By Ralph Barnett

Despite changeable weather thousands of people turned out on Saturday for Arbroath’s first Seafront Spectacular.

Early fears that the event might turn out to be a damp squib due to torrential rain, thunder and lightning soon evaporated as the showers eased, the clouds broke and the crowds descended on Victoria Park.

The undoubted highlight was a performance by the Red Arrows RAF display team.

Their attendance was arranged thanks to RAF contacts forged by Gill Howie of local firm Squadron Prints, who was the leading member of the Arbroath Business Association organising committee.

The nine Hawk aircraft, which had been based overnight at RAF Leuchars, flew low out of the clouds towards Victoria Park dead on 5 pm and thrilled the crowds with a half-hour display.

Such was the draw of the Red Arrows that, as the scheduled start of their display approached, Springfield Park and Victoria Park, and the Braehead Path, became a mass of people.

Those who were unable to attend the show due to work or other commitments in the town were not to be denied, either, as staff and customers at shops across Arbroath deserted their posts to enjoy the spectacle.

One spectator said, “I’ve seen the Red Arrows quite a few times over the years at air shows, mostly at RAF Leuchars, but that was without doubt the best display I have ever seen them perform.”

In addition to the aerial displays by the Red Arrows and a Tornado F3 from Leuchars, visitors had plenty to occupy themselves on the ground with personnel from the Royal Marines, the Royal Navy, the Royal Artillery, local Territorial Army units, coastguard, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, police and fire brigade all running stands.

In keeping with the transport theme there were also displays of classic and vintage cars and motor cycles and, thanks to BMW dealership John Clark, what is believed to be the biggest assembly of new Minis ever seen in Scotland.

Stunt driver Russ Swift and his team used the narrow, and very wet, thoroughfare of Kings Drive to put on two mind-boggling displays of precision driving using the new Mini Cooper cars, with the finale including Arbroath Business Association member Howard Cargill and members of the audience as passengers.

Main organiser Gill Howie said yesterday, “I think it was absolutely brilliant and I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who helped make Arbroath’s first—but hopefully not last—Seafront Spectacular such a great success.

“There were a few glitches, which is only to be expected when something on this scale is being done for the first time, but I haven’t heard anything to suggest that anyone who came along was disappointed.

“There was some grumbling about the £5 parking charge but, realistically, there was no other way of generating the income we needed to cover the costs of insurance, security and even mundane things like loo hire.

“It might have been just as well that the weather wasn’t great because we easily got the 10,000 crowd we expected and, had it been blazing sunshine all day, I seriously doubt if we could have coped with the numbers.

“The only disappointment from my point of view was that I was so busy trying to keep everything running smoothly that I wasn’t able to enjoy myself like everyone else was.

“It was quite frustrating really to have people coming into the administration and control tent, where I spent most of the day, and telling me that such-and-such was great. But that was the role I chose to take on, and I really can’t complain.

“One thing I really wished I had seen was the simulated rescue display by the RNLI lifeboats and the RAF Sea King because someone told me that a few dolphins swam in to get in on the act, which was really special as we don’t often see them off Arbroath.”

Gill will give a report on the event to the Arbroath Business Association on Wednesday evening before removing her Seafront Spectacular hat and concentrating again on her own business and taking a well-earned break.

“On reflection I probably took too much responsibility on myself, and it has been an absolutely exhausting experience. It has, however, been extremely satisfying and I hope that it is something that can be repeated—but definitely not with me in charge!” she said.

“If the Arbroath Business Association do decide it’s worth doing again I think it should be spread over a whole weekend, rather than cramming everything into one day, because it did become something of an administrative nightmare.

“That being said, our aim was to provide a really special family day out for Arbroath and I don’t think anyone can say we didn’t achieve that goal.

“I would like to thank all the organisations and businesses who supported the Seafront Spectacular and, particularly, the thousands of people who came along and endured what was, at times, pretty atrocious weather.”