Travel writer Christopher Somerville opens the Festival and the final leg of the St Magnus Way, with scenes from The January Man, his book of walking tales from Sherwood Forest’s ancient oaks to Foula’s seabird cliffs. Event includes tea/coffee and hot/cold rolls, and a chance to walk the Way to […]

The fishing industry has seen stocks in decline and jobs lost. But, says marine scientist Eric McVicar, a former fisherman, there are solutions. Approaches tried in Norway, Iceland and the Faroes show how stocks can be regenerated and jobs increased.

Prof. Iain MacLeod of Strathclyde University highlights the engineering skills behind the new Queensferry Crossing, and looks back at past challenges and differing outcomes – from the great Telford bridge at Craigellachie to the old Tay rail bridge's terrible failure. Supported by IESIS, a Scottish engineering institution

Magic lanterns originally used hand-drawn slides, and demand grew when photographic images on glass became available. Prof. Tom Stevenson explains how the images were formed, and Winnie Stevenson shows the system in action, with classic photographs from Orkney Library Archive of the great St Magnus pageant of 1937 and many […]

With poems and prose, serious and humorous, together with local music. Admission by donation – proceeds to St Magnus Church Birsay Trust

Charles Tait takes to the road on the North Coast 500, with stories and photos of the spectacular scenery along the way – the rocks, the lochs, the brochs and the wildlife, and a song from Andy Munro.

Dr Tom Rendall looks at the impact over 50 years of Loganair's North Isles Air Service and is joined by some of the people whose lives it affected. Recollections and memories from those who ran the service are interspersed with personal stories from island people.