After breakfasting at the BnB, we walked the Main Street of Callander along with a lot of other folk. A stage setup in the main square was the central point, the local high school band was in action, and very good too. We were really trying to find the shuttle bus which was running between the High School and town, about 1.5miles.

Eventually at 12.30pm we gave up and drove there in the car, it was sun showers then sunny, then drizzling, not really spirit dampening tho as there was a good atmosphere .

First person we saw at the school was the bus and driver, so found out exactly when and where he was leaving from for the rest of the day and night. Really rather unorganised, no “flags” or high lights to draw attention to venues, no jazz playing in the shops, what signs there were were tied to posts and trees even, with cable ties.

The band playing were fabulous, there were obviously rock n roll and Jive Clubs which had come from afar to “dance the day & night away”. We simply loved watching them. The men had umpteen shirt changes for the duration.

The band I really wanted to see was King Pleasure and the Biscuuit Boys, they’ve been around for 30yrs+. They were not on until 9.30pm.

We took the car back and parked it up, had a coffee and took a break for an hour, then bused back to the High school. We stayed from 6.30pm until 11pm, and loved every minute of it.

Reminiscent of all those cabarets years ago, they were soooo good, the community cabarets when it took most of the day to decorate the hall, make sandwiches for supper, milk cows, feed kids & organise babysitters, then at 3am the men would decide it was took late to go to bed so we’d all stay on until 5.30am and go home to milk early in the morn, Remember those days you farmers?

I asked a Kevin for his opinion, Last night was great, he says, the songs, the dancing, everything gelled, you’d have loved it Lou.

So would you Ian, nothing like Paihia tho, where we have been twice to their Jazz Festival, that really hums, the streets almost dance. This was rather quiet in comparison.

Oh.... almost forgot, due to the drizzly rain, I spotted a grey felt hat in the cancer research charity shop (they look blindly at you if you say op shop, here they are charity shops, and I swear every town has a minimum of 3, Callander has at least 6!) 

Not many pics, mostly videos. But I don’t know how much of your data they use so will only post a couple.