Brass Band Week 2024
Thousands of people of all ages enjoyed performances and events across the country as part of a national Brass Band Week last month. Running from 5 - 14 July, this was the first ever week dedicated to celebrating brass bands. It’s estimated that hundreds of brass band events took place during the week, with 168 being officially registered. The event included free family events, festivals, ‘come and try’ workshops, a special #PromsInThePlayground series and much more.
Participating bands were able to benefit from a range of promotional support including online training and a centralised marketing and press campaign. The week garnered national press interest including features mentioned on BBC Radio’s 1, 2 and 4. One of the participating brass bands had the following to say about their positive experience with Brass Band Week: “We received lots of good feedback from the workshop attendees. They said they would be interested in future events. We were able to reach more people than we have before, and garner interest from musicians who previously did not know who we were.”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive Arts Council England said, “Brass Bands occupy a really important role in our national musical life. I’m always struck by the huge amount of shared joy on show from brass band performers and audiences alike due to the consistently excellent musicianship on display on stage. This first Brass Band Week has been such a success and I know it will continue to grow in future years thanks to the work of Brass Bands England, one of the many music organisations we’re proud to have increased our investment in over recent years”.
Brass Band Week 2025 will take place 5 - 13 July and plans are already being made to make next year’s celebrations bigger and better. Information can be found on the Brass Band Week page on the BBE website: https://bbe.org.uk/bbw Brass Band Week was funded by Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Scottish Power Foundation. Additional prizes were contributed by Pennine Music, British Bandsman, Bandsman Gin (Gentleman Distillers) and Besson.
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