Ness Gala Day has been hailed a great success, with a bit of rain failing to dampen spirits, and the dance was also busy and lively, with some coming along for their “one night out of the year”.

The gala day on Saturday (29 August) had it all. Musical entertainment was provided courtesy of the Lewis and Harris Youth Pipe Band and the Ness Melodeon Band, including some of the younger players from Taigh Dhonnchaidh.

Dancers from the Claire Wilson School of Dance were a popular draw as always and this year saw an additional attraction in the form of acrobats from the class at Sporsnis run by Ellie Harris.

The local acrobats, many of them still in primary school, were making their debut public performance. They proved to be a huge hit and a major talking point of the day.

The gala day has been running for 15 years, with the format largely unchanged. Unlike some other island shows, no livestock are shown, but the other attractions more than make up for it.

There was plenty fun on offer, courtesy of inflatables from Pursuit Hebrides, face painting and stalls with games.

There were also stalls with crafts and information from various organisations and there was plenty flavour too with a busy tea tent, a barbecue, popcorn and a visit from Miele’s Gelateria.

The event raises funds for the Ness Social Club committee and any profits are reimbursed for the community, going towards the social club, the football club and Taigh Dhonnchaidh.

Maggie Mackay is chair of Ness FC Social Club and the Ness Gala Day Committee. She said the event always raises “a good few hundred pounds” and thanked the volunteers for making it happen. She hailed the volunteer effort as “amazing” with around 50 volunteers involved in the run-up to it and more on the day.

Maggie said the event went “really well”, adding: “It was very successful. A lot people are saying it was the busiest yet.”

That is anecdotal, as the committee “don’t really count numbers” but “it was very good and everybody seemed happy”.

She said: “It looks like it’s on par with last year which was very successful as well.”

The weather was a bit wetter than had been forecast, with the rain starting about half past three, but most of the performers were done by then. It was only the mini melodeons left to go and they were relocated to the tea tent as it was too wet to have their PA system operating outside.

The entertainment was “a huge highlight”, she said.

“The dancers are always fabulous but this was the first time we had the acrobats and they were a huge hit. They were amazing, absolutely amazing.”

It was the acrobats’ debut public performance and there were 15 or 20 of them. They drew “a huge crowd” which organisers hope will give them a big confidence boost going forward.

“They were fab. They were really, really good, and a lot of people were talking about that afterwards because they’d never seen anything like that before.”

“I think they’ll be asked to go elsewhere because it was so well received and it’s really good to be able to give them their debut.”

In general, it all went really well with everybody coming together and “having a great time”.

The tea tent was “very busy” with “the urns were on constantly” but outside the stall holders seemed to be happy too, selling their wares or imparting their information.

Later on, the dance was also a big success.

Maggie described it as a “lively evening”, adding: “Willie Campbell’s always great and it’s some people’s only night out of the year so we had a lot of folk in the social club and everybody got home safely.”

The community minibus from Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn was available to give lifts and good use was made of this in the evening. It was available during the day, too, to take people “back and forth” but the day option was possibly under-used this year, and organisers hope more people will consider using it next year.

She said the Urras minibus was a “really good service” for the community, thanks to the willing volunteer driver.

Maggie added: “A huge debt to the volunteers who all gave up their time all week. We’re all pretty exhausted but it was worth it. So hopefully that’s what all the volunteers feel like as well.

“The volunteer effort is incredible. It wouldn’t happen without the volunteers and we’re always looking for new things.”

Anyone with new ideas for next year is invited to get in touch with Ness Gala Day through their Facebook page.

Planning for 2027 will begin around the turn of the year.

The next event at Ness social club will be a charity bingo in aid of the RNLI on 25 September.

Photographs were by James Wylie from Light of Lewis Photography and he has shared a video of the gala day, taken with drone footage, on his Facebook page.