Local dancers from Eden, Pambula and Merimbula came together last weekend for the 6th annual Rock'n'Roll dance festival at Club Sapphire.
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There was an influx of some 400 Rockin Rodders to the local area, from Victoria, ACT (both enjoying a long weekend) as well as visitors from other parts of New South Wales, Gippsland and as far north as Darwin.
They came to enjoy a long weekend of rock and roll dancing and Hot Rodding.
It started Thursday night at the RSL club when some 40 visitors joined the regular Thursday night dance class and showed the locals some nifty new moves.
Friday night saw some 300 dancers enjoying dancing to the local band 'The Hoops'.
This was followed on Saturday afternoon with lessons for both beginners and advanced dancers.
Saturday evening was the first of two big nights with bands in both the auditorium and in the Sapphire Room at Club Sapphire.
Over 400 dancers enjoyed continuous music with top Sydney rock n roll band the "The Flaming Stars" together with another famous Melbourne band, "The Fender Benders" along with Merimbula's local rock and roll band “Shadoogie" featuring sensational singer Matt Kimber.
The retro costuming, hairstyles and shoes added a great atmosphere to the event and Bop Jonny’s Rock ‘n’ Roll clothing from Melbourne set up shop in the auditorium selling almost everything that was Rock’n’Roll.
Sunday night was the formal dinner/dance and Club Sapphire did its usual great job of seating the maximum number of people for the meal without a single hitch.
The festival has been running for 6 years, is well known on the rock n roll calendar and the majority of the 300 weekend tickets are usually sold out by the first week in January each year.
This is achieved by the hard work of the drivers of the event namely Kerry & Lyndon Lewis.
This was all done with very little media coverage.
Most of the dancers are visitors from all over Australia many of whom arrive early prior to the dance event and provide a marvellous boost to the local tourism economy.
Our local Rock n Rodder’s dance group would like to see more participation from local members of the community, our local Chamber, Council and Tourist bodies.
We feel this could be achieved by publicity and coverage from our local media.