On Sunday 1st October, Junction Arts hosted the 12th Bolsover Festival of Brass, at Heritage High School in Clowne.

This well-established event offered brass bands to compete in a six-section festival of music (from unregistered to Championship level) for prestige and money prizes. Over 1900 eager musicians, in 48 bands from across the UK and as far as Norway, came to participate in the competition which started at 9am and finished at 10pm. We welcomed the competition’s first international guests from Norway, ‘Manger Old Star’, who competed in the 1st and 2nd sections: “We have had a wonderful time,” MD Marit Tommermo, Manger Old Star: “It’s been great. It’s such a well-run event, and everyone at home was able to see us perform in both sections. We would recommend many more Norwegian bands to come.”

Thanks to our partners at First Art and technical support from MicroVideo, the 13-hour marathon of international brass talent was broadcast live on the Internet to global audiences. The broadcast was supported by expert commentary and interviews from guest presenters; Iwan Fox from 4BarsRest and Chris Thomas from Brass Band Magazine. For the 1st time ever, each participating band were given live exposure over 2 dedicated channels. 393 towns in the UK tuned into the live broadcast, as well as thousands of other viewers from 33 countries including Norway, Germany, USA, Canada, India and even as far as Australia.

Junction Arts were particularly pleased to have had their 40th anniversary music commission ‘Valiants Arise’ composed by legendary Paul Lovatt-Cooper, played by 3rd section competitors, Market Rasen Band.

We’d like to say a big congratulations to all the winning bands across each sections: Elland Silver, Unite the Union, Horbury Victoria, Ifton Colliery, Kirkby Colliery and Carlton Brass Training.

With thanks to the dedicated team of volunteers led by our brilliant producer, Carole Hirst, the event continues to be one of the UK’s biggest and most innovative of brass band contests attracting interest from across the globe!

Images from Bolsover Festival of Brass 2017 (Photo Credit: David Morris)