Well - that was some party!! We've had a few days to recover from and reflect upon our biggest event of the year, and it's safe to say it was a huge success on so many levels. Knoydart was packed to the gunnels with visitors geared up to bring in the New Year Knoydart style, and they did not disappoint in excitement, dancing, friendship and craic.
In the lead up to Hogmanay the hall committee and many volunteer members of the community were hard at work with preparations - decorating the hall, logistics planning, bar stock deliveries, poster printing and weather prepping were just some of the tasks.
The hall filled up early on Hogmanay and there was a substantial crowd awaiting our opening act FRAS when they took to the stage around 9pm. Fras are good pals of Knoydart, having played in the hall many times over the past few years, and they never fail to get everyone up dancing along to their fiery tunes and fast-paced beats.
Despite a minor panic when one of their amps decided to spontaneously combust on stage, SKETCH took to the stage to bring us in to 2018 with one of the best sets we've ever had the pleasure of listening to. The mix of traditional instruments, digital dance beats and creative use Gaelic song was a real treat to both avid followers of their music as well as a new audience.
Not stopping there, our final act of the night was DJ DOLPHIN BOY who waited patiently until around 1am to begin his set. Having such a good time, folk hardly noticed the time of day and continued dancing well in to the wee small hours with Dolphins cleverly selected playlist of remixed trad tunes and modern songs.
The party didn't stop there....
After a few hours sleep we all traipsed back to the hall on New Year's Day afternoon for The First Big Session of 2018. The hall, transformed from the night before thanks to our dedicated volunteer cleaners up at the crack of dawn, had a relaxed feel with tables set up, a food stall out the kitchen and slowly but surely one musician after another came through the door, popped their instruments on a table, ordered a drink and then began to play the hangovers away.
Bleary eyed and slightly in a daze, on the 2nd January reality hit us in the face as the pier piled high with luggage and the ferries zoomed back and forth across the loch transporting revellers back home. It took us a few days longer to fully recover and get everything back to 'normality' but we finally managed to have a sit down tonight to go over the event, evaluate its success, and most importantly - start talks on what we do next year!!
We are delighted to announce that the New Year event made a profit of approximately £1,400.00 which will go towards our imminent hall refurbishment (keep an eye out for exciting crowdfunding announcements VERY soon).
We would also like to thank all of our volunteers who helped in many ways over the course of the New Year - Jackie, Lorna, Steph, Isla, Davie, Denise, Morag, Steve, Mark, Uilleam, Drew, Kirsten, Wee Rhona, Danny, Cath, Anna, Daisy, Tony, Struan, Frank, Jacqui, Grant, Fraz, Cara, Sam, Ian R, Kira & Freya. Without your help the whole thing wouldn't have been possible. And finally, a HUGE thank you to everyone who came out, supported the hall and danced your socks off - we hope you enjoyed it just as much as we did.
See you next year!!! :)