The Queen’s Baton Relay will be given a traditionally Orcadian welcome when it arrives tomorrow.
The visit is the next stage in a tour that will cover more than 400 Scottish communities before the 2014 Commonwealth Games begin in Glasgow on July 23.
More than 70 people are due to carry the baton in Orkney over two days.
A host of community events have been planned to run alongside.
Paul Bush, chief operating officer for organisers EventScotland, said: “We are delighted to be working with Orkney Islands Council to deliver an inspiring and motivating event, building excitement in the run up to the Games.”
The headline event will be This is it!, a concert tomorrow evening featuring a selection of local and visiting acts.
The free but ticketed event starts at 6.30pm. Tickets are available from the Pickaquoy Centre.
The local communities hosting the baton are also putting on an array of family events, including potted Commonwealth sports, come-and-try sports sessions and a tug of war in Dounby.
One of the highlights of the tour will be performances from Tam Dean Burn, who is completing a Marathon Storytelling Challenge as he follows the Queen’s Baton across Scotland.
He is aiming to perform all 195 books, plays, and songs written by former children’s Laureate Julia Donaldson.
Local people will also get the chance to make their mark by joining in with the Big Big Sing choir, who will be performing Here’s to all our Commonwealth at the This is it! event and throughout the day.
The baton will arrive off the Hamnavoe in Stromness at 10am on Thursday, and leave on the Pentalina from St Margaret’s Hope at 7.45am on Friday.
It will be officially welcomed at a ceremony at the Pierhead in Stromness, before it sets off along the main street and on to the Golf Club.
It will then be run through Guardhouse Park, Back Road and North End Road, up Cairston Road and on to Stromness Academy.
The relay will start again in Dounby at around 2.15pm, where it will go via Vetquoy Road and through to Dounby Community School.
The baton will then move on to Finstown at about 3.45pm, and will be run right through the village to the community centre.
The next time the baton will be seen by the public will be when it arrives in Kirkwall Harbour on the RNLI Lifeboat at around 5.30pm.
It will then be carried through Shore Street, Bridge Street, Albert Street, Broad Street, Palace Road, Thoms Street, The Meadows, Bignold Park Road, Clay Loan, Junction Road, Ayre Road, Pickaquoy Road and on to the Pickaquoy Centre for the concert at 6.30pm.
The relay starts again on Friday morning at 6.15am, leaving from the entrance to St Mary’s, travelling through the village and across Churchill Barrier No. 1 to the Italian Chapel.
It will then head on to St Margaret’s Hope, travelling along Church Road and Back Road towards the ferry terminal, where it will board the Pentalina.