Haworth 40's war weekend

Blimey, what a monster weekend at Haworth 40's war event. The band headed up north to the pretty little village of Haworth for the resurrected 40's weekend. Im led to believe that the event was in decline or almost finished and then in stepped Brian and Andrea Leathley and a team of volunteers and friends to pick up the mantle and put Haworth firmly back on the map in the annals of the UK 40's scene.

Clearly, there is a massive amount to sort out and arrange and then goes from the macro level of pretty much all the big things you see such as the vehicles, stalls, decorations, entertainment marquee, bars etc but it is the smaller details that take a huge amount of effort to get in place eg security, timings, marches, parades, etc.

The overall result was that of course there were things that need to be rectified or improved going forward and the feedback has been passed to the organisers who I know are keen to take the necessary steps to continually improve the event. Hats off to Andrea and Brain Leathley and the team for putting Haworth back on the map and what a glorious weekend it was - Great weather, lovely people, lots of things going and a really good buzz.

From the band point of view, it was a heck of a haul - we played 5 full on dances across the weekend starting with us arriving on Friday afternoon to get set up for the Friday evening swing dance with The Kalamazoo Dance Band - a great stage set up as always and nearly 200 in there that evening made for a great fun night then back to the tents we went for a well earned rest.

Saturday, the weather was perfect, lovely and sunny and warm and the folks all buzzing around in uniform and vintage clothes creating a lovely atmosphere. We played the afternoon Glenn Miller tea dance which drew a huge crowd which was great to see and we played all greats including our signature tune 'I got a gal in Kalamazoo' which went down very well.

Then a few hours break and quick change for stands and uniforms as we changed to our Kal's Kats style for the evening big swing dance and wow what a fab time that was with over 300 people packed into the marquee to enjoy the evening. Brilliant and very well received indeed. We loved it, the atmosphere was superb and excellent audience participation.

Then another rest that night and all change back to the Kalamazoo Dance Band set up for the Sunday afternoon Glenn Miller tea dance and again, packed to the rafters with a lovely atmosphere and lovely to see folks waving their arms and flags while we played to sombre version of we'll meet again and then straight into the swing version which really ups the ante.

So that saw the end of our gigs at Haworth for 2018 before we then headed across to the Falcon Manor at Settle for a Kal's Kats brilliant wedding party in Gatsby style - and of course when then beer flows the fun follows and watching two guys dance a silly style to Minnie the Moocher has to be the highlight of the weekend. just fab!!

Thanks to all the band members for getting stuck in to a heavy but great fun weekend.