FESTIVAL BRASS Band, 2023 Performance, Holywood Parish Church (N Irish Traditional Music Scene)

As part of the Coronation holiday local events in May 2023, a well established brass band performed at St Philip & St James Church Holywood, in County Down. Everyone was welcome and the church garden enjoyed a full attendance. Here, the conductor of Festival Brass, a collective of thirty musicians, tells the story of the band and why brass bands are still so popular with local audiences - even though there are less public venues and local government support for them to perform regularly. Until just a few decades ago, brass bands were a regular feature of town and city life with their weekend performances in public centres.