Regatta Song & Dance 2011

Even bigger and better than last year's! 

Not a Coast Inn event, of course, but a truly Mersea Community Experience, and since so many of the musicians who played and sang are also to be found playing, singing or supporting at the Thursday Sessions and the Moondance Club at the Coast Inn, what better place to post a representative selection of images recording an extraordinary day of shoreside entertainment.  Apologies to anyone who should appear here but doesn't. If you email me your pics, I'll add them to the collection. Photos appearing below which weren't taken by me have been kindly provided by Chrissie Westgate, Jo Cox and Brian Richardson.

The entertainment was provided by (in chronological order):

One Drum - an hour's worth of Ghanaian drumming and dancing
Vocalise, led by Caroline Laver
Just Chillin' - aka Liz, Sue and Ellie
B&C Band - Brian Richardson and Christian Ohmke
John Leyland
Fern Wildish
Ellie Gamble
A smuggler's tale, told by John, with Greg, Adrian and Heidi revealing hitherto hidden thespian skills as the stand-in actors
Kim Stephenson
Shanties - sung by the usual suspects
Ceilidh, with the 'Regatta Ceilidh Band' - Liz, Sue, Barry, Tom, Adrian, Ian, Gary and Greg
Blackwaterside (a set sadly curtailed by the start of the prizegiving)

Huge thanks to all who took part, for a tremendous team effort - at times very much against the odds. Special thanks to Chrissie - principal co-ordinator and facilitator, whose brilliant brainchild the whole Song and Dance idea was; Victoria and Ellie for their enviably calm but highly effective organisation; Kim and Lizzy for the sound; to everyone who played at extremely short notice (you know who you are and you are stars) ; to all those noble musicians who also assembled and knocked down the stage, erected the gazebo, lugged straw bales and generally pitched in with non-musical donkeywork way beyond the call of duty. The resounding success of the day - tedious downpour notwithstanding - was due to all of you.