It has been confirmed that the brass band competitions at the forthcoming World Music Contest in Kerkrade will be live-broadcast.

It follows the proactive approach of the organisers to meet what they believe is a global demand, with WMC media producer Edwin Hijman telling 4BR: "Not being able to give live coverage would have been a major disappointment and would have detracted from the status the WMC enjoys worldwide.

We wanted to ensure that all the fans of the participants and brass band lovers across the globe could enjoy the event."

Streaming

He added: "Thanks to the support of our crowdfunding campaign and a revised approach regarding recording facilities, the WMC brass band contests can be viewed on the brand-new online streaming platform 'VIDA', which stands for Video & Audio but naturally also refers to the 'Viva la Vida' icon of Kerkrade."

WMC Artistic Director Björn Bus also spoke of his delight: "I'm very pleased," he said. "During the WMC, we have global participants from 31 countries. They all have fans at home who want to see their musicians at work here at the WMC. These are often unique, emotional musical moments that deserve to be captured — including the brass bands."

All performances

4BR was informed that with the VIDA platform it will be possible to follow all performances during the WMC via livestream and to watch them back on demand.

A simplified direct camera set-up will capture the brass band performances with high-quality audio, as the organisers look to unlock what they see is the future potential of the events at the WMC.

The WMC livestreams are offered for 20 euros per weekend. The brass band events over the weekend of the 10th — 12th July will be offered in a combination pass to ensure all events are covered. Further details will be released in due course.

The WMC will be working with media partner 4Barsrest to present and cover the elite level Concert Division, with Emotions on Stage covering the other contests4BR

Media partners

The WMC will be working with media partner 4Barsrest to present and cover the elite level Concert Division, with Emotions on Stage covering the other contests.

The 10 band Concert Division takes place on Saturday 11th July (set-work) with the own-choice programmes the following day.

Defending champion Brass Band Willebroek (Belgium) will compete against Australia Brass; Brass Band Schoonhoven (The Netherlands); Brass Band Treize Etoiles (Switzerland); Cory Band (Wales); Five Lakes Silver (USA); Flowers (England); Immortal Brass Eternally (Japan); the cooperation band (Scotland); Wellington Brass (New Zealand).

Further information

All WMC livestreams can be viewed at: https://vidabywmc.nl

Furter contest details: https://www.wmc.nl/nl/deelnemers-speelvolgorde-2026-hp3z