The first act of 2018 was Shannon Lewis....What a way to start the festivals on the village green with Westward Ho!'s own wonderful musician. With a mix of covers and her own songs, Shannon really collected a large group of people sitting on the green soaking up the atmosphere. Through the new PA system with Dan Powe at the controls she sounded amazing.
2nd up was Lettie and the Bean. Kevin "Beano" Green was a regular to the Sunset Festivals last year, this year he has teamed up with Collette Harrison to make this new dynamic duo. Kevin was really good on his own but now....Even better. What a wonderful performance from this brilliant pairing, what a treat for the audience.
Merlin Cadogan is a key part of the Sunset Festivals again this year (pictured below). What a legend and all round wonderful person. He was on Britains Got Talent and got through to the semi finals with his escapology. Merlin runs a Circus Skills School every week, you can learn to juggle, poys, diablos, contact balls, balancing...the list goes on! Merlin is also joint Compare for WH'sGT (Westward Ho!'s Got Talent) with Peter Sawyer. This pair make it fun and are like Brothers from different Mothers.
Most memorable part last week? A lage SUP (Stand Up Paddle Board) with several guys were paddling around just off the sea wall...Merlin like a flash had 350 people cheering and waving at them because "They had paddled all the way from Bristol and were going around the country, non stop, unaided". They were amazed at the crowd as they paddled back to Westward Ho! slipway!! Was so funny. He is a true performer and will be with us every week.
Westward Ho!'s Got Talent was a risk and could of flopped easily. OMG it worked.....It worked really well and stole the show. We had the most amazing panel of Judges made up from outstanding members of our community. The Judging panel consisted of:- Cllr Nick Laws - Our Torridge Councillor and head of the village, only right he headed the judges, photo 2nd below, Nick was winding the kids up brilliantly and went down a storm. Cllr Roger Tisdale was straight talking and the interaction between our two Councillors was superb and entertaining. Where else are the Councillors this much fun? Third on the Golden Seats was Heather McCarthty, glamorous, sexy and softly spoken. Heather encouraged the performers, installed confidence and was the real leader of the judges! John Barton was our 4th judge. As organiser of the WHAMM music events John was enthusiastic and scouting for talent, was searching for the next big thing...
The standard of entries was nothing short of spectacular, several times 350 were on their feet cheering, clapping and going wild. For more information, winners and some videos of the performances can be found here:-
https://www.facebook.com/groups/WHsGT/
What a first Sunset Festival....What an amazing practise run....What Talent we found....What fun we had....Same time every Saturday until the end of August....What you waiting for? Come and #visitwestwardho
The Sunset Festivals are organised by The Westward Ho! Business Association, without the businesses working together, the events wouldn't be half as much fun.
This one has been possible because of sponsorship by:-
Braddicks Leisure
Surf Bay Holiday Park
Golden Bay Holiday Village
Beachside Holiday Park
Golden Fry Chip Shop
Kitemare-Surf & Kite Shop
Beach-Bar-Diner
Torridge District Council
