Programme 2023

It’s a spectacular sight, created from time-lapse photography from space of the surface of the actual sun with its seething fires, projected onto a 6-metre-diameter sphere suspended from the Cathedral’s crossing, so that you can follow the dramatic changes on the solar surface.

Microalgae turning waste into food or pharmaceuticals. Tools of light. An ancient Greek computer with mechanical gears. Tracking Ice Age rock movements. Unearthing a mammoth graveyard. A lost flock, a hydrogen ship – and the energy of the Sun!

The Western music legends Riders in the Sky. The astronomy-inspired works of the Scottish composer Eddie McGuire. A Cathedral concert of ethereal electronic music blended with voices, instruments and organ. The violin virtuoso Charlotte Rowan in concert.

Art and mathematical links at the Pier Arts Centre, through natural forms and then in interwoven 18th and 19th century lives. Modern music inspired by astronomy, blended into film. And a new film probing Orkney’s Ice Age glacier paths.

Walk over an ancient landscape, and find out about plants and animals past and present. Walk over the Ness of Brodgar site with the director, following this year’s recently completed excavations. See the transformation at Arcadia Park.

See robots in action. Learn how to access AI on your PC. See the skills of violin making and hear the resulting sound from a virtuoso. Look at the night sky seen by Maeshowe’s builders. Learn about wild life photography, Slovenian archaeology, and the art of wind and wave!

It looks like being the biggest Family Day yet, with Dynamic Earth’s planetarium, the Scottish Seabird Centre’s marine mammal activities and Glasgow Science Centre’s energy activities too – plus computer coding, astronomy, lasers, and much more more!

Lunches of Orkney fare, with a One O’Clock Toast to a notable Orcadian. Later evenings in the Orkney Club, with talks on subjects from a landscape of limestone to memories of a hurricane, talks and discussions after music concerts, and live music too from time to time.

A science show with a wizard from Kansas and four cowboys, and the story of Tombstone, Arizona with its microscopical scientific society. A Tattie Tasting. A Friday evening in Hoy, A Vintage Rally, a Pipe Band parade, and a Sunday morning Cathedral service.

Friday night is astronomy night for Eric Walker and guests: he’s hoping you'll be able to join him online, wherever you are. We’ll also be livestreaming a number of in-person events direct from halls, and filming others, and we’ll be announcing details nearer the time.

Plans are taking shape for several exhibitions during the Festival, and fuller details will be coming soon. We'll have scenes of Orkney land and sea transformed by sunlight, astronomy images, origami and crochet models, and art meeting mathematics in natural forms.

For all ages there’s a wildlife photography competition, judged by wildlife photographers Raymond Besant from Orkney and Richard Shucksmith from Shetland. Competitions for schools include trying out a new – double-sided – type of solar panel.

We’ve a massive additional programme of events delivered direct to schools – two programmes indeed, one for primary and one for secondary. Some of these events will also be at the Family Day, while others have been specially developed for schools only.