Festivities light up the night sky

HUNDREDS gathered on Oban’s North Pier to watch the spectacular fireworks set off from the Lighthouse Pier on Saturday November 5.

The display lasted quarter of an hour and was judged ‘the best ever’ by one delighted young fan, with the crowd emitting ‘oos’ and ‘ahs’ as each thunderous bang lit up the night sky.

The £ 5,000 cost of the fireworks was paid for by Scottish Sea Farms Heart of the Community Trust – up £1,000 on its £4,000 contribution last year.

Organiser Derek Connery thanked Scottish Sea Farms for ‘its very generous support allowing this event to take place at the scale it does and remain free for the local community’, and ‘the small but hardy band of volunteers manning the stalls in Station Square and raising more than £1000 for their various causes’.

He also thanked Oban FM for the music and countdown on the North Pier, the Oban High School Pipe Band, again true champions braving the cold, and the Oban Bay Hotel for spoiling Fireworx Scotland with free B&B.

Fireworks explode in a spectacular display above Oban Bay, but there were also bonfire night events in Dunbeg, where, inset, young Mhairi Inglis was selling glow sticks to children while Shirley Inglis and Breege Smyth enjoyed the fun.