The heavens opened on the morning of Gala Day, but by the time the Gala procession began to wind its way down from Portmoak Church to the Well Green in Scotlandwell the sky had miraculously brightened and the rain abated.

The Lochgelly High School Pipe Band led the way, followed by a beautiful 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom in which rode the Gala Queen, her escort and two flower girls. Last but hardly least, the Loch Leven Diamonds Majorettes gave us a fine display of baton twirling, resplendent in their striking blue costumes. On arrival at the Green the Gala Queen and her attendants stepped up onto the stage, and the Queen proclaimed the Gala to be open with a short speech.

There followed two hours of fun during which we were entertained by more tunes from the Lochgelly Pipers, and some spectacular moves from the dancers of Dance Connect and the McKay School of Dance. The stalls surrounding the Green did a brisk trade in home baked cakes, plants and bric-a-brac, and long queues at the barbecue tent testified to the delicious hotdogs and burgers to be had there. Everyone seemed to have a good time despite the gradually darkening skies.

The children's races towards the end of the gala were brought forward a little as spots of rain began to be felt, and after a great release of balloons (each one bought by a gala goer - with a prize for whichever travelled the furthest distance) as the grand finale, the clouds poured forth their contents once again as the winners of the raffle were being announced.

We didn't mind - a great afternoon was had by all, and there was still a whole week of the Portmoak Festival to look forward to!