The organisers of the 17th World Music Contest in Kerkrade have announced that they hope to attract more top bands to the next World Brass Band Championship event in 2017.
Review report
In their review report published this week, they state that although only six bands competed in the 2013 top section contest, eventually won by Manger Musikklag (above), they were delighted with the overall musical standard that was on show — calling it ‘excellent’.
The report states that with funds already in place, the organisers now hope to be able to work towards increasing future participation from UK, as well as New Zealand and Australia bands.
Epic battle
The 2013 contest saw an epic battle between Manger and Cory, with the Norwegians eventually coming out on top, whilst the championships themselves attracted bands from the USA, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, with over 20 competitors in the other brass band contest categories.
Close on 2,000 tickets were sold for the brass band contests, with the gala concert, which featured both Manger and Cory, attracting an encouraging audience of over 1,000 ticket holders.
with funds already in place, the organisers now hope to be able to work towards increasing future participation from UK, as well as New Zealand and Australia bands4BR
300,000 visitors
In total the month long event attracted 221 different bands, 16,500 participants and over 300,000 visitors, although the number of visitors to the brass band events was about 20% lower than expectations.