A weekend of the Blues . . .

Hot on the heels of Orkney’s first rock festival, another jam-packed weekend of music kicks off later today with the 2014 Blues Festival.

This year, five visiting bands are appearing at the festival — but the local bands are set to be as big an attraction in the programme. Seventeen Orkney acts have pledged their support to the event, and will play in a variety of venues at the mainly Stromness-based festival.

Festival director Walter Gorman said: “We ran our first festival in 2006, and I never imagined then that we’d still be going this far up the line. Anyway, still going we indeed are, and this weekend is shaping up to be another great one.”

The festival runs from today, Friday, until Sunday.