CBBB – Everything Else So……. you’ve got to this point and want to know Surley, There’s Not that much free time left in a year for us to squeeze any more events into? Bandstands Christmas Carols Armed Forces Day Beacon Lightings (Even More) Jubilee Celebrations Krazy Kart Racing Ironbridge Brass Band Festival You name it we’ll be there!
CBBB – National Brass Band Championships The ‘National’, as it is often referred to, is brass banding’s equivalent of the football league – a first-past-the-post Championship involving some 600 bands in eight ‘Regional’ qualifying heats staged up and down the UK, plus two ‘Finals’ events. The National Brass Band Championships, which has existed since 1945 in their current format, are honoured to receive the patronage of HRH The Majesty The Queen each year. The competition is split into five sections – Championship Section, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th sections – and eight qualifying regions in the UK. These are the London and Southern Counties Region, the Midlands, the North of England, the North West. Scotland, Wales, the West of England and Yorkshire. Depending upon the number of bands entered into each section in each region, the top two, three and sometimes four placed bands qualify for a place in the ‘Finals’, held in the autumn each year. The Lower Section Finals, showcasing sections 1 – 4, are held at the Centaur in Cheltenham in September, and the Championship Section Final is held in London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall, in October. The first four bands in the Championship Section Final secure automatic entry for the following year’s equivalent event and the results of the Regional Championships not only determine the bands that qualify for an invitation to the National Finals, but also their gradings for the following year’s Regional Championships. The last few years have seen a renaissance in the popularity of the ‘National’, particularly the Championship Section event held in the Royal Albert Hall, London, which now attracts over 4,000 each year to hear the band world’s top ensembles battle for the UK’s top title. The Championship Section Final is further enhanced, regularly, by a glittering concert showcasing the brass band world’s top talent. Recent years have seen a plethora of stars appear in Kapitol Brass in Concert, including the country’s leading trumpet players, Tony Fisher and the late Derek Watkins and Don Lusher, the dazzling international euphoniumist, David Childs, LSO Brass, the Band of HM Royal Marines, Black Dyke and Cory Band , the eclectic Mnozil Brass and many, many more performance giants.
CBBB – Wychavon Festival of Brass CBBB – Wychavon 2022 3 CBBB – Wychavon 2022 1 CBBB – Wychavon 2022 6 CBBB – Wychavon 2022 5 CBBB – Wychavon 2022 4 CBBB – Wychavon 2022 2 Wychavon Festival of Brass is held in the ancient market town of Evesham just to the north of the Cotswold hills. The contest takes place on an annual basis in late autumn, with bands competing from all over the UK. There are separate sections for Championship, First, Second, Third and Fourth Section bands. Bands can apply for entry to an additional higher section.
CBBB – Light The Lakes Massed Band The City of Birmingham Brass Band are returning to the Lake District to take part in the Light the Lakes event for the charity COPS (Care of Police Survivors) this year, and we’d be delighted if you would join us. Light the Lakes is a huge event that ran for the first time in 2012, whereby groups from all over the country ‘buy’ one of the 214 Wainwright Peaks across the Lake District and then walk to the top of their peaks for 3am and light blue flares in memory of the lost officers. Last year, we decided to join the event for the first time, and played a small concert in Rydal Cave before taking a band to the top of Loughrigg Fell, where we played as the flares were lit. Looking across the lakes in the darkness and seeing flares for miles around is truly magical! The following day we played a massed band event at Brathay Hall to help raise money for the charity. We had players representing eight bands from across the country! This year The City of Birmingham Brass Band & Friends will be returning to Loughrigg, this time with the Speakman party. They are walking in memory of Don and Jonny Speakman, who were father and son. Both were police officers. Jonny died aged 33 when he swam out to sea and saved the lives of 5 children caught in a rip tide. He managed to save the lives of the children but didn’t have the strength to get himself back to shore. His father, Don, was involved with COPS for many years and walked Light The Lakes every year. He died 2 years ago, aged 72. His ashes are buried at the top of Loughrigg. We think this personal link with the group will make it even more special this year! The family are delighted that we will be joining them, so we need to make sure we do Don and Jonny proud! We will return to Brathay Hall (overlooking lake Windermere) the following day, to celebrate the walk. There will be food trucks, entertainment, and more massed band music. This year we want it to be bigger and better. We are looking for whole bands, sections of bands or individuals to join us for some or all of the event. Ideally, we want 100 players present at Brathay Hall on Saturday afternoon! If you’d like to take a group to play on an alternative peak, let us know and we will help and offer as much support as we can. The event is free but donations to the charity are welcome! The walk itself is relatively easy but is weather dependent. Most players last year stayed in the Ambleside area, a lot stayed at Rydal Hall, where there are hotel rooms, glamping pods and traditional camping. (But there are plenty of other places for people to stay) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBObgtozqbQ
CBBB – Birmingham City Centre Events The City of Birmingham Brass Band perform regularly in the City Centre. It’s part of who we are! From Royal Celebrations to The European Brass Band Championships, If there’s something going on in Birmingham we want to be a part of it. CBBB were out in force in the city Centre last year: – The Queens Platinum Jubilee – Kings Charles Proclamation – King Charles Coronation – Commonwealth Day
CBBB – Whit Friday Marches If you’ve never heard of the Whit Friday Marches heres a run down of what happens: The Band gathers in Birmingham around Mid Day! gets on a Coach and travels up to Saddleworth / Tameside We then contest in as many Villages as possible, “Bands play two pieces – a traditional march and then their well-rehearsed show-piece. Each performance is scored by an adjudicator, hidden in an adjacent darkened room or caravan” “For bandsmen, the dash from contest to contest makes for an exhausting evening, but a thoroughly exhilarating one” Hundreds of people gather, in different villages, awaiting the Show piece and Contest March!
The Band started life as the Fisher & Ludlow Works Band, having been set up during the Second World War by and for the car body manufacturing company’s workers. During the war, the factory’s manufacturing activities were diverted to making aeroplane wings, shell cases and bombs, notably for Lancaster’s. Towards the end of the war, the factory in central Birmingham was bombed and destroyed. Fisher & Ludlow moved into the Spitfire factory in Castle Bromwich and became the first post war owners of the factory. The band moved with them and continued to thrive. Following the merger of Fisher & Ludlow with the Pressed Steel Company in 1966, the band changed its name to become the Pressed Steel Fisher Band. In 1976 the band’s major contribution to civic life was recognised by the city council; and they have been known as City of Birmingham Brass Band ever since.
