A record 33 bands have entered this year’s Brass in the Park contests which will take place in the tented village at Newtongrange Park on Saturday 30th August.

Line up

17 bands have entered the March & Hymn Tune contest for senior bands.

The entrants are: Abbey Brass, Barrhead Burgh, Bathgate, Broxburn & Livingston, Clydebank, Croy Silver, Dalmellington, Dundee Instrumental, East Coast Brass, Jedforest Instrumental, Johnstone, Langholm Town, MacTaggart Scott Loanhead, Peebles Burgh, Sanquhar & District, Shotts St Patricks and Whitburn.

Marching and Deportment Contest

In addition to the March & Hymn Tune contest, all of the senior bands have been given the option to perform a short programme at the nearby Scottish Mining Museum and to participate in a separate Marching Deportment Contest.

Payments of £100 are being made to every band performing a programme and a further £100 is earned by each band which takes part in the Marching Deportment Contest.

The adjusted format takes account of feedback from the bands after last year’s event and it has certainly proved popular as is demonstrated by the much larger entryAlan MacLaren

Prize Fund

15 bands have indicated they intend to perform a programme and 12 have signed up for the Marching Deportment Contest, resulting in payments totalling £2,700 to these bands.

Once the prize fund of £2,000 for the March & Hymn Tune Contest and the prize money of £200 for the Marching Deportment Contest are added, a total of £4,900 will be shared between the bands in the senior contest.

Banding opportunities

Brass in the Park President, Alan McLaren commented to 4BR: "The division of the funds between prize money and payments for taking part in other elements of the programme on the day ensures that all of the bands have the opportunity to receive a share of the money available and avoids a ‘winner takes all’ scenario."

Alan added: "The adjusted format takes account of feedback from the bands after last year’s event and it has certainly proved popular as is demonstrated by the much larger entry."

Youth Contest

16 bands have entered the Youth Band Contests which will also take place on Saturday 30 August.

3 bands will contest the Senior Section, these being Dalmellington Juniors, East Lothian Schools and MacTaggart Scott Loanhead Youth. The Development Section has an entry of 4 bands, Campbeltown Juniors, Jedforest Juniors, Langholm Town Juniors and St Ronan’s Future Band.

Novice Section

The largest entry in the Youth Contests is however in the Novice Section, first introduced at Brass in the Park last year and due to become part of the format for the Scottish Youth Band Championships in Perth later this year.

This section has a terrific entry of 9 bands, Broxburn & Livingston, Buckhaven Brass Beginnings, Dunfermline Youth Brass, Kingdom Brass Youth, Langholm Town Juniors, Levern Valley Community Brass, Loanhead Brass Roots, Newtongrange Juniors and Peebles Juniors.

Delighted

Alan McLaren, commented to 4BR: "We are absolutely delighted to have such a terrific entry in the Youth Band Contests. The huge increase in the number of bands is yet another indicator of the massive recent growth in the youth and training band sector in Scotland and reflects the terrific development work going on at grass roots level in bands the length and breadth of the country."

Alan went on to add: "We are very conscious of the fact that, for many of the players in the Novice Section in particular, this will be their first experience of a brass band contest. We shall therefore be doing everything we can to make this an enjoyable and memorable occasion for all concerned."

Yamaha Prize

The youth band contests at Brass in the Park are presented with assistance from Yamaha and the winning band in each section will receive a new Yamaha cornet.

Yamaha’s support for Brass in the Park includes the attendance of Russell Gray at the event and he will be providing a workshop for members of the local junior and training bands on the morning of Sunday 31 August.

Gala Concert

Brass in the Park 2008 opens with a Gala Concert on the evening of Friday 29 August featuring Newtongrange Band, guest soloist Russell Gray plus the Midlothian Schools’ Big Band.

The final day of the event on Sunday 31 August will see several pipe bands, a ceilidh band, a swing band, a big band and an accordion orchestra join forces with brass bands to provide a wide variety of musical entertainment.

Songs of Praise

The Sunday afternoon programme includes the very popular Praise in Brass concert, a “Songs of Praise” style programme performed by Newtongrange Silver Band and the spectacular massed band finale.

All the usual extra features such as the children’s entertainers, the mini funfair, various stalls and tradestands, the beer tent and a range of catering outlets will be in place and the organisers are hopeful that attendance levels will once more reach at least 5,000 over the weekend.

More information

More information, including travel and ticket sales details, are available from the new Brass in the Park website www.brassinthepark.org.uk.