Johnsmas Foy Celebrates Shetland's Fishing Heritage
April 4th 2007This year’s Johnsmas Foy will be held from 15 to 24 June and will celebrate Shetland’s fishing heritage through a range of interesting events taking place throughout Shetland.
Kick-starting the festivities, the Skeld Festival of the Sea on Shetland’s west mainland will celebrate the area’s historical links with Faroe and Scandinavia. Skeld waterfront was once a major centre for the fishing industry, both as a herring station in the early 19th century and as an important base for the Faroese cod industry.
During the three days, locals and invited guests from Faroe and Scandinavia will be able to view exhibitions on Faroese Smacks, cod fishing and curing, wrecks and rescues, flit boats and salmon farming. Live music, yacht and yoal racing, traditional Shetland dancing, demonstrations of boat building, storytelling and local food stalls will add to the full programme.
Another of the main attractions will be the arrival of the Lotos SCH445, a former Dutch herring luggar which used to visit Shetland almost 100 years ago. Now a sail training vessel, she will offer short sailing trips from Victoria Pier in Lerwick, where participants will be able to help hoist and lower the sails and take the helm. While onboard, tasters of Dutch herring, ‘Hollands Nieuwe’ and Dutch Jenever, prepared in the traditional way, will be offered.
The ten day celebrations are also set to close on a high note with the Northmavine Peerie Foy in the north mainland of Shetland. The event will incorporate a number of events and attractions over the weekend including the North Sea/Atlantic Challenge at Mavis Grind – the narrow isthmus where the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea almost meet – which will include rowers carrying their boats across this thin strip of land, recreating how fishermen of old used this as a short cut to move between fishing grounds.
Other events include three Scottish Chamber Orchestra concerts and a play entitled “It wis hard wark but” that is written in dialect and provides an insight into the hard-working lives of people involved in the herring industry in the 1930s.
Commenting on this year’s programme, committee member Alastair Hamilton said: “Centuries ago ‘Johnsmas’ marked the annual arrival of the Dutch herring fleet to Shetland – always at midsummer – and we wanted to recognise this important marker as the theme for this year’s event – paying tribute to an industry that is central to our heritage.
“The Johnsmas Foy aims to include as many significant community-based events as possible to provide visitors with a gateway to exploring all areas of Shetland and to ensure that the economic benefit of the festival is spread throughout the islands.
“This year’s programme is guaranteed to give a real taster of Shetland’s rich fishing heritage and, combined with other music, entertainment and food and drink activities, will be a truly unique way to celebrate midsummer.”
