My first time ever

in Laško. The beer (and flowers) festival started off with Natalie's press conference

and carried on with a series of concerts all across town:

Some sort of a local brass band, whose name was better suited for the festival (beer and čevapi), but which was surely better than any meat dish they might have named themselves after (their name seemed to be something they came up with at the last minute when they were told they could have a concert)

A peculiar Russian band (Russkaja), who played an eclectic combination of styles but were especially good at communicating with the public (and really did get them running around in circles).

The swingers Moonlighting Orchestra modeled themselves a bit on the Andrews Sisters and had a following of dancers in the crowd

The French brass band Attentat Fanfare are yet another (in the long line of) French party bands that pass on their great vibe onto the audience...

and they were followed by the unannounced surprise (as it was a surprise, it would be more surprising if it came announced) of Katrina walking on sunshine together with the Moonlighting orchestra (I guess the moon and sun had to be put on the same stage somehow)

  Mi2 seemed to have the  most enthusiastic fans of the evening

Haven't seen them in a while (Šukar)

And the first day ended just like it started - with Natalie, only that she was singing on stage now

 (oh yes, I might have had a little crush on her when I saw and heard Torn for the first time - way back in the 90s)
And yes, if you remember at the very beginning of this extraordinarily long post I mentioned that it was my first time (in Laško and at this festival). Of course I parked in the very centre of the town, at the very spot that turned out to be the where the biggest parties were going on, which meant that there was no way I could get out until we got escorted out by a security van at about 3.30 in the morning (guess who parked outside the town centre the next day?)