May 4th 2014
On the second night of her maiden voyage through the finest folk festival in the world, Olivia Abbott headed for Lerwick.
The second night of the folk festival began in rip-roaring Shetland style at the British Legion, with the nearly-all-girl band Birls Aloud.
May 6th 2013
Islanders once more turned out in their droves to see over a dozen visiting acts fiddling, strumming, picking and singing their way through 24 concerts over four days at the Shetland Folk Festival.
Organisers have hailed the 33rd festival as one of the best yet, with local performers sharing the bill as artistes, including five talented North American acts, brought a diverse blend of genres to Shetlanders’ welcoming ears.
May 6th 2013
It’s been a long weekend for our stalwart reviewer Olivia Abbott, but she made it through to the end and, as a veteran of folk festivals elsewhere, she offers her verdict on ours.
May 6th 2013
The fiddles were out and the tunes in the bar got started pretty much the minute the Shetland ferry left Aberdeen last Wednesday night, the 12-hour voyage serving as a time-honoured preamble to the islands’ world-famous annual four-day orgy of music-making.
May 6th 2013
Shetland Folk Festival has it’s newest member – little Hamish McLeman.
Committee member Mhari Pottinger gave birth to him at 2.16am on Sunday.
May 5th 2013
Three nights in and our reviewer Olivia Abbott’s stamina is being stretched, but the west side audience are really getting in the swing of it.
May 5th 2013
Saturday night saw one of the highlights of the weekend take the stage at the North Ness, sending a packed house and our own correspondent Davie Gardner into raptures of delight.
May 5th 2013
It’s difficult to know where to start when describing such a fantastic night of music.
Brought together by musical directors Margaret Scollay and Douglas Montgomery the Isles’ Gathering at Mareel last night saw 20-odd of Shetland and Orkney’s most talented musicians collaborating.
May 4th 2013
THE PERFECT antidote to the cold May weather was a hot and steamy night of international grooves, as dancing Davie Gardner discovered on Friday night.
Over its 33 year life span there have been many two-word phrases used to describe the phenomenon that is Shetland’s Folk Festival.
May 4th 2013
"You’re in for a treat." That was the prediction from the bar staff at the Legion in Lerwick who’d heard the sound check ahead of last night’s concert.
There was an Irish theme running through the evening but it was down to locals, Birls Aloud, to kick things off with the splendidly-titled Orcadian tune I Have Never had Pumpkin Soup Before, which soon warmed the audience up.
May 4th 2013
Arriving at Hillswick on Friday evening the popularity of the forthcoming concert was obvious.
At just after 7pm, with the doors still closed, at least 50 people were queued outside and cars parked all along the main road.
May 4th 2013
I can’t think of a Shetland Folk Festival concert at the Clickimin that had quite so many people up on their feet dancing. Four acts and a crowd willing and full of, well, energy among other things.
Faced with the warm-up slot were the local drumming and dance troupe Aestaewast, formed around nine years ago. This eclectic mix of locals specialise in, predominately, West African songs, drum and percussion numbers.
May 3rd 2013
The first evening of the Shetland Folk Festival presented an eclectic mix of musical styles at Voe Public Hall on Thursday night, reports Olivia Abbott, who is experiencing the four days of musical mayhem for the very first time.
May 3rd 2013
The line-up last night at Cunningsburgh on the opening night of the 33rd Shetland Folk Festival promised much.
And it promptly delivered on a committee promise to festival stalwart, the late Michael Coutts, that “we’ll make sure that this festival is one of the best yet”.
May 3rd 2013
Hamnavoe Hall filled to the brim last night as crowds gathered to hear what the 33rd folk festival had to offer.
First on stage was local ensemble Haltadans, who impressed with their dynamic set of traditional Shetland tunes.
May 2nd 2013
Scottish singer and broadcaster Mary Ann Kennedy today described the Shetland Folk Festival as “one of the jewels of the musical world, not just the folk world.”
After performing at the official opening of the 33rd festival, Mary Ann said: “People know it’s a big festival. You’ve got to make a big effort to get here but the reward is more than equal to that.”
May 2nd 2013
SHETLAND has geared up for yet another weekend of great music as the annual folk festival kicked off on Thursday with its traditional lunchtime concert in Lerwick’s Islesburgh Community Centre.
