Dumfries Town Band at risk of ‘disappearing’
It has been around for the last 150 years.
There are fears Dumfries Town Band could ‘disappear’ if they can’t find new players to join them this year.
The brass band have been running for 150 years, but with a lack of players and missing out on major competitions, it might not see another year.
Festival director Jordan Tweedie fears they’re running out of options:
“With us losing the band, it would be a huge loss to Dumfries and Galloway because we do the Guid Nychburris stuff – they wouldn’t have a band. We do a lot of other kinds of Gala days, even if it is just sitting down, but we can’t do all that if we have so many people missing.
“After 150 years, you want the band to keep going and we don’t want the band to fold. It’s just trying to push the band forward and see if we can get extra players in because it’s quite a worrying time for the band. They’re kind of wondering what we can do to get more players so we can start doing more events.
“On a good night, we normally have around nine to ten players, but obviously if we start seeing numbers drop, you can’t very well have rehearsals and there won’t be much point in the band continuing because if we keep letting the numbers decrease, we won’t be able to do anything.”
The band posted its ‘huge plea for help’ on Facebook, highlighting its main issues and how it’s impacting everyone.
A list of rehearsal timings and locations was also shared on the post.
Other bands nationally have been experiencing the same thing.
“Don’t let 150 years of Dumfries Town Band disappear.”
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