Organisers of this year’s Ruan Minor Recreation Ground May Festival could not have asked for better weather.
With blue skies and warm sunshine on both days over the weekend, it proved the perfect backdrop for live music.
This year there was new format to the festival, which was summed up in one phrase on the posters: “Two days of music and drink.”
It proved a popular concept for those living in the village and surrounding area, who kicked back and relaxed as they listened to local bands, with 12 hours of music each day from midday until midnight.
Acts included Merlins Rocket, Boxhead, The Ducks, The Neutrons, The Tags, Jonny English, Andy and Lucy Hamer, and Sonny. There was also an open mic session to start the festival on the Saturday and an open folk and jazz session with the Cadgwith Singers for the start of the Sunday.
With such hot weather the licensed bar on site, serving a selection of ales, proved particularly popular and there was hot food available for those making a day of it.
Organiser Mike Fleetwood said although numbers were down a bit on previous years and more would have been welcome during the afternoons, more people arrived during the evenings as people came off the beach.
He said: “It was good fun. I’d certainly like to thank all the people who helped. We have got a lot of volunteers, from the people that manned the bar to those that put up and took down the marquees.”
The tents were donated by the Ruan Minor Vintage Rally committee.
Special thanks was given to Tom Briggs of the band The Ducks, which played their first ever gig at the event two years ago and has been back each year since. Tom sourced the majority of the bands and organised for them to play.
Although there was free admission, an estimated £400 to £500 from sales and donations was raised towards a project to completely refurbish the existing pavilion on the recreation ground.
Initially the committee had hoped to start from scratch and rebuild entirely, but after failing to win grants – due to the relatively small scale of the scheme and the intended use – the plan is now to gut the existing structure and renovate internally.
Plans include replacing the roof and floors, and moving the walls around inside, to give better changing facilities for the village’s football team as well as a place for the club to hold social events to raise funds.
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