For twenty years she has been 'The hostess with the mostest', but now the Bermuda Festival's hostess coordinator, Jane West, is hanging up her clipboard to make way for new appointees and fresh ideas. It is not age that is behind this effervescent lady's decision, but rather a desire to move on and tackle something new.

Not many Festivalgoers realise the vital role hostesses play in the overall success of the Festival, and just how much their services account for the fact that all artists love coming to Bermuda because the treatment they receive from landing to take-off is so exceptional.

"The hostess programme started because the Festival didn't want the artists on motorbikes, and it had to get them from A to B for rehearsals and performances," Mrs. West says. "When the Festival was just starting out taxis were too expensive so a system was worked out whereby we would get a team of volunteers to drive them to the from the airport, rehearsals and performances, and also entertain them at least once or twice in their homes," Mrs. West says. "So you got these artists coming to Bermuda who thought they had died and gone to heaven with all these people taking care of them, and they were enormously grateful because in New York they would be trying to find a taxi in the rain. The Festival's hostess programme is a terrific system which works well."

The co-ordinator's involvement with the programme began during the second Bermuda Festival, when she started out as a hostess. An organised and energetic individual who loves to entertain, she eventually became hostess co-ordinator and has enjoyed every minute of her responsibilities, despite countless harrowing moments that have included lost instruments and artists and more, and all of which she and her team have had to sort out.

"Anything that happens in real life happens in spades during the Festival," she says.

During her early stints Mrs. West even managed to have a child and be back hostessing two weeks later.

"When I started out I was in my 20s and they used to give me anyone whom they thought was going to be a threat to Immigration, such as people who might be carrying 'recreational pharmaceuticals', although that never happened. I got the funky artists. If there was an unusual situation with an artist or group I knew I was going to get it to deal with, but it was all good training for being a co-ordinator," Mrs. West says.

Among her many memories are the group of young musicians, "brilliantly trained, who played hub cabs and tyre irons".

"They had never been out of the US before and had never stayed in a hotel either, but the worst part was when former Festival chairman Dr. Stanley Ratteray, who is a brilliant cook, invited them for dinner. When I went to pick them up, they were in the middle of a meal because they wanted to experience eating in a hotel," Mrs. West says. "I thought, 'Oh my god, Stan has 25 people coming for dinner just to meet them, and has probably spent a week in the kitchen, and here they've already eaten'. Still, they were skinny young kids, so they ended up having two dinners that night, and as I recall stayed until four o'clock in the morning."

Airline problems cause instruments to go astray at every Festival, and sometimes even artists go astray – in Bermuda!

"The worst case of a missing artist was when William Windom came to do a one-man show," Mrs. West says. "He has a face that everybody would recognise because he has been in every sitcom TV, 'Murder She Wrote', and more, but somehow he sneaked out of the airport and took the bus to Hamilton, even though he didn't know where he was staying. Meanwhile, we knew he had arrived but had no idea where he was, so we went back to the hotel in a panic and in he waltzes. Apparently, his idea was to arrive incognito and see what Bermuda was all about but it was a real drama for about two hours."

In terms of temperament, Mrs. West says that most artists are delightful.

"Some are real rock stars," she admits, "but others are thrilled beyond belief to have Bermuda on their resum?. Let's face it: It's 20 degrees F. in New York and 70 degrees F. here; they have somebody driving them everywhere, they stay in a nice hotel and are fed and entertained, so of course they're thrilled to be part of the Festival."

She does, however, remember one artist who was a real prima donna and demanded that her hostess do her laundry, despite the fact that she was staying in a hotel.

"We had to tell her that we weren't laundresses, we only did our own!"

Among the many details the hostess programme has to deal with is ensuring that dietary and other special requirements are met. Invariably, these are provided in advance by the artists' agents, although the artists sometimes cast them aside.

"We try very, very hard to accommodate artists in every possible way, and make sure they are happy, particularly when they are youngsters," Mrs. West says. "For the Shanghai Circus, the hostesses held a Chinese New Year party, and the Vienna Boys Choir liked fruit juice, so we went to people's orchards and took fruit home and made fresh juice for them and they loved it. Maybe it takes time to do these things, but the kids are so appreciative and they never forget their visit to Bermuda."

In fact, there are "very, very strict rules" for child performers because, as artists, they follow a predetermined routine. For example, they have to be in bed by a certain time, and also there is no "fooling around".

The Kingston Trio, on the other hand, completely flouted their so-called "wishes" as specified by their agent.

"I assigned them a hostess I knew would love them and she was emphatically told by the agent that they were in Bermuda for a rest. No parties, no people, no nothing," Mrs. West recalls. "When the hostess picked them up at the airport they said, 'We've heard about two things here: dark 'n' stormies and the Swizzle Inn' and it was like a four-day hot. They met everybody, they wanted to party until the wee hours, and they had a ball.

"Our hostesses go overboard for Festival artists. They take them shopping, show them the sights – there is nothing they won't do if the artist is appreciative and wants to do things. They are pampered, and taken care of, and their every wish is granted.

All hostesses are volunteers, and part of the co-ordinator's job is to form small committees, each of which is responsible for an artist, or group of artists. Sometimes, if there is a shortage, a hostess will be required to entertain artists more than once. While the Festival pays for wines, the cost of entertainment is borne by the hostess. Assignments are made in September, and the committee then get to work making all the appropriate arrangments. In terms of entertainment, hostesses often combine efforts, which makes it more fun and less expensive for individuals. Surprisingly, perhaps, artists generally prefer simple rather than exotic fare, and many of them won't eat until after a performance. Ballet dancers, for example, don't want bulging tummies on stage. Often, sponsors will also offer a night's entertainment, which helps the hostesses.

With the entertainment seemingly set before the Festival begins, things can and do go wrong. For various reasons a hostess may have to cancel, and one even forgot she had invited the performers and guests, so there was quite a dilemma when everyone turned up.

"I think she served Ritz crackers because she had no food to give them," Mrs. West laughs. "That was a nightmare."

The retiring hostess co-ordinator also has high praise for Governors and their wives, who regularly entertain "a couple of the groups" – a gesture that is a huge help to the Festival, and something which has a residual effect.

"Any time the Festival can reduce costs it means there is more money to bring in expensive artists," she says. "Frankly, the acts we have had have been brilliant, and I think the selection committee does a wonderful job in exposing us to a wide range of entertainment. The Festival is no longer the domain of classical music alone."

Looking back on her 27 years with the Bermuda Festival, Mrs. West, who first came here from the US during college weeks in 1972, says: "It has been terribly enriching. Music is enriching to the soul, and the artistic talent is to be revered. We really rival any urban area for culture. Also, the talent on this Island is incredible and I hope that in 2009 we can even have an all-Bermuda festival to celebrate our 400th birthday."

As to why she decided to step down as hostess co-ordinator, the wife of architect Stephen West and mother of two sons, Britt and Tripp, says she felt it was time for fresh blood.

"Twenty years is a long time, and nothing should be a life sentence. It is an awful lot of work to co-ordinate during the Festival period. Having done it seriously for 27 years, 20 of them as hostess co-ordinator, I think it is time somebody else took over the reins with new ideas."

Yet she hastens to add that she is not severing her Festival ties completely because she will always attend performances, and be available to drive, entertain or make a casserole.

Acknowledging that there is always a shortage, Mrs. West appealed for more volunteer hostesses to offer their services to the Bermuda Festival.

"It is a great way to get involved, and it doesn't take much time out of your life to volunteer because you do as much or as little as your schedule allows," she says.