A NEWTOWN band is set to take centre stage in the town over a weekend in June.

As well as heading Newtown’s carnival parade on June 8, Newtown Silver Band will also be hosting the eighth ‘Newtown March and Open-Air Brass Band Contest’ on Sunday, June 9.

The competition attracts bands from all over Wales and from across the border. The contest will begin at 11am with the first band marching along High Street through the Town Hall gates to the park, where they will each play a hymn tune, a contest march and an entertainment piece.

This year the event has attracted an entry of 11 bands.

As results are tallied at the conclusion of the contest, all competing bands will then join together in the park as a massed band to play the march ‘Slaidburn’.

“This is arguably the largest brass band ever to be assembled in Wales,” said the chairman of Newtown Silver Band, David Evans.

“It should be quite a spectacle with 300 brass players joining together to play a rousing march – Bring a chair and enjoy a feast of free entertainment!” he added.