Another year, another Christmas and another trip to Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow for the Madrigal Group. This was only a part of the group’s festive journeys but was acknowledged to be the most anticipated.

As soon as registration was finished the group clambered upon the bus and started the 2 hour journey through to Glasgow. The time slipped past seamlessly thanks largely to the light-hearted atmosphere, warm-up/practice and funny renditions of a number of songs. The bus arrived and first on the agenda was to get the orchestra to leave their instruments in a specified room. Once this was done everyone was free for 2 hours to basically do as they please. Christmas shopping seemed the main order of the day and everyone took advantage of the perfect town centre to have a good laugh.

Once all the shopping was done and lunch had been eaten, it was time to do the actual performing bit! The section of the mall we were performing in was the same as the year before and it was a lot like just going back in time as everything about the day was almost identical.

Then ensued a couple of hours of songs from the Madrigal Group and orchestra individually, and also as one. The relatively changing audience was refreshing although standing for so long was incredibly tiring! Within what seemed like the blink of an eye the performance was finished, and before heading back to the bus we had another 30 minutes in the mall to get something to eat.

It was surprising how much energy was still left in the group on the way back, but we did have a couple of sleepers! The ‘banter’ was funny on the return journey and it was evident everyone had really enjoyed the day.

Speaking on behalf of the 6^th year contingent I would say it was a relatively emotional day, considering it represented another ‘last’. Still it was a perfect way to celebrate the coming of Christmas and made everyone feel that bit more festive. A great day out, and another chance to perform to a grateful audience.

For many more pictures of the event, click on the link below.