As we reach the end of 2024, we would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and extend our thanks for the ongoing support we have from across the local community and beyond. This year has been one of continued development and success across Lydney Town Band, Lydney Training Band and the Lydney Starter Group!

Throughout 2024, the Town Band proudly represented Lydney on the contesting stage, achieving our first outright contest win in over twenty years at the Wychavon Festival of Brass, taking Third Place in the Third Section of the WEBBA Regional Championships in March and qualifying for the National Championships of Great Britain, and retaining the Best Percussion Section Award at the GBBA Own Choice Contest.

Our fabulous Training Band also returned to the GBBA Own Choice Contest in November, winning their section and retaining their Gold Standard Award. The Starter Group has continued to provide the ideal onboarding point for aspiring musicians and in Spring, undertook a showcase tour of the area's residential homes. Players from both groups also enjoyed success at the Bailey Lane End Festival during the summer! We were also able to celebrate the enormous contribution that Roger and Ken Powell have made to the Training Band and Starter Group, when the pair were shortlisted for the Brass Bands England 2024 Services to Youth Award.

Special shout outs go to the team that undertook the Severn Bridge 10k and the Portishead 10k to help raise money for new instruments; to Louise and Matt for brilliantly portraying the protagonists of our Wychavon entry: The Tale of the Princess and the Dragon, as well as Adrian for his deft trombone work at the story's climatic finale; to the Town Band's Musical Director, Thomas Dunne, for his incredible work in helping us achieve our contesting successes; and to Kevin and Kerry Ford for all of their hard work in the continuing development of the Training Band!
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Onwards to 2025!!!

We’ve ended our epic 2024 Christmas carolling season on home turf, bringing some last minute festive cheer to the customers of Tesco Lydney!
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Many thanks to everyone who has donated, said hello, sang along and even taken a turn conducting our ensembles. A big shout out to our incredible collectors, ensemble conductors and the people working behind the scenes to bring everything together across the Lydney Starter Group, Lydney Training Band and Lydney Town Band!

We’ve had one heck of a Christmas epic this weekend!

On Friday evening, a small Town Band ensemble brought some festive entertainment to The Huntsman Hotel in Shirenewton. On Saturday, we had an ensemble of Lydney Town and Training Band players take a turn on the stage at the Taurus Crafts’ Christmas market and today, we’ve had a two Town Band ensembles bringing festive cheer to the shoppers of Monmouth Waitrose, before this evening Lydney Training Band performed at the St Mary’s Church Christmas Carol Service! (Thanks to Rich and Ian for some of these great photos!)

Only three days until Christmas!

Only one week to go until Christmas! We started this week with some more community carolling, visiting Primrose Hill and Lychgate Mews on Monday evening! Shout out to Kerry, Richard and Tim for these great photos and to Beth for her incredible outfit!
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Next up! On Thursday, we will be appearing at the Carols at the Bandstand event in Bathurst Park, starting at 4:30pm. There will be mince pies, mulled wine and a special appearance from the Lydney Gospel Choir!

We’ve had a very busy second half of the week - on Wednesday, we took a festive tour of Lydney’s residential homes visiting Goode Court and Rodley House; on Saturday we had a double feature with a Town Band ensemble playing at the Brockweir & Hewelsfield Play Area and Lydney Training Band returning to perform with Chepstow Male Voice Choir’s Christmas concert; and today, we had two teams spreading Christmas joy at Tesco in Chepstow!
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Only ten days to go until Christmas!!!

We’ve got another busy weekend ahead! 

One highlight you won’t want to miss is going to be the Chepstow Male Voice Choir Christmas Concert on Saturday, where Lydney Training Band will be performing and helping to spread the festive cheer. This is always a really well supported event and this year, the choir will be joined by two fabulous guest singers! If you’re available, it would be amazing to see you there

You may remember that a few months ago, we said a fond farewell to Ben, ahead of his joining the Royal Marines. Last week, Ben celebrated his passing out ceremony and also in attendance was fellow Lydney Town Band alumnus: Daryl Powell!

Thanks so much to Sam for this marvellous photo of the pair of them

​First weekend of Christmas activities - COMPLETE!
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Lydney Training Band brought some festive musical cheer to the Lydney Lights Switch-On on Saturday! We also had ensembles of Town and Training Band players (plus some helpers - thanks Julia and Duncan!) performing in Monmouth, Taurus Crafts and Primrose Hill School!!!

The Lydney Town and Training Band Christmas Schedule is here!

On Sunday 8th December, Lydney Town Band will returning to the Mount of Olives Church, Coleford for their Christmas Concert. On Saturday 14th December, the Chepstow Male Voice Choir have kindly invited Lydney Training Band to perform as part of their annual Christmas Concert. The Training Band will also be perfroming at the St Mary's Church Christmas Carol Service, in Lydney, on Sunday 22nd!

We’ve also got loads of opportunities to see us at our community carolling sessions! It's going to be a busy one and we can't wait to see as many of you as possible!

These five superstars, alongside their playing for Lydney, have been busy helping raise money for new instruments for the band.
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In August, Dougie, Kerry and Tim ran in the Severn Bridge 10k; whilst Mark and Rory took part in the Portishead 10k at the end of September! They absolutely smashed through the initial fundraising target of £400 and ultimately raised more £800! (…and they gained some snazzy medals along the way!). A huge well done and thank you for all their efforts

We would like to say an enormous thank you to everyone who came along to our Celebration Concert on Saturday evening at Lydney Town Hall!

A massive shout out to Louise and Matt, who delighted us with The Tale of the Princess and the Dragon. We also heard a fantastic performance of The Acrobat by Adrian and a sublime version of The Shepherds Song from Dougie. We’d also like to thank Krysten, Sarah and Wayne for their help on welcoming the audience and managing the raffle! Here’s a few photos from Saturday - if you were able to come along, we hope you had a great time

It was great to be able to also have a joint rehearsal with the Town and Training Bands at Lydney Town Hall last night, all in preparation for our Celebration Concert on Saturday evening!
There’s only two days until the big day!

In exactly one week's time, we'll opening the doors at Lydney Town Hall and welcoming everyone to our 2024 Celebration Concert! You might remember that last year's concert (see below) featured a swashbuckling adventure filled with sea shanties and trombone playing pirates!

This year, the Lydney Town Band will be debuting 'The Tale of the Princess and the Dragon' - a story of bravery, betrayal, hope and desire, showcasing the talents of our incredible Flugelhorn player: Louise Bayfield. Alongside this, we've got a whole host of original compositions and arrangements written by our Musical Director, Thomas Dunne, and players from within our ranks: David, Idris and Malcolm!

Lydney Training Band will also be there highlighting the range of upcoming talent within their ranks before both bands come together for a massed band finale. It promises to be an incredible night and we would absolutely love to see you there! Tickets are £8 for adults, £5 for concessions - you can pay on the door (cash or card accepted). There will also be a raffle and the Town Hall bar will be open for refreshments!