4 weekends

5 test pieces

8 contest venues

40 contesting sections

Around 500 competing bands

Around 12,500 competing bands people

The next 4 weekends sees UK banding entering into the regional championships, competition brass banding at it’s height and these bands have been working hard to put in the very best performance they can.

Some bands are back this year after Covid having taken the decision not to compete in 2022, so it will be weekends of seeing faces not seen for a while, seeing friends and of course making new friends. A real mix of bands aspirations, some going to the contest hoping for a podium finish that will see them promoted to a higher section and may also see them invited to the finals at Cheltenham and London, some going hoping to avoid the bottom of the results that could see them relegated to the section below and some who will be happy with anything around mid-table.

The challenges set by the panel for each section have been well discussed and all the bands are being pushed in certain areas of those chosen pieces, bands that put in a good performance on the day will be happy and those that don’t quite get it on the day will be disappointed, but you hope that every one has got something out of the experience and the bands come away as a better band for the work that has been done.

Nerves will play a big part, controlling the nerves is a real challenge and players across all sections will be feeling it, conductors the same, they know the piece inside out, but the nerves will be there, well hidden, but still present. Nerves come for various reasons, in the main I have always found it to be that the player doesn’t want to let the band down, the team ethic is very strong in banding and that desire to be the best we can drives us on, but adds to the tension on the day.

Contest day may be long, the performance only short, the result not quite what you hoped for, but it will be so good to see those familiar faces, so good to chat to old friends and great to make new friends. Contesting is not just about the dots on the page, the adjudicator who preferred the performance of another band over yours, it is also about your band going away happy that they did a good job, meeting up with that friend you haven’t seen for ages, congratulating the bands that qualify for the finals and looking forward to playing something else at the next rehearsal.



Try and enjoy your day and look forward to that first rehearsal back after the contest where you get to play something different.