STAFF WRITERS
THE City of Traralgon Band is well into planning a return trip to the UK and France for June 2025.
After the outstanding success of the band’s Tour of Remembrance in 2015, a similar tour is in the final planning stage, with the focus again on education and honouring the fallen who did not return after World War 1.
The City of Traralgon Band has a long history; established in 1881. The band performed at the Traralgon Railway Station each time troops departed for the Great War, and again for those who returned.
Some members of the band did not return and will be remembered during performances across northern France.
Band member, Daryl Hill said of the 2015 Tour of Remembrance: “We very quickly realised that we were not only representing our region but the whole of Australia. Emotions were running high and we were very proud”.
The UK component of the tour will start in the Saddleworth district of Yorkshire, where the band will compete in the world famous Whit Friday Brass Band competitions, Manchester, then London, to again perform at the Tower of London and potentially even Buckingham Palace.
The band will then travel to northern France and perform at the many battlefield sites of the Somme, Menin Gate, Ypres in Belgium, culminating in a joint concert with the Amiens Brass Band in Villers Bretonneux, then onto Paris to perform at the Eifel Tower and again at the Arc de Triomphe.
In addition, the band has received support for a potential concert in Copenhagen, Denmark, to include the Danish Royal family.
All members of the band are volunteers and although contributing a portion of the tour cost themselves, various fundraising efforts are now underway including a farewell concert at GPAC set for May next year.
The City of Traralgon Band Charitable Trust is established so that individuals and businesses can make tax deductible donations to support the band.
Further information can be obtained by phoning Alan Wilson on 0418 513 060 or emailing cityoftraralgonband@gmail.com
