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The Johnsmas Foy

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Every year, the people of Shetland celebrate midsummer in the Johnsmas Foy, a recently-revived festival that, centuries ago, used to mark the arrival of the Dutch herring fleet in the islands. An exciting line-up of local and international events was in place for the 2008 Foy, which this year celebrated Shetland’s historic connection with the ports of the Hanseatic League, a partnership that dominated trade in the islands for more than 300 years.

Appropriately, musicians and poets from the Bremen area were among those heading towards the isles for the Foy, which ran from 19 to 29 June. Guest speakers also explained the history of the Hanseatic trade connections with Germany and Norway. However, this year’s Foy also featured a wide range of other attractions, from food to sailing and football to walking. Events took place from Unst, Britain’s most northerly outpost, to Fair Isle, which lies between Orkney and Shetland. The musical programme ranged through traditional and contemporary fiddle, adventurous jazz and sublime classical playing.

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Chris Stout has become one of Shetland’s best-known musical ambassadors and on his ‘Run North’ with some well-known musical friends, he featured in three concerts during the Foy, two of which also included players from the local communities of Fair Isle and Yell.

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Jazz enthusiasts had a real treat in store. Both the Bremen-based Ed Kröger Quintet and Shetland Youth Jazz made appearances. Ed Kröger’s band is a truly international one, drawing its distinguished members from Bremen, Berlin, Paris and Detroit; their performances in Lerwick were their only UK appearance. As well as playing in public, they led a workshop for local jazz musicians.

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One of Scotland’s brightest young bands, Bodega, made three appearances. Faerd, a trio from Denmark, played in Fair Isle and Lerwick and also did valuable work in schools. There was also some beautiful German traditional music too, from Wolfgang Rieck. From Norway, there was a male voice choir complete with accordionist, Shantykoret Cape Horn they appeared on the islands of Unst and Whalsay as well as in Lerwick.

Classical concerts feature too: on the opening night, the Chroma Ensemble played Stravinsky and Prokofiev in Lerwick Town Hall, a programme they repeated in Fair Isle. London-based Shetland pianist Neil Georgeson played a remarkable recital, featuring innovative contemporary work alongside Bach and Chopin, on the closing night of the Foy.

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There was lots to engage lovers of the spoken word. There were appearances in Lerwick and Unst by poet Sujata Bhatt, one of the judges for the 2008 T S Eliot Prize, and her husband, German writer Michael Augustin. A workshop for local writers also involved them. Talks about the Hanseatic trade, in both its German and Norwegian guises, were given by two leading experts, Dr Mark Gardiner and Dr Knut Helle.

The Shetland Museum and Archives staged some special events and exhibitions during the Foy. Four artists - Ruth Brownlee, Sam MacDonald, Norman Gibson and Wendy Sutherland - presented an exhibition entitled Along the Edges, which explored where sea and land meet on three remote coasts, East Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland. In Sellafirth, Yell, another exhibition interpreted ‘A Descent Into The Maelstrom’, the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, through film by Heather Barnett, drawings by Ian Miller and a woven whirlpool sculpture by Lucy McMullen.

Out of doors, there was something to appeal to everyone. Sports fans were very well catered for. Shetland played the Highland League club, Deveronvale, at Gilbertson Park on 21 June and the Shetland Rugby Sevens saw Shetland players take on all comers at Clickimin over that weekend. The Shetland Half-Marathon was run from Cunningsburgh to Lerwick on Sunday 22 June. Those who wanted some gentler exercise during the Foy had a choice of guided walks through some of Shetland’s outstanding natural history on the islands of Unst, Noss and Mousa.

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There was the usual full programme of events on the water. The annual Sjøassistanse Shetland Bergen Races took place over the first weekend of the Foy. Its participants were joined by those involved in the Lombardini Marine 1000-mile Double Handed Race; it consisted of five legs between the Netherlands, Newcastle, Bergen and Lerwick, finishing in Newcastle. Lerwick’s historic harbour was at its most colourful. During the week of the Foy, there were opportunities to sail on the restored sail fishing vessel, the Swan or on other craft. At the Shetland Museum and Archives, another highlight – witnessed by a huge crowd – was the launching of the two boats – a sixareen and a haddock boat – that had been under construction over the winter.

For the first four days of the Johnsmas Foy, Victoria Pier in Lerwick was, as usual, the scene of Flavour of Shetland, an open-air event with crafts, music and food. BBC Radio Scotland’s Tom Morton presented his show live fromthe pier in a programme featuring Edwyn Collins. On that first Saturday, too – which was also Shetland Flag Day – there was a Viking Parade and the Lerwick Summer Carnival also took place. The island of Fetlar hosted its own Foy on the second weekend.

Full programme details are still available at www.johnsmasfoy.com