See the spectacular sails in St Magnus Cathedral this summer, alongside a special soundscape celebrating the 2025 Island Games.

The St Magnus Sails were a large scale collaborative installation comprising fourteen 4.2m high sails made in 1993 for the St Magnus Festival and strung from the Cathedral’s dramatic vaulted ceiling. They were last exhibited in 2017.

They're painted with images inspired by a series of one-line poems - specially written for the project by George Mackay Brown on the theme of Earl Rognvald's epic voyage to Jerusalem in 1151 – by artists Andrew Parkinson, Erlend Brown, Dave Jackson and Mary Scott.

They'll be on display in St Magnus Cathedral until 6 August.

Alongside the sails, the sounds of Orkney sport will echo in music around the cathedral, alongside voices from island groups involved in the 2025 Island Games. Well-known local sound artist and traditional music performer, Brian Cromarty has gathered audio from Orkney's sporting community and has composed music from the ‘found sounds’ ahead of the Games.

Island Games Scrivener and Story gatherer, Gaby Barnby, has also created short sound bites from submitted writings gathered from all 24 islands participating in the 2025 Island Games. These will accompany the soundscape, allowing visitors to hear the distinct accents, languages and dialects from around the world that are part of the Island Games family.

The soundscape will be played in the cathedral until 21 July.

St Magnus Cathedral is open Monday to Saturday between 9am and 5pm, and on Sunday between 1pm and 5pm. Entry is free.

, Visit Orkney, Life in Orkney, Culture & Heritage, Culture & Events, Kirkwall & St Ola