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Although the outdoor
venue gives a general air of informality, players and audience treat
the contest as a very serious competition.
The rules of the Boosey & Hawkes National Brass Band Championship
of Great Britain and of the British Band Registry are adopted with
the kind permission of those two organisations. An additional two
"borrowed players"
are permitted, providing they are from a band of the same (or lower)
Grade.
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Competition is run to the Five National Grades. A Youth Section is also
included, but to cover local considerations this is run under our own Festival
rules. The most significant departure is that we allow two senior players
to take the stage.
Each class has a set test piece,
the placings for which decides the Section winners. Additionally a second
piece is set for the top sections, usually a Chorus, Hymn Tune or March.
This is an historical hang over, and until more recent times the points
awarded were aggregated to decide the class winners. We now feel the Test
Piece is the major piece, but because of the nature of our audience the
secondary piece has been retained to give variety.
MARCH TO THE CONTEST GROUNDS
The march to and from
the contest grounds was introduced at the inaugural Festival in 1912,
and has been retained as a popular feature ever since, although optional
for the bands.
The morning march starts approximately 45 minutes before the contest
itself and is but a short distance from the village centre.
The Deportment Class
is now adjudicated on the march, although when initially introduced
the Deportment Judge sat at a small platform alongside the main stage
and the band was rather oppressively assessed from the moment of registration.
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March to the contest grounds - 2004
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This class was introduced at a time when little attention was paid to uniforms,
bands would often take the stage in "civvies" and, as the judge
often commented, "in brown boots". It certainly served the purpose
of raising awareness in this respect, for no band would now be seen out
of uniform.
At the close of the contest the bands return to the village centre, where
the Royal Trophy winners sign
off the day by playing in the square. This is now well organised, but in
early years there were some chaotic scenes as the village could not contain
the mass of people, compounded by bands gaining on each other on the long
march from Peniel (the then venue), often resulting in up to three bands
playing simoutaneously in the center of the village.
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