Christmas at The Orkney Museum

A bit of Christmas sparkle should lift the spirits of visitors to The Orkney Museum during December.

From 1-12 December the museum courtyard is hosting the Kirkwall Christmas Tree Festival thanks to a linked project with Voluntary Action Orkney (VAO). VAO wanted to get young people involved in a scheme that they could work on all together, so asked a number of youth groups to make decorations to decorate Christmas trees, which will be on display in the courtyard at the Museum in Tankerness House. Alongside the Festival, pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School will be collecting food and/or cash donations for the Orkney Foodbank.

The festive theme continues inside, where the Baikie Drawing Room is decorated for Christmas. The Museum shop also reopened this week (1 December) after a major re-fit that has transformed the space. The work was carried out by Museum Technician Mark Scadding, using mainly recycled materials, and carries a great range of books and gifts, including local crafts.

Christmas Tree Festival times - 1–12 December: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 to 16:40.

Museum opening times - 1–23 December: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 16:00; 24 December: 10:00 to 14:00.

Access is only available to the Baikie Library and Drawing Room and our temporary “Between Islands” exhibition, plus the Museum shop. All other galleries remain closed.