Orkney International Science Festival kicks off

The Orkney International Science Festival 2017 gets underway today, with a line-up full of insightful and interesting events planned for venues around the Orkney mainland.

The annual festival, which this year runs until Wednesday, September 13, has the sound of the sea running through it, with topics ranging from ancient Norse navigation to tidal power. There will be stories of lost ships of the Spanish Armada and lost lands beneath the sea, and underwater photographs from Scapa Flow and the Arctic.

This year’s opening event takes place at Orphir Church, with the travel writer Christopher Somerville opening the final leg of the St Magnus Way, from Orphir to Kirkwall.

Another high-profile visitor among this year’s events will be Nobel laureate professor Peter Higgs who will be conversing about the discovery of the Higgs boson, at the Orkney Theatre, on Tuesday evening next week. This year marks the second time that the famous Nobel laureate has visited Orkney for the science festival.

For more information on what’s on during the festival click here.