Thursday 30th April:

Not the best of starts for the 4BR editor as he is left behind in the car park at Tredegar as the bus carrying the players, supporters and all the equipment disappears into the distance.

Anglo Saxon

One frantic telephone call later (language of a very Anglo/Saxon variety used it must be said...) and we team up again with the Welsh representatives before they board the ferry from Dover!

Fuel stop

It’s a small banding world as fellow Welsh travellers and defending champions Cory stop off at the same services for an early morning bite to eat (the Cory bass end needs some fuel as well as their coach) and we meet up with the lads and lasses from Grimethorpe on the ferry too.

Thursday night life in Ostend is a bit like Blackpool – lots of cheap looking nosh houses and a plethora of massage parlours and strip joints4BR

Good heart

Everyone in good heart in the Tredegar camp, despite having been booked into the wrong hotel by the organisers. Thankfully disaster is averted and as 4BR settle down for a well earned pint of the local brew (the picture shows us trying to find a pub on the seasfront), the band shoot off for a two hour rehearsal.

Thursday evening sees the Composer’s Competition in the Kursaal – a very impressive building that has had a complete overhaul in recent years.

Hundred errors

When it was originally built it was called the ‘hall of a hundred errors’, such were the problems with the builders. The main hall used to have huge windows behind the main stage – great to look out on the sea during a performance of ‘Fingal’s Cave’, but pretty useless if there was a force 8 gale blowing in the opposite direction.

Thankfully its all be done out and the main auditorium seats well over 2000 people. It should be packed we are told for the main events on Friday and Saturday.

Night life

Thursday night life in Ostend is a bit like Blackpool – lots of cheap looking nosh houses and a plethora of massage parlours and strip joints. Whoppee!

Good dreams

The Composer’s Contest was a bit overlong but enjoyable enough with Betrand Moren picking up the top prize for the second time for his composition ‘Visions’, which was all about bad nightmares or something. After his other works like ‘Dreams’ etc, we think he may well be a good patient for a bit of Freudian analysis…

He picks up 2,500 Euro though, so perhaps he can afford to have a head full of toys…

Characters

The Euro Youth Band were pretty average it must be said, but it wouldn't be the Europeans without the odd (in this case, very odd) character or two.

This time it's the Belgian compere — a mix of Dale Winton meets Frank Renton. He kept calling Garry Cutt 'Mr Garry' all the time. The man makes Peter Bates sound like Richard Dimbleby.

After all that excitement there is just time for a few more beers and a bit of grub and so to bed…