Springtime in Orkney is a moveable feast. April can be amazing, Nature in full flood, buds bursting forth, sap rising and the island bejeweled with golden daffodils and drumstick primulas everywhere you look. It is also quiet, and with most visitor attractions moving to summer timetables from the 1st April though the season does not start fully until the 1st of May, it can be a wonderful time to visit.
Or April can be dire, as Winter extends its grip further and deeper into the year. Buds shriveling under an onslaught of severe salt laden gales, daffodil heads exploded across the land and day after day of freezing temperatures. Even the most resiliant may suffer the depression of a seventh month of gloom.
Normally the annual tourist season starts to build from the Easter break, but with Easter falling as early as March 23rd this year (2008) it will have little impact on visitor numbers.
Perhaps a better event to look at is the slightly more local Orkney Jazz Festival - 20 - 23 April 2008. The Jazz Festival is based primarily at the Stromness Hotel, and showcases local jazz musicians as well as well known musicians from the jazz scene within the UK. It is probably the smallest of the music festivals but remains perfectly formed. If good music and conviviality is for you then this is a very good weekend to arrive.
May signifies the start of the full blown summer season. Curiously although the population more than doubles in the summer months it has little obvious effect on the general tranquility of the Islands. The sensible tourist should perhaps time visits to the more obvious attractions for early morning or evenings to avoid possible coach loads of liner fodder on their its tuesday so it must be Orkney,
whirlwinds but in general a combination of so much to see allied with increasingly long daylight hours avoids any problems.
According to the Weather stats May is the sunniest month and the driest, but still cool. Certain things do happen in May if the weather is good which should not be missed; the return of the Puffins, the bluebell Woods of Balfour Castle and the wonderful golden adornment of Egilsay.
Bluebell woods may seem an odd thing to come to see here and I suppose that throughout the UK such sights are commonplace, but on an exquisite late May day with glistening Sun illuminating the small, pretty but unimportant 30 acre woodland of Balfour it can be a sight that slips into magical.
The end of May sees the second music festival of the year. From the 22nd - 25th May the 26th Orkney Folk Festival erupts with blazing fiddles resounding throughout the land. This year headliners include the world renowned Scottish Fiddle Orchestra and visits from two major American acts, Solas and Crooked Still together with a wide range of local talent. If you are remotely interested in the heart of Celtic folk music then this is an event not to be missed.
