One hundred and thirty people from across the world who became part of a ‘virtual pub’ created in lockdown two years ago threw a three-day party in Perth this month to celebrate meeting in person for the very first time.
‘The Stagger Inn’ regulars, from the rest of Scotland and England to Belgium and America, finally met at the Salutation Hotel on the weekend of April 15-17 for an extravaganza of games, singing, dancing, fancy dress and fundraising.
The story of the virtual community began in 2020 during the first lockdown where a young musician called Ewan Galloway, from Dalkeith, was jobless. Hearing that recording music is good for mental health he began to play his accordion on an online stream.
For 10 weeks he played every day of the week and quickly gathered an enthusiastic following of people spread thousands of miles apart who were struggling with the isolation caused by the pandemic.
Over the next few months Ewan’s playing evolved into a weekly event on a Friday night called ‘Friday Fun Night’, where he played for up to five hours while the virtual audience made requests and chatted together.
In time this became the Stagger Inn where over 400 individuals became members, from as far and wide as Sweden, Norway, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, Germany and the Netherlands.
Ewan also organised a weekly virtual country dance session playing country dance music.
As restrictions eased Ewan organised the ‘Stagger Inn on the Road’ event at the Salutation Hotel where many of the virtual family got the chance to greet and dance together for the first time.
Sarah Horne, a Stagger Inn regular who helped organise the event, said that Perth was chosen as most of the members live in Scotland and its central location made it the easiest spot for punters to travel to.
The participants arrived on the Friday afternoon and at 6pm gathered in the ballroom to enjoy their first live Stagger Inn evening.
The stage was set up with a large banner with a picture of the studio from where Ewan usually plays.
The evening included all the usual Stagger Inn activities, including some ‘Hanky tunes’ and there was a video link up to a group of members from Shetland to join the fun.
On Saturday the Stagger Inn set disappeared and the stage was transformed ready for a ‘Grand Dance’ which raised £1500 for the Trinity Sea Cadet Unit, which Ewan is the commanding officer of.
Chairman of the Sea Cadets Trinity, Donald Cameron, was in attendance to accept the donation.
The event started with a ‘Grand March’ and was followed by a programme of country dances and ceilidh dances.
The evening then included a variety of fundraising events, a raffle with no less than 70 prizes, rolling money at the whisky bottle, a silent auction for a fabulous picture and a treasure hunt for a wonderful wooden tractor and trailer.
On Sunday morning there was an additional country dance class to launch a very special book of country dances created entirely by Ewan, called The Ship Ahoy.
Sunday afternoon included a ceilidh class and the Sunday evening saw the hotel ballroom host a party night.
Many members of the Stagger Inn family choose to dress up for the fancy dress parade, with the Teletubbies, Harry Potter, James Bond, Mary Poppins and the Pope in attendance.
Virtual publican Ewan thanked the many people who had contributed in supporting the weekend revelry.
Ewan, who rocked the stage with his six-piece band for most of the weekend, said: “It was an absolutely amazing weekend from virtual to reality - practically unbelievable.
“People have travelled hundreds of miles to be together and meet.
“It is something that will live with me for a long time and hopefully everyone else who attended.
“For such an amazing group to also help raise such a fantastic sum of cash to donate to the Sea Cadet unit I run is outstanding.
“I feel very proud and honoured to know such a bunch of great people.
“We have had some amazing food and drink with some lovely rooms to stay in all presented to us by a great team of staff.
“It is a dream come true! Here is to the next year at the Stagger Inn.”
Event aid Sarah Horne said Inn’s 400-strong members group now felt like “a great family”.
“My body has definitely arrived back in Blackburn but my heart and soul are still definitely in the Stagger Inn [in Perth ],” she added.
“And I am sure that like all of you, your thoughts and minds are full of our wonderful weekend.”
Sarah added that many who attended the event called it the “best weekend of their lives”.
Garry Tait from Belgium said: “What can one possibly say - a truly magical weekend. Just like you would imagine the Stagger Inn to be.
“Everybody mucking in to help, dancers with stamina like stallions, absolutely top drawer musicians performing a fantastic array of tunes, excellent hotel service. But one man made it happen and Ewan Galloway you are now a legend mate.”
Helen Robinson from Shetland added: “We felt we needed to support Ewan like he supported us all the way through lockdown.
“The best thing about the Stagger Inn weekend was meeting all our virtual friends in person and being at an event for the first time since COVID.”
