On Saturday 12th April Brass Bands Northern Ireland held their last contest of 2025, the hotly contested Spring Festival. Held in the fabulous setting of the Strule Arts Centre in the heart of Omagh, a total of 13 of Northern Ireland’s top brass bands played own choice test pieces. Adjudicator for the day was the world renowned Dr Robert Childs who was delighted to travel to Northern Ireland to adjudicate this event.

Third Section

The day started with the Third Section bands, which was won by Lisburn based Dynamic Brass, a spokesperson from the band said,

“Dynamic Brass were delighted to be awarded 1st place, with a winning performance of Neverland by Christopher Bond. As always this result would not have been possible without the dedication of Musical Director Andrew McQuiggan. We are truly blessed to have such a dedicated, enthusiastic and talented conductor. The band have recently gone through a lot of changes and are therefore delighted with the comments from Dr Childs, “A fine musical performance, and full of detail. Dynamic Brass are a great team!”

Dynamic Brass were closely followed by Wellington Memorial Silver Band in second place with their performance of Dimensions by Peter Graham. Wellington also picked up the Clive McBride Memorial Trophy for Best Trombone Section.

Second Section

In the Second Section four bands contested, North Down’s Comber Brass, conducted by Paul Hamilton, were delighted to win 1st place and take home the Founders Cup. Comber also collected the Burch Trophy for Second Section Best Conductor which went to Mr Hamilton. A spokesperson from Comber Brass said,

“After weeks of practice on our own choice test piece, Friendly Takeover by Oliver Waespi, we are so pleased that Dr Childs rated us 1st with 95 points. He described our playing as, “a super performance, full of drama and excitement”. The band has been driven by Paul Hamilton to reach new heights, with a little drama and excitement along the way! Paul’s dedication, keen ear and attention to detail had us all wanting this result and raising our game to achieve it.”

Comber Brass were followed by Roughan Silver in Second Place with their performance of Oceans by Goff Richards, Roughan’s principal cornet Andrew Gordon, collected the Ross Aiken Memorial Trophy for best soloist. CWA Brass, who were placed third with their performance of Ex-Terra Lucem by Jonathan Bates, picked up the Jonathan Carroll Memorial Trophy for best Horn Section.

Championship Section

After a short break, in the most anticipated part of the day, six Championship section bands contested to be crowned winners of the coveted Rothman Trophy. All bands gave thrilling performances but ultimately Belfast’s 1st Old Boys Band took home the silverware. A spokesperson for the band said,

“1st Old Boys are delighted with their performance of Peter Graham’s Metropolis 1927 which found favour with Dr Childs.
This was an exceptionally challenging piece, requiring hard work and efforts from everyone across the band, which ultimately paid off! We are grateful for our fantastic Musical Director team Dr Jonathan Corry and Phil Ferguson who have expertly led the band to this win. Our soloists, Tori Lloyd, Brian Downey, Alan Hayworth and Iain Culross were outstanding and massively contributed to this performance. Our tuba and percussion sections won their respective section prizes and our Soprano player Harry Lloyd gave a fantastic performance to win best soprano of the day.
1st Old Boys also picked up the Championship Section Band of the Year prize for 2024 – a title we have now held for 4 consecutive years.
This win at Spring Festival means we have achieved the domestic clean sweep for 2024/2025 with success at all local contests- an achievement we are so proud of!!”

As already mentioned 1st Old Boys took home the Percussion Shield for best percussion section, the Bradley Milligan Cup for Best Bass Section , the Harry Brittain Memorial Cup for Best Conductor and the Peter Arthurs Memorial Trophy for best soprano player.
Downshire Brass were placed second with Laganvale (Metal Technology) Band placed third with their performance of Sinfonietta No 3 by Etienne Crausaz.
Hannah Calderwood from Downshire Brass collected the Harry Gault Memorial Trophy for best Soloist in the Championship Section and Downshire Brass were also awarded the Denis Gillespie Memorial Trophy for Best Trombone Section.

BOTY!

In the very final part of the day, when all the contesting awards have been collected, it is time for BBNI Band of the Year! In 2024 Third Section winners were St Mark’s Silver Band, in the second section there was a tie between CWA Brass and Roughan Silver Band and in the Championship Section the winners were 1st Old Boys.
Overall Band of the Year and Winners of the coveted Haughton Cup for 2024 were St Mark’s Silver Band. Huge congratulations to them!

Congratulations to all the bands who took part, it was a fantastic day!

Full Results

Championship Section:

Adjudicator: Dr Robert Childs

1. 1st Old Boys (Jonathan Corry): 96
2. Downshire Brass (Michael Alcorn): 95
3. Laganvale (Metal Technology) (Charles Fyffe): 94
4. Strabane Brass (Brendan Coyle): 93
5. Third Carrickfergus (Brian Connolly): 91
6. Murley Silver (Kevin Teers): 90

Best Soloist: Hannah Calderwood (Downshire Brass)
Best Percussion: 1st Old Boys
Best Trombone Section: Downshire Brass
Best Basses: 1st Old Boys
Best Soprano: Harry Lloyd (1st Old Boys)
Winning Conductor: Jonathan Corry (1st Old Boys)

Second Section:

Adjudicator: Dr Robert Childs

1. Comber Silver (Paul Hamilton): 95
2. Roughan Silver (Stephen Crooks): 94
3. CWA Brass (Keith Anderson): 93
4. Bullyduff Silver (William Hill): 92

Best Soloist: Andrew Gordon (Roughan Silver)
Best Horn Section: CWA Brass
Winning Conductor: Paul Hamilton (Comber Silver)
Third Section:

Adjudicator: Dr Robert Childs

1. Dynamic Brass (Andrew McQuiggan): 94
2. Wellington Memorial Silver (Stephen Cairns): 92
3. St Mark’s Silver (Bob Quick): 90

Best Trombone Section: Wellington Memorial Silver