IT’S certainly the biggest and most heavily booked show to regularly hit the Alban Arena – and I guess it is also the noisiest.

It is, of course, the annual St Albans and District Scouts and Guides Gang Show, now the biggest event of its kind in the country and arguably one of the most spectacular

With around 125 performers from the Scout and Guide movements aged between 11 and 25, it was as big, bright and spectacular as ever – with one or two new innovations to help it along.

Under producer David Barker, the huge team of volunteers who help stage the show are past masters at making use of the latest technology – lighting, sound and special effects – which all combine with the enthusiasm and skill of the young performers to produce huge musical numbers which have tremendous visual impact.

As usual the hundreds of costumes produced for the show are equally spectacular and the huge band of musicians who make up the pit orchestra add hugely to the overall success of the show.

On top of all this there are the much-loved comedy sketches which split up the big musical numbers and this year they were some of the slickest for a long time.

In particular Group Therapy, about a group discussing their phobias, was completely hysterical and had the entire audience in stitches.

It’s a pity but the Gang Show organisers never name the individual performers – although all of them deserve huge congratulations for the effort they put in to making the annual show such a great event.

But also the biggest shame is that it only runs for four days so the vast majority of the public never get a chance to see just how much the young people of the district can achieve. Their enthusiasm to entertain is only matched by the enthusiasm of the audience members, mainly fellow members of the Scout and Guide movements, who turn out to roar their support and approval.

For me it’s worth the headache brought on by the sheer volume of sound I almost always suffer by the end of the show just to see so much enthusiasm being pumped out by so many talented young people.

But just as importantly, the vast number of adults who work tirelessly to create this annual spectacular, need an equal amount of praise and recognition for their amazing efforts which go on year after year.

JOHN MANNING