Saturday’s events had record attendances throughout, with John MacLeod, Robert Douglas and Sally Magnusson loving their time here and thanking us for such wonderfully receptive  audiences. We thank them for coming and giving such fantastic talks.

Friday afternoon was a wonderful success too, with a scrumptious afternoon tea accompanied by Jess Smith entertaining everyone with her tales of travelling folk. Jess’s talk was followed by a sumptious hour of poetry and music from two continents, with Leela and Tawona.

The schools’ events attracted nearly 1200 school children, who came along to meet authors and be entertained by their talks.

Our Milngavie Medley made Saturday a real fun day for Festival-goers of all ages. Thanks to all the artists and musicians who came along to make it such a vibrant day. And a special thanks to the talented pupils of Bearsden Academy, who kicked off the day’s musical programme, in this the school’s centenary year.

Thank you to everyone who made the Festival such a success.

Our special thanks to Allander Church, especially Ian who was there throughout the week to make sure we had perfect sound.

St Andrews Church gave us a lovely cosy setting to host James Robertson (who gave a great talk and reading) and our Postman Pat reading by Lewis. And they made their hall available for our stalls, so a double thank you!

Finally, a huge thank you to Cairns Church for hosting our Fish and Chip Evening.  Everyone was so kind and helpful!

Many thanks to all the volunteers who worked so tirelessy throughout. With a special mention to Sid and Anne, who were out in the precinct throughout the whole week during the wet (and occasionally sunny!) weather raising funds through the tombola and bookstall and telling everyone about the festival.

Special thanks too must go to Susan’s (Milngavie Bookshop) brother and sister and two neices for travelling up from England to help out all week. A family affair!

Without all the help and effort from everyone involved there would be no festival. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we all did!

Making friends with a Mystical Mutt

The rain – miraculously – held off for our Milngavie Medley. Most of the time, anyway. And it certainly didn’t dampen our fun!

The performances were superb and the lovely character of the performers came over beautifully.

Wine, refreshments and plenty of chat made for a warm and friendly evening. And it looks like the event attracted new members for Milngavie Music Club’s International Series. So a great success all round!

n spite of their busy timetable of centenary events, a group of talented pupils will be coming along to open our Milngavie Medley at 10am tomorrow, Saturday 10 September, in the precinct.

Appearing will be Olivia Naio and Katie Hart (voice and guitar), Ewan on trumpet and Iain on sax.

Come along to give these talented young people a warm Milngavie welcome!

May Nicholson talked about her journey from drug addict and alcoholic to Director of the Preshal Trust, in a very well attended event organised by Milngavie Churches last night (Wednesday 7^th September). An inspiring talk peppered with amusing anecdotes, like the story of her visit to the Houses of Parliament: May saw a man with a chain round his neck and asked him if he was the provost. His reply: “No May, I’m the Archbishop of Canterbury”

For more information about the work of the trust see: http://preshaltrust.org.uk/staff.htm

All proceeds from the ticket and book sales at last night’s event are going to continue the good work of the trust.

James had arrived fresh from a schools event with 209 school children (brave man!) so his  voice just about held out for the evening. Thank you James!

The panel featured a crime writer (Bert Mitchell), a poet (Maggie Rabatski) a novelist (Leela Soma) who explores Scots-Indian identity, and Pauline Wilkie, an expert in crystal healing.

We’re nothing if not eclectic!

So hurry up and buy your tickets for the rest of the week’s great events – you don’t want to miss out!