It’s difficult to sum up how we feel now that the 40th Shetland Folk Festival has come to an end, there’s such a huge mixture of emotions! We are so relieved the event happened and was so successful. We have had so much fun (maybe a little too much from time to time!), and we are absolutely thrilled with the feedback and lovely messages from so many people. We were sad yesterday to say farewell to so many friends – old and new - who come to the festival to perform, to enjoy the music and atmosphere, or to support in some other way.
We are conscious of how difficult the last two years have been for so many people across the world, and we are acutely aware of the struggles experienced by those who make a living from the music industry. It was a challenge and a risk to plan, organise and deliver a festival in the face of an ongoing pandemic – but one that we were so willing to take on! We wanted to create that platform for music to touch our lives again, for musicians to entertain us and share their craft and talent. We wanted to give music the chance to bring people together to reconnect and remind us of its awesome power. We hope for all of you that were involved in some way, that you feel we achieved it! We are so grateful to you all and want to say a HUGE THANK YOU!
Our visiting and local musicians this year have been outstanding – not only in their performances but they have all been such a joy to work with. Our fantastic sound and lighting crews work incredibly hard and our visiting musicians comment on the superb quality of their work – thank you! To all the SFF volunteers who sell raffles and merchandise, host guests in their houses, man the doors, work in the shop, drive our musicians all over the place, and steward the Festival Club – THANK YOU!! We are so grateful to you for your time and the positive lasting impression you leave on our guests. Thanks to the Lerwick Boating Club and Tingwall Hall volunteers for staffing the Festival Club bar and keeping us refreshed. Thank too to Jonny on the Spot who created some delicious cocktails and to Shetland Reel for the Gin Tasting! We are incredibly grateful to our generous financial and in-kind sponsors and funders, there would be no festival without you. Thanks also to the staff at Islesburgh and all of our concert venues. We are also grateful to the national and local press for their coverage of our festival, and to our hardworking team of official photographers who do an amazing job of capturing the atmosphere of our festival. Last but not least – to all those who purchased memberships and tickets – THANK YOU SO MUCH! Our audiences are always so polite and respectful, and we appreciate you all incredibly.
See you next time!! Da Committee x
