News

One of Scotland’s most popular folk-based groups to emerge in the last decade, chart-toppers Talisk are set to appear at the 2020 Orkney Folk Festival.

Mohsen Amini, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong fuse concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that effortlessly captivates. In recent years, the trio have toured the world stacking up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including the Belhaven Bursary for Innovation, Folk Band of the Year at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award.

Appearances at leading festivals – including closing out Saturday night’s main stage at the 2019 Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s world-renowned Tønder Festival, the Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysian Borneo, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, two back-to-back years at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Edmonton Folk Festival, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have garnered a die-hard following (amassing over 2million Spotify streams in 2019 alone), whilst the folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the genre-bending, ground-breaking trio.

Their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, quickly rose to No.1 in the iTunes...

Returning by popular demand, Canadian roots duo Madison Violet will be heading back to Orkney in May 2020.

A highlight of the 2014 festival, Madison Violet have been captivating audiences and critics alike for two decades, with their combination of heart-wrenching songwriting and luscious harmonies married with the natural storytelling of folk, the rhythms of Americana and catchy pop hooks.

One of the most acclaimed live acts of the Nordic folk scene, five-piece SVER will be joining us at the 38th Orkney Folk Festival in May 2020!

From the wistful and dreamy, to frenzied, pounding, sweaty floor-fillers, SVER’s music is grounded in the roots of their native Norway and Sweden, fused with a bold sense of experimentation and excitement. Their imaginative soundscapes, grooves and melodies take the listener deep amongst Norwegian fjords and mountains, through lively pubs and basement clubs, and back out into the deep forest of their unparalleled musicality.

With four critically acclaimed albums, most recently 2018’s Reverie, Olav Luksengård Mjelva (fiddle and Hardanger fiddle), Anders Hall (fiddle and viola), Leif Ingvar Ranøien (diatonic accordion), Adam Johansson (guitar) and Jens Linell (drums and percussion)’s genre-bending music has led to appearances on major TV shows and in the charts, alongside major tours and festival appearances throughout Europe and the USA.

We are very excited to announce that Karine Polwart will return to the Orkney Folk Festival in 2020!

Last seen at the festival back in 2009, Karine is a multi-award-winning Scottish songwriter and musician, as well as theatre-maker, storyteller, spoken-word performer and published essayist.

Her talent for crafting enduring melodies, her gift for saying just enough without overstating her case, the game and dynamism of her arrangements, all come together in songs of powerful contemporary relevance. Hers is also the most approachable of singing voices, drawing the listener towards her as if a fireside storyteller.

In October 2019, her song I Burn But I Am Not Consumed – from the heralded 2018 album, Laws of Motion – earned Karine her eighth BBC Radio 2 Folk Award, this time for Best Original Track. 

She has also recently completed a tour of her acclaimed Scottish Songbook project – folky reimaginings of beloved songs from across fifty years of Scottish pop, from artists as diverse as Deacon Blue, Chvrches, Frightened Rabbit and John Martyn – whilst in March 2020 she will, by popular demand, reprise her five-star theatre show, Wind Resistance, at the Royal Lyceum Theatre...