Stomping Folk Festival Saturday in Stromness

Saturday in Stromness during Orkney Folk Festival is a day like no other — with incredible pub sessions, a range of gigs and then the show-stopping Stomp.

Things got under way at noon, with the lunchtime lounge. Staged in the fabulously decorated Stromness Community Centre, this event — and venue — have established themselves as tent poles of the festival.

Weel-kent voice Gary Innes took to the stage first, encouraging the audience to sneak in a wee brandy as the clock struck midday.

Superb sets from the Driftwood Cowboys and multi-award-winning Duncan Chisholm made this much more than a soundtrack to Saturday lunch — it was as good a sonic treat as you can get!

It certainly proved an appetiser for the rest of the day in Stromness.

The beating heart of the festival has always been its pub sessions, and Saturday set a standard.

In the afternoon many of the talented Sessions A9  could be found in the Ferry Inn jamming, while the Royal and the Legion say visitors and locals alike come together through the universal language of music.

The evening saw a pair of incredible gigs light up the town.

First, in the town hall, the Northern Tracks and Tides concert saw talent form Finland, Orkney and Scotland delight a packed out audience.

The music, from Polenta, Saltfishforty and Session A9 was as joyous, uplifting and foot shuffling as you could wish for — but the seated and audience make up meant there was little dancing. Instead, enthusiastic clapping and tot taping was the order of the day.

Not so at the Stromness Stomp, where The Chair and Auskerry did what they do best and had the crowd on their feet and dancing the night away.

Meanwhile, the pubs remained packed to closing time, and the sound of fiddles, accordions and flutes rose in the Stromness night air.

Pick up The Orcadian, next week, for full coverage of the festival.