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Sophie Stephenson who is one of the runners working on this year's Festival Cafe has written this blog about this first day.

Sophie Stephenson

The first day started off with rain... lots and lots of rain. Fortunately we came equipped with an army of red, tartan brollies. However the dreich day was soon to be brightened up with the arrival of and her band. In the Festival Café's Green Room Camille spotted a quirky table lamp which she excitedly switched on - the light setting the mood for her glowing performance to come. Sure enough, no sooner than Camille took to the stage in her glittery boots mirroring her sparkling presence on stage with the song 'In these shoes' did the sun start shining outside.

Next to arrive were soldiers turned actors Cassidy and Maurilla along with Owen Sheers the writer of their show . Last but certainly not least Linda Marlowe arrived just in time to warm up that famous voice.

After an enthusiastic warm-up from Andrea, one of the team of runners, the audience were fired up and ready for the colourful cabaret which awaited them. On stage everyone was in place and everything ready to go live after the one o'clock news. With Clare's red, ruffle dress and Camille's striking red hat, red was certainly the flavour of the day. Our fantastic presenter Clare English lead the crowd through a fabulous 45 minutes of laughs, cheers and at some points even tears.

Linda Marlowe gave us a flavour of her powerful one women performance of Dickens' most infamous character, . As Cassidy and Maurilla from The Two Worlds of Charlie F each in turn took the stage the crowd quickly quieted down as they were engulfed in the sheer emotion of the performance. We felt very humbled by their presence off - an admiration which grew as they shared their experiences with the audience. In particular their physical and emotional challenges which we witnessed were revealing of the day-to-day realities brought about by the injuries they have endured.

After the whirlwind of day one, we can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring!