The "Out of the Blue" show was a community safety event organised by the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, and took place on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th July 2008 in Bute Park, Cardiff. There were displays from all of the "blue light" emergency services as well as numerous voluntary agencies, including RAYNET. There were also "safety displays" from Network Rail, Arriva Trains Wales and other non-emergency agencies.

A rather soggy Bute Park also hosted a central display area for visitors to watch such things as Police Dog displays and local "marching bands".

The first day of the event, Friday, was aimed at school children and SWFRS estimated that around 5000 children were likely to attend. Having had a dismally wet start to the day, thankfully the weather cleared up by the time the children arrived and our RAYNET display had a number of visitors asking about Amateur Radio and RAYNET; Gerwyn (GW4JDE) was finding his car was also attracting a number of inquisitve looks! Our display also attracted visitors from local council members which proved very useful in terms of explaining RAYNET's capabilities. The Saturday was open to members of the general public and, again, our display attracted a number of visitors.

This event proved an excellent opportunity for us to "fly the flag" for RAYNET and, hopefully, if the event is repeated, we will be invited to participate.

[GW7BSC]