Strathyre Music Festival was a smashing success - raising £575 for Macmillan nurses.

Families and music lovers were kept entertained over the weekend (29-31 May) with a host of amazing acts, including Deep as Grass, the Graham Brown Band, The Hurdy Gurdy Men, Inside Out, Southern Strings, Papa Shandy & the Drams, and Something, Someone.

Morgan Woods from Alloa - front woman and bassist for Something, Someone - faced an instrumental disaster just an hour before she was due onstage when the bridge of her double bass snapped off.

She said: “We were in the middle of rehearsing a new song that we were going to debut at the fest and then all of a sudden it just went. I tried to fix it a few times, but it kept flying off. For a moment I thought that was it.” Fortunately Mikey Higgins raced to the rescue and the bass was good to go ahead of the band’s performance.

Morgan added: “Our whole set was dedicated to Mikey for his help.

“Getting past that initial panic, Strathyre was a great festival to play at. That was my second time and it just gets better and better. The crowd is warm and welcoming and there’s so many great acts to see.” After the dust settled, festival organiser Nyree Watson said: “The weekend went great - there’s some amazing bands and fantastic talent out there.

“Special thanks must be given to all our committee and volunteers who helped with the organising and clean up. Thanks also to the Co-op in Callander for stocking our bar and restocking it a couple more times over the weekend - I think we wiped their shelves.” Praise was also given to Shona in licensing at Stirling Council for all her help, the Forestry Commission for the use of their land, Myreton Marquees for supplying the marquee, Amy Beaton who hosted the wild campers and Stevie Boyle at Strathyre Outdoor Centre for the use of the facility over the weekend.

Nyree added: “Thanks also to all the villagers for putting up with us, ProSound Services for going above and beyond yet again to give us amazing sound, and finally to all the musicians and bands who took part in our wonderful music festival. See you next year.”