Nearly £50,000 of financial support from the Foyle Foundation has enabled Brass Bands England to in turn provide travel bursaries as well as resources and activities to bands wishing to take part in its inaugural Youth Fest event

Inspire and engage

The BBE's newly titled Foyle Foundation Youth Fest is a non-competitive brass festival that aims to celebrate success and participation in music.

It also hopes to inspire and engage young people in an inclusive environment, as well as encourage personal and musical progression.

The inaugural event will take place on Friday 28th June at Barnsley Civic in South Yorkshire. Audience tickets will be available for purchase in June.

Applications are open for schools groups and bands to take part. Entry to the festival is free of charge.

Up to £350 in travel bursary funding is available to support bands to travel to the event.

Extended deadline

The deadline for entries has also been extended to Friday 26th April to allow bands to apply and benefit from the extra support.

The bursary will be available for every group that enters the festival and will be payable after the event upon receipt of confirmation of travel fees incurred.

More information can be found on BBE's Youth Fest information page at:

https://www.bbe.org.uk/youth-education-and-outreach/youth-fest

The inaugural event will take place on Friday 28th June at Barnsley Civic in South Yorkshire4BR

Reality vision

BBE's Chief Operating Officer Sarah Baumann said: "This generous support from the Foyle Foundation means that our vision of an inclusive, participant-focused event can become a reality.

We know from feedback from schools involved in our Brass Foundations programme or taking part in the Youth Champs that in the current climate travelling to take part in key events is a huge barrier to participation, so we are delighted to be supporting in this way."

Fantastic support

Sarah added: "The £49,000 contribution from the Foyle Foundation supports the entire costs of delivering the festival and it is fantastic to see the clear support for the future of brass banding."

The Foyle Foundation is an independent grant-making trust that distributes funds to UK based registered charities and schools.