Arbroath was alive with the sound of music as the curtain went up on the town’s annual festival.
Young musicians from schools all over Angus and further afield gathered at Webster’s Theatre for the first day of the festival, now in its 81st year, with organisers promising that this year’s event would be bigger than ever.
The festival’s programme of events will stretch over six days for the first time ever this year to accommodate the huge number of entries and to allow time for a special concert to be held on the Saturday, featuring competition winners and invited groups.
Yesterday saw the county’s drummers and percussionists kick off the popular competition in style.
Chairperson of the festival’s executive committee Sheena Guthrie said: “We are glad that the festival is proving to be so popular and that it has grown so much. Things have gone very well today and we had a great standard and level of playing, as always.
“Anyone interested in coming along to help would be made very welcome,” she said.
Yesterday saw the elementary classes for percussion battle it out under the guidance of their two tutors Kenny Carlyle of Dundee City Council, and Paul Judge from Angus Council.
The 155 individual students and six ensembles had their stick skills judged by Pamella Dow, one of Scotland’s most eminent percussion experts and lecturer at Glasgow University.
Pamella said the standard of playing on display was fantastic and there is no festival quite like Arbroath’s in the whole of Scotland.
“The standard was amazingly good,” said Pamella. “I don’t think this can be bettered anywhere else in Scotland.
“I thought the pupils, and Paul and Kenny, all did a stalwart job and I wasn’t aware of any great stage fright at all.
“I thought they were great.”
The winners at the elementary level during the day were: Class 96A, snare drum Ross Calderwood, Brechin High School (84); Class 99A, timpani Murray Bartle, Carnoustie High School (86); Class 96, drum kit Murray Bartle, Carnoustie High School and Ruairidh Cowieson, Longforgan school (85).