time in several years, with music from Polenta, Katie Spencer, Meallan and Hullion.
Giving families the chance to enjoy folk music together continues to be at the heart of the festival’s offering. Claire Hastings returns to the festival to lead the popular Claire’s Music Club workshops – interactive sessions of songs, rhymes, actions, instruments, movement and performance for babies and toddlers.
The popular Family Folkie also returns to Stromness Academy on Saturday afternoon – providing a family-friendly stomp as well as traditional dancing in the family ceilidh.
These events are in addition to the long running Orkney Folk Festival school programme, which gives local children the chance to experience performances from visiting artists on the Thursday and Friday of the festival each year. Last year the festival held its largest every community outreach event for 400 school pupils, plus adults with additional support needs. Plans are being made for a similar event as part of this year’s festival.
Festivalgoers looking to get involved in making music throughout the weekend can book tickets for workshops teaching Orkney fiddle, Irish fiddle, Shetland fiddle, Cape Breton fiddle, guitar, Cape Breton step dance, and songscapes, led by Jeana Leslie, Fergal Scahill, Jenna Reid, Mairi Rankin and Wendy MacIsaac, Anna Massie, Mac Morin, and Katie Spencer respectively. The popular Orkney Festival Choir also returns over the course of the weekend, delivered by Stromness’s Aimée Leonard.
Orkney Folk Festival Producer, Craig Corse said: “We’re delighted to share the full programme for this year’s festival, which once again brings together artists from across Scotland alongside musicians travelling from England, Ireland, Finland, Cape Breton and the United States. It’s a line-up that reflects the breadth of contemporary and traditional folk music, while highlighting the distinctive regional styles that make these traditions so rich – with a particular nod to celebrated fiddle styles from around the world.
“As ever, Orkney and Orcadian music is central to the festival, with over half of all artists hailing from these shores. That strength of local participation isn’t accidental or for one weekend only – it reflects a living tradition carried in sessions, youth groups, choirs, bands and traditional music societies throughout the year. This local core sits at the heart of the programme, sharing stages, late nights and good-going tunes with guests proudly welcomed to Orkney, ensuring the festival remains unmistakably anchored in the islands’ music and community.”
Tickets will go on pre-sale to members of Orkney Friends, the festival’s supporter scheme, on Saturday 28 March, ahead of the general release at 7pm BST on Wednesday 1 April.