The Welsh Open

The Welsh Open Brass Band Entertainment Championship will be held at The Grand Pavilion in Porthcawl this Saturday (February 20).

The contest started in 1948 as the South Wales Miners’ Eisteddfod in the same Grand Pavilion, and the championship winning trophy presented today is the original Miners Eisteddfod trophy valued at £7,000!

Competing for the 2016 Welsh Open title, £1000, and this coveted trophy will be the following 14 bands, divided into two separate draws.

Draw 1

BTM
Burry Port Town
Cinderford
Lewis Merthyr
Llwydcoed
Parc & Dare
Tongwynlais Temperance 

Draw 2

A.W. Parker (Drybrook)
City of Cardiff (Melingriffith)
Ebbw Valley
Filton Concert
Pontardulais Town
Staines Brass
Tylorstown

The first draw will take place at 10.00am with the competition starting at 11.00am. The second draw will take place at 1.30pm, with the second half starting at 3.15pm. (There will be a comfort break after band 7.)

The music adjudicator is Ian Brownbill, and the Entertainment adjudicator Sarah Hayward. The whole day will be compared by David Hayward.

Past winners include BTM (2009), Tredegar (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013), Tongwynlais Temperance (2014), and the defending champions Burry Port (2015).

This year the highest placed first section band (not in the prizes), Most Entertaining Band, Best Soloist, Best Cornet, Best Horn Section, and Best Percussion Section will also be awarded prizes.

Hannah Drage, Tredegar Town Band's star solo horn, will be providing live coverage from the Grand Pavilion via BBW's twitter feed: @BBWMagazine 

A full retrospective of the event will be available to read in the March edition of Brass Band World.

Welsh Open tickets cost just £7 (reserved balcony seats) and £6 for the stalls (unreserved). Click here to book now.