Produce Listings
Johnsmas Foy Marks Shetland Midsummer
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 is in place for the 2008 Foy, which this year celebrates 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 have come to the isles for the Foy, which runs until 29 June. Guest speakers are on hand to explain the history of the Hanseatic trade connections with Germany and Norway. However, this year’s Foy also features a wide range of other attractions, from food to sailing and football to walking. Events are taking place from Unst, Britain’s most northerly outpost, to Fair Isle, which lies between Orkney and Shetland. The musical programme ranges through traditional and contemporary fiddle, adventurous jazz and sublime classical playing.
Chris Stout has become one of Shetland’s best-known musical ambassadors, whose work recognises few boundaries; rooted in Shetland’s fiddle tradition, he embraces jazz, latin and electro-acoustic influences. On his ‘Run North’ with some well-known musical friends, he’ll feature in three concerts during the Foy, two of which will also include players from the local communities of Fair Isle and Yell.
Jazz enthusiasts have a real treat in store. Both the Bremen-based Ed Kröger Quintet and Shetland Youth Jazz will be making appearances. Ed Kröger’s band is a truly international one, drawing its distinguished members from Bremen, Berlin, Paris and Detroit; their performances in Lerwick are their only UK appearance.
One of Scotland’s brightest young bands, Bodega, will be performing during the Foy, making three appearances. Faerd, a trio from Denmark, will be playing in Fair Isle and Lerwick and there will be German traditional music too, from Wolfgang Rieck. From Norway, there will be a male voice choir complete with accordionist, Shantykoret Cape Horn, who’ll be appearing on the islands of Unst and Whalsay as well as in Lerwick.
Classical concerts feature too: on the opening night, the Chroma Ensemble play in Lerwick Town Hall, a programme they’ll be repeating in Fair Isle. Their programme will include two works, of which the first is Prokofiev’s Quintet Op.39. The other music Chroma will be playing comes from Igor Stravinsky’s ballet, Pétrouchka. In its original form, Stravinsky’s score was interpreted through choreography by Michel Fokine and the libretto was written by Stravinsky and Alexandre Benois.
London-based Shetland pianist Neil Georgeson will perform a recital at the same venue on the closing night of the Foy. His performances in his home islands are always hugely appreciated. In his Lerwick programme, he intends to include Bach preludes and fugues, works by Schubert, Chopin and Prokofiev and contemporary pieces by Skye composer Alasdair Hamilton and ‘Macrocosmos’ by American composer George Crumb. Also featured will be Patrick Nunn’s ‘Music of the spheres’; it’s a piece for piano and tape, which uses sounds recorded by NASA of the atmospheres of Jupiter, Saturn and other planets, interacting with the sounds of the piano.
There will be lots to engage lovers of the spoken word. There will be 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 will also involve them. Talks about the Hanseatic trade, in both its German and Norwegian guises, will be given by two leading experts, Dr Mark Gardiner and Dr Knut Helle.
The Shetland Museum and Archives will be staging some special events and exhibitions during the Foy. Four artists - Ruth Brownlee, Sam MacDonald, Norman Gibson and Wendy Sutherland - will present an exhibition entitled Along the Edges, which explores where sea and land meet on three remote coasts, East Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland. In Sellafirth, Yell, another exhibition will interpret ‘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 will be something to appeal to everyone. Sports fans are very well catered for. Shetland will play the Highland League club, Deveronvale, at Gilbertson Park on 21 June and the Shetland Rugby Sevens will see Shetland players take on all comers at Clickimin over that weekend. The Shetland Half-Marathon will be run from Cunningsburgh to Lerwick on Sunday 22 June. Those who want some gentler exercise during the Foy will have a choice of guided walks through some of Shetland’s outstanding natural history on the islands of Unst, Noss and Mousa.
There will be the usual full programme of events on the water. The annual Shetland Race between Bergen and Shetland will take place over the first weekend of the Foy and Lerwick’s historic harbour will be at its most colourful. During the week of the Foy, there will be opportunities to sail on the restored sail fishing vessel, the Swan or on other craft. At the Shetland Museum and Archives, another highlight will be the launching of the two boats – a sixareen and a haddock boat – that have been under construction over the winter.
For the first four days of the Johnsmas Foy, Victoria Pier in Lerwick will, as usual, host Flavour of Shetland, an open-air event with crafts, music and food. BBC Radio Scotland’s Tom Morton will broadcast live from the pier, with a guest appearance by Edwyn Collins. On that first Saturday, too – which is also Shetland Flag Day – there will be a Viking Parade and the Lerwick Summer Carnival. The island of Fetlar will be hosting its own Foy on the second weekend.
Full programme details are available on www.johnsmasfoy.com.
