Historic trophy to take centre stage at Darwen’s Festival of Brass

This weekend marks the 8^th Annual Festival of Brass in Darwen – and the appearance of a historic trophy for the winner!

Brass bands and competitors from all over the North and North-West will arrive in Darwen Market Square on Sunday, June 25^th to compete in the prestigious festival, hosted by Blackburn and Darwen Band.

And this year the winners will be presented with an extra special award – the original Darwen Brass Band Challenge Trophy dating back to 1956.

The historic cup, which is silver, will be the top prize for the winning band and will be presented by The Mayor of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Councillor Parwaiz Akhtar.

The trophy is part of a collection of key historical artefacts which are currently housed at Blackburn Town Hall due to security reasons, but there are wider plans in discussion to display the items to the public.

The Blackburn and Darwen Band can trace its roots to 1840, with the formation of the Darwen Temperance Band, and over the centuries they have won and placed highly in many national and regional competitions.

In 2006 the band had the honour of playing for Her Majesty the Queen during her visit to the borough.

Everyone is welcome to head along to Darwen Market Square on Sunday to watch and listen to the wonderful music from the festival, which is sponsored by Darwen Town Council and which will showcase some of the best brass bands in the country.

The competition – part of the popular March & Hymn Tune Contest – will start at 12pm with the final winners being presented with the celebrated trophy at 6pm.

Councillor Phil Riley, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:

The idea of presenting this historic trophy came from Cllr Brian Taylor who thought it would be a prestigious cup for the winners of this fantastic competition.

It’s a great bit of history for the competition and for Blackburn and Darwen Band and I think it’s a great way to honour this trophy and this brilliant brass band festival.”