St Magnus Festival

The festival was founded in 1977 by a group including the composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who was a resident of Orkney, and the Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown.

Festival poets have included Carol Ann Duffy, John Gallas, Seamus Heaney, Jackie Kay, Gwyneth Lewis, Liz Lochhead and Andrew Motion.

The St Magnus Festival has commissioned music from composers including James MacMillan, Judith Weir, Simon Holt, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Thea Musgrave, Sally Beamish, Edward McGuire, William Sweeney, Gordon McPherson and David Horne.

Visual arts, drama and dance projects have also been commissioned for the festival, including a trio of original plays by Alan Plater.

Beginning in 2006, a type of fringe festival called MagFest[2] has included late-night shows, circus, cabaret, comedy, music and children's events.