Shetland Folk Festival 2026 – live blog
MANY parts of Shetland will be alive with the sound of music over the coming days as the 44th Shetland Folk Festival kicks off.
The customary opening event was held at Islesburgh in Lerwick on Thursday afternoon as some of the visiting acts took to the stage following a speech from Catriona Macdonald.
In addition to some reviews, Shetland News will be running a live blog over the weekend – which can be found on this article at the bottom of the page. It will be updated with videos, photos and other snippets.
There will be a total of 15 visiting acts from nine different nations performing across Shetland from Thursday through to Sunday night, backed up by a breadth of local talent.
Among the visiting acts are Jake Vaadeland and the Sturgeon River Boys, The Foreign Landers and Mexico’s Los Vega.
Committee member Mhari McLeman said during the week that the team were “so excited for the 44th folk festival to kick off, with a fantastic range of both visiting and local acts set to perform over the coming days”.
“It’s a huge triumph of volunteer effort to pull off what we do and it’s amazing watching hundreds of volunteers rally together to pull it off each year,” she said.
“Yet again we’re so incredibly proud of our community and as per usual, we have music and events to cater for all tastes.”
One local musician set for a busy festival will be Adam Priest, who will be playing bass/double bass with The Revellers and Kansa.
“It’s great to be involved again this year,” he said.
“I’m on playing with The Revellers Friday night and then Kansa Saturday afternoon, maybe with some sessions in between, if I can keep up.
“Now my lasses are a bit older, I’ll be able to get them to a couple of evening gigs too. We really enjoy seeing the variety of local and visiting acts the hard working committee bring together.”
Meanwhile McLeman said it is “not too late to join in either, so come you”.
Anyone wishing to take heed of her advice should visit the folk festival’s website, where tickets are still available for some of the events.
Thanks everyone for following this page across the weekend, we hope you’ve enjoyed our photos, videos and reviews from the 44th Shetland Folk Festival!
We’ve been privileged to be right at the heart of it all weekend, and have been blessed to see a great array of live musical talent across a range of different venues.
Thanks to the Shetland Folk Festival committee for organising another great event and giving us access to every concert, and to all of our contributors and photographers for their significant support to our coverage.
See you all next year for the 45th anniversary celebrations.
Here is another great selection of snaps from photographer Malcolm Younger, who was out and about on Sunday as the 44th Shetland Folk Festival was brought to a close for another year.
He took the time to stop with some of the acts playing at some of this weekend’s festival, which you can see below:
Saturday was a massive day of musical action all across Shetland, and photographer Malcolm Younger was across it all for us.
His excellent shots from the day and night’s concerts includes a picture of the Tim Kliphuis Trio, members of the Shetland Youth Orchestra and pianist Amy Laurenson, who joined them on stage for a special performance at Mareel on Saturday night (a video of which is lower down the blog).
Check out Malcolm’s pictures below this post.
It’s the final day of the 44th Shetland Folk Festival, and who better to soothe Sunday morning hangovers at the festival club than the North Ness Boys.
There are more photos and videos to come on the live blog this afternoon from all of Saturday’s musical action.
Whalsay’s own Stewart Hutchison is kicking off the entertainment at the Legion tonight with his unique blend of humour and story-telling.
He warned us before we would struggle to get a clip of his risqué songs without any swearing – and that was true!
Here’s a carefully clipped piece of one of his original songs:
Over at Mareel, the Tim Kliphuis Trio are joined by the Shetland Youth Orchestra, among others, with no less than 17 musicians on stage.
The Dutch trio have seriously impressed with their technical mastery on the fiddle, and are regarded as one of the world’s leading string ensembles.
Tonight we are back at a packed Clickimin where Shetland’s own Maggie Adamson makes the start of another busy evening of Shetland Folk Festival action.
Guitarist Arthur Nicholson and Kirsten Gifford are accompanying her tonight.
After this the Clickimin will hear from The Onlies, Finnish group HUIPPU and the much-photographed Jake Vaadeland & Sturgeon River Boys.
The Norwegian flag flying aboard the sail training vessel Statsraad Lehmkuhl this afternoon. There were no music sessions while we visited unfortunately, but the waffles were nice…
Orkney’s own party band The Chair are next up at the Peerie Spang, and they never have any problems getting feet tapping or hands clapping – no matter what age the audience is!
We have been at the Peerie Spang at the Clickimin this afternoon, where the next generation are being treated to tunes and a chance to boogie.
First up at the bairns’ concert were HUIPPU, the Finnish act who are described as a “new-generation Nordic folk powerhouse”.
Afternoon all – hopefully the hangovers are beginning to subside after last night’s exertions, or you’ve stayed out to ensure the hangover doesn’t arrive until Monday morning.
Here are a great selection of photos from Malcolm Younger from the course of day two from the 44th Shetland Folk Festival – have a look and reminisce over what was another great day of live entertainment.
Over at Mareel, Red Hot Chilli Piper himself Ross Miller and his band have wowed the audience with their distinct style.
The former Linlithgow town piper and his ensemble are among four acts on show at Mareel tonight, with Finnish group HUIPPU, Skelpit and Will Pound and Jenn Butterworth completing the line-up.
We’re nearing the end of the concert performances, but have no fear – the Islesburgh club is certain to be welcoming music-lovers in through the door very shortly.
The Lerwick Legion is hosting a sold-out Americana late lounge event tonight, with the folk festival organisers promising a more relaxed lounge feel for the concert.
Here are The Foreign Landers, an intriguing husband and wife team hailing jointly from Northern Ireland and South Carolina, in full flow.
We’re back at it tonight for day two of the Shetland Folk Festival, where Clickimin is hosting an event called the ‘Spangin’ Spree between Islands’.
Lively acts from Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides have the crowd on their feet, with The Chair set to conclude the concert with an energetic performance later tonight.
This is the Western Isles’ own The Tumbling Souls opening, bringing their distinctive flavour of contemporary country rock to the festival.
Reporter Ryan Nicolson was at the big kirk in Lerwick for opening night of the folk festival, where Shetland Community Choir, Hannah Rarity, Los Vega and The Complete Recordings of Hezekiah Procter gave the audience a taste of what’s to come this weekend.
Mexican four-piece Los Vega were his undoubted highlight, and he reckons they’ll be the name on a lot of people’s lips today.
You can read his full review of night one at the big kirk below.
Mexican magic and Canadian curiosities as folk festival starts with a flourish
I’m delighted to say that the wooden board was not just a prop for Los Vega…
Well I did say it would be lively…
Los Vega, who have travelled over from Mexico to be here this weekend, have absolutely wowed the audience at the big kirk in Lerwick with a scintillating sun-soaked performance!
They are absolutely not be missed this weekend.
We’re about to hear from the intriguing Los Vega at the big kirk next, who appear to have brought their own wooden dancefloor. This is bound to be lively!
We’ve had the first act of the night at the big kirk in Lerwick, which was the Shetland Community Choir.
Hannah Mary Goodlad (SNP election candidate) was among the choir – where does she find the time?!
It’s only Thursday, but you can tell Jake Vaadeland & The Sturgeon River Boys are sure to be one of the festival’s highlights this weekend.
Musical sessions are much-loved part of the folk festival – here’s a clip of one in full flow.
Award-winning singer Hannah Rarity is another of the visiting acts at this year’s folk festival.
The Onlies are also on the bill for the opening ceremony. With a variety of instruments and harmonies they have been described as a “perfect band” for the folk festival.
Here is HUIPPU from Finland playing overseas for the first time. They are the first musical act of the day at the opening ceremony.
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