This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first walk on the Moon, and we’ll have several events focusing on space exploration.

It’s also the 100th anniversary of the journey to West Africa that launched Albert Einstein as a household name across the world. The journey was made by Sir Arthur Eddington to measure the Sun’s bending of light from a star, which required a total eclipse of the Sun, and the island of Principe was on the eclipse’s path. We’ll tell the story and feature various astronomy events and activities.

We’ll also be enjoying some of Orkney’s countryside and shores, as it’s the 60th anniversary of the founding of Orkney Field Club, and also the start of a new Scotland-wide initiative – a Foraging Fortnight with Orkney among the five regions taking the lead.

This will give us an added dimension, including outings and workshops, talks on traditional medicines and modern insights, an evening of Neolithic food and a variety of other events which will be highlighted in the programme.

With the varied mix of topics, this year’s programme is looking fuller than ever, with topics ranging from the frontiers of genetics to plant-hunting in Central Asia, from the story of Newton’s glass prisms to the search for Darwin’s predecessors, from measuring the Pyramids to making modern maps, and from deep digitality to the hyperloop.

Tickets will be on sale first thing in the morning on Monday 5 August.

We have some minor updates of the programme to make, and will also be providing fuller information of events here and on Facebook.