Simmer Dim sessions: ferries, festivals and the light that never leaves

In late June, Shetland doesn't really do night. The sun dips below the horizon around half ten and loiters just out of sight, and the sky holds a long blue-gold glow the isles call the Simmer Dim. It does something to musicians. Sessions that would sensibly end at eleven simply… don't.

A round-up of the society's summer so far:

The lighthouse open day. We played the afternoon at the lighthouse open day in early June — fiddles on a clifftop lawn, music stands weighted with beach stones, and a stiff enough breeze that we retuned roughly every third tune. Puffins commuted past all afternoon, entirely unimpressed by Spootiskerry. The keepers' cottages are holiday lets now, but playing the old tunes beside the light felt like the right kind of remembering.

The ferry session. The overnight boat south has a long and honourable history as a floating session venue, and the June crossing upheld it. Three fiddles, a box, and a guitarist bound for a wedding in Aberdeen; the bar staff know the drill and moved us to the aft lounge, where the tunes lasted until the light — which, in June, meant they simply lasted.

Johnsmas fires. We provided the music for a beach bonfire for Johnsmas week — reels on wet sand, smoke in the f-holes, and the best dancing of the year from people wearing entirely unsuitable footwear.

The Tuesday sessions run right through summer, visitors always welcome — check the events page. Bring a fiddle if you have one, and a jumper regardless. It's still Shetland.