Hogmanay, Oban… A relatively peaceful slide into the New Year?

One couldn’t be more wrong. Once again the Obanites and visitors from further afield gathered in their masses to celebrate the dawning of 2009 – a year that promises to be an interesting and challenging one. The Tesco’s Car park was the staging area for the event and although it was relatively full, the main throng gathered around the centre stage where Skerryvore were strutting their stuff. The highlight of this was an exclusive performance of ‘Caledonia’ which had everyone singing along, patriotically waving their hands in the air. They were followed by the highly entertaining ‘Red Hot Chilli Pipers’ who counted us all in to the Bells.

The fireworks were tremendous, as usual but they failed to keep everyone’s attention for too long, as the RHCP continued their antics on Stage. Even the fog horns of the great ships in the bay couldn’t pierce the din.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening with plenty of refreshments and well-organised facilities, including the bars being well dispersed so that the queues were dealt with quickly. Everyone could enjoy themselves with a minimum amount of fuss.

The only point that seemed to be the general consensus is that the tickets were very overpriced – a big leap from the free event last year. Of course this was all forgotten on the night, and fun was had by all.

Congratulations to all the organisers for a brilliant event. (Reporter and photographer: Dee Rudiger)

Photographs: Copyright: Dee Rudiger.