To Friends/Members/Crew/Contributors/ArtsFest. THANKYOU! I would like to offer my own personal thanks to everyone who took part in creating this very special event. To Christine Allison and her team who organised it all so brilliantly. To cope with a total of 60 artists, all with different needs, plus all the myriad other events surrounding ArtsFest, is a garantuan task. For local artists, £50 all in to have pictures on display in the Baptist Church Hall, the Town Mill ,town shops, and have publicity in a glossy brochure, is fantastic value, so it isn't surprising that more artisits take part every year. Add to that Open Studios and workshops, and it's easy to see how this event drew the imagination of the whole Lyme community. I also apologise profoundly to the hanging team at the Town Mill for the wet red paint on my contribution, and I promise that next year my pictures will all be completely dry.

My own event, 'Thought...for a moment' at the Town Mill, might have said 'Nomad' above the door, but it was very much a collective effort from the ComMA group, and I couldn't have done it without the special input of these friends. In no particular order, thanks to Emily Blech, local young talented musician/singer/songwriter/actor who gave us some great film footage, sang and spoke on the 'Rave' track, and (completely unrehearsed!) did the Rooftop scene with me. Simon 'The Beard' Leach who played 12 string guitar, Mary Ball who sang with me, Jon Hallet and his drum skills, and Bill McCallum who provided film inspiration and handled the Camcorder on the night. This was really an experimental trial run and I expected the techie stuff to fall to bits all the way through, but in the end, it held together, and with a great audience, we got through it. An edit of it will shortly be appearing on the MusicTV Channel of LymeRegisTV. Having had the experience, we are already considering doing something similar next year, in a larger venue, with audience particiation, and a lot of coloured light.

The real ComMA event was Friday Night Live at the Town Mill, which did indeed turn out to be an ArtsFest Special. Sally Holman dropped by and chatted about the early days of ArtsFest and its development, desperately trying to keep yours truly strictly on the subject of ArtsFest, but I always have so much to talk about with Sally, and don't see her often enough! Lucy Daniel Raby, local auther and writer of Nicholai of the North talked also about ArtsFest, writing workshops, and her forthcoming Christmas production at the Marine Theatre. We did those interviews early because Lucy and Sally had other commitments, but we'd just put Julian Shaw, singer songwriter and a regular favourite on Friday Night Live on the stage, when suddenly the room filled with people, including Jill Raines, one of the Bermuda artisis in town this week. So with the assistance of some Lancashire lads and lasses, a good time was had by all. Seems also a good time to let you know that Lyme Live returns on 12th October, in its new guise as Monday Night Live at the Woodmead Halls, and thereafter, every second Monday in the month, with a Quiz Night in December. Thanks also for all the welcome feedback on my Dream paintings at the Baptist Church Hall, and at the Town Mill.
Best Wishes,
Nomad