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Stop! Don't panic! Yes, this report isn't about New Forest Brass at all. Instead it's about the visit to the Armentieres "Fête des Nieulles" festival by Carrbrook Band in 2003. If you've not previously heard of Carrbrook Band, they're from the the Tameside area of Greater Manchester, the nearest large town being Stalybridge. They are also the last band that our solo horn player, Ian Wild, played with before moving south several years back. Thus Ian and myself got invited along to to 'dep' for the band during their 2003 continental trip.
The town of Armentieres, which is twinned with Stalybridge, is located in northern France and is very close to the Belgian border. Each September, the "Fête des Nieulles" is celebrated in the town - something that has taken place since medieval times. Apparently, the festival got it's name from the practice of the rich giving biscuits to the poor. (I'm unsure whether this was considered a good thing...). As part of the twinning programme, Carrbrook band have been taking part in the festival for several years. This was the third time that I, myself, had been invited.
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The trip started very early on the morning of the 12th September, when the coach left Tameside to make it's way accross the Pennines and down the M1. This year, rather than drive up to Manchester to meet the coach, myself and Ian drove to Dover, where we had arranged to meet up. Somehow Jack, the coach driver, had timed the journey so that, after he had collected the two of us, he was able to drive straight onto the ferry without any waiting at all. Pretty impressive, given the length of journey they'd just made. |
After a calm crossing to Calais, the coach then made it's journey Armentieres, where, after a quick visit to the nearest bar, we were initially taken to a mayor's reception in the impressive town hall. It turned out that we weren't required to play in the hall, just drink and listen to welcoming speeches. When this was all done with, we were then a shipped to the Brocellete, the youth hostel where we would be spending the next three nights. A relaxed evening in the nearby Cafe FlonFlon followed and any talk of giving a late night concert at the Stella Artois factory thankfully proved to be only rumours. |
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On Saturday morning, as we hadn't any performing duties, the Jack offered to drive us to a chocolate factory in Belgium. Unfortunately, the trip took a lot longer than expected, which meant we had only a short while to look around. Still, most people got the chance to spend some euros and the journey was quite interesting, if you're not used to that sort of thing. After lunch, the band finally got their first opportunity to play. This was to be as part of the more official celebrations based in the town square. Much to the surprise of the other band members, it turned out that we would be expected to march some distance, starting from a residential area on the outside of the town and gradually making our way to the town centre. This was our first chance to meet up with some of the other bands that were taking part in the festivities. After arriving at the town square, where the official ceremonnies were to take place, we marched onto the parade ground and stood in formation, where we were to remain for some time. As part of the proceedings, each band were required to perform a short piece. Unfortunately, when it came to our turn, a slight communication problem resulted in the band giving a performance of Arioso that wasn't quite what the composer had intended. Hopefully, not too many people noticed, and we still got a round of applause. |
Following our official duties, the band joined forces with the local French fanfare band "Les Trompettes Dévouées" to march (rather quickly) to a local cafe. At the end of the march, the band's merged their ranks, which was a nice touch. After a quick drink, both bands were then taken to a local restuarant, where we were to remain for the rest of the evening. The organisers arranged the seating so that members of both bands were sat together, which proved to be a great idea. The evening was certainly the highlight of the trip. After an excellent buffet, a member of the French band, who also happened to be a clown, magician and circus performer, treated the diners to a short after-dinner cabaret. The routine started with a variety of magic tricks, with Paul from Carrbrook proving to be a great helper. Following this, and not completely to my surprise, I got summond to perform a few juggling tricks. As I didn't have any of my own equipment with me, I had to use his - which turned out to be one-and-a-half devil stick handsticks, a tennis racket and several table legs. Which was different. Anyhow, we both tried a few tricks and the audience seemed happy.
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At the festival, the Sunday is the day of the main procession. As this was due to start in the afternoon, we were invited to play at a local hospital during the morning. The hospital is huge and in extensive grounds. Thus, we had another long marching session, moving from one area to another.
It's very difficult to describe much about the procession itself, other than it was very, very long. Being an integral part of it meant that we only ever got to see those directly in front and behind us. We took our positions at about 3 o'clock and didn't reach the end until 8.15! During that time, we marched, played, waited, threw confetti and sprayed silly string. As per tradition, tights were strategically placed on the upward-facing bells, so as to stop the instruments getting clogged up with piles of confetti. The final march onto the square proved to be a real buzz. Fortunately, even though we were all pretty tired, the band played well, successfully putting behind us the problems of the day before. The evening was topped off by being invited to one last group meal.
Come Monday, and it was time to head home. Even with a stop at a Auchan hypermarket and a cash-and-carry, we still were in plenty of time for the ferry. Back in England, Ian and I parted company with the coach at Dover, leaving the others to complete the long drive back north.
I must take this oportunity to thank all of those people that were involved in the organisation and running of the event (Mark, Katherine, Bernard and Ruth, to name but a few), and to those that were kind enough to invite me along to what was a really enjoyable weekend.
Guy, 16/9/2003
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