Organisers of a Lochaber village’s first gala in 11 years defied the weather at the weekend, hosting a hugely successful event.
The committee were so determined that Caol Gala would go ahead on Saturday that they did a last-minute venue swap, ensuring scores of families could enjoy the fun.
Originally the gala had been due to take place at Canal Park, but moved to the local community centre – once the bingo had finished.
Gala organiser and community councillor Kirsty Kyle said: “We ended up using our back-up plan – Plan B – which was to go indoors and it was brilliant. It was a huge turnout, a really busy day.
“We had to make the switch at about 5pm on Friday, but we couldn’t do anything until 7am on Saturday because there had been bingo on at the community centre.”
Morgan Bisset was crowned gala queen and a vast array of activities followed a parade, including Highland dancing, gymnastics, judo and boxing.
There was even room for a fairground.
And, as day turned to night, a capacity crowd enjoyed an evening dance to round off the gala.
“The highlight was simply everybody having fun,” Miss Kyle said.
“Everybody enjoyed the day. It really was a team effort – the community council, I’ve got to thank Highland Council who gave us a really good donation towards the event and loads of local companies who all donated stuff for the day.
“And special thanks to the team at the community centre for letting us in at short notice.”
The organisers hope the gala will be restored as an annual fixture now that a new community council has been established.
They say they will be looking to recruit more volunteers to help with next year’s event.