"Music Festival Mayhem" a Island of Mull Travel Page by hayward68

During a 3 week holiday to the UK in April of 2000, I decided that I was finally going to visit Scotland for the first time. For some reason I was drawn to the Isle of Mull so made plans to take the train to Oban, hire a car and then board the ferry to the island and spend 3 days there. Who'd have guessed what was in store for me ;-)

I arrived on the island and headed for the only bed and breakfast which had room for me, the Mull Music Festival was on and the island was full.
Having met half of the owners of the B&B I headed off to the town of Tobermory to do some sightseeing. After finally finding a parking spot I was quite intrigued to see the number of people visiting for the festival. Men in kilts wandered by every so often, my eyes trailing after them as I thought of following ;-) The pubs were packed and the atmosphere was extremely festive but I was feeling lonesome by myself, so after a quick phone call to a friend back home in Canada I returned to my lodging.
I had grabbed a book and settled down in the comfy lounge expecting to spend the evening reading when Bronwyn, one of the owners, came in to see how I was doing. She told me to head off to Dervaig and the local pub to listen to the musicians. I then had to inform her that I was way too shy to just wander into a pub without knowing a soul. Her response was that she would take me since her husband was there already.
So off we went in her station wagon to the Bellachroy in Dervaig just a couple of miles away. You could hear the music from outside and when we entered our ears were filled with the sounds of fiddles, drums, bagpipes and singers. It was a literal ceilidh taking place in this tiny pub.
Bronwyn's friends welcomed me with open arms and offers of pints of beer to which I gratefully accepted. Soon I was tapping my feet and cheering the musicians along with the rest.
One particular bagpiper got up and started to play the pipes like I'd never heard before. It was just beautiful music and, with 3 pints of beer under my belt, I summoned the courage to approach him and tell him he sounded great. We started to chat and to my delight we discovered our common love of scuba diving, he was a commercial diver in fact.
The night progressed and soon it was the wee hours of the morning. The pub doors had been locked and we were all still inside partying away like mad. When an offer of a ride back to the B&B came along, Colin (the piper) offered a lift for later in the evening instead, which I was happy to accept.
I met his friends Mags and John, whom I later found out was a former member of the Celtic band Capercailie, and had a wonderful time with them.
Eventually the pub had to close and then the 3 of them invited me back to a party at the house of the friend they were staying with. I accepted, not wanting the evening to end, and soon found myself at a wild party with music blaring and people dancing on the tables. Who'd have thought in this wee Scottish village in the Hebrides that I'd chance upon this.
Tiredness soon overtook us all and we crashed on whatever floor/bed space we could find. The next day we were up scarfing down a traditional fryup and nursing our hangovers. And there was still another night of the festival to go!
Colin and I never did part company until the next day when he left to go back to the mainland where he lived, and to where I was to join him the following day. We didn't last more than 7 months as a couple but the memory of our first meeting will be with me forever. Mull will always have a special place in my heart because of the wonderful people that I met there.