Festival anniversaryscore steals a march

A special march is being written to mark the 25th anniversary of the Broadisland Gathering festival in Ballycarry.
Magheramorne Silver Band at a previous Broadisland Gathering.Magheramorne Silver Band at a previous Broadisland Gathering.
Magheramorne Silver Band at a previous Broadisland Gathering.

Local councillor and musician Mark McKinty has been working on the unique score for some weeks now, after the suggestion was made to him at a meeting of the Ballycarry Community Association.

Cllr. McKinty is a member of the group and has also been a member of Magheramorne Silver Band for the past 19 years.

At one of the Association meetings it was suggested that one way to provide a legacy for the Gathering would be to provide a musical piece to have the silver band mark the silver jubilee of the event.

Cllr Mark McKinty.Cllr Mark McKinty.
Cllr Mark McKinty.

He has previously penned a march called “Paisley’s Men” for the silver band, to pay tribute to long-time bandmaster James Paisley, who was one of the founder members of the band back in 1882.

The new musical score will be based on music from the local area, he says, but the full detail will be under wraps until the first official performance at this year’s Broadisland Gathering, on the afternoon of Saturday, September 2.

The silver band will be taking part in a townlands parade and the main pageant parade in the village and in addition to the anniversary being marked by a tune, a band from County Armagh will be bringing the former sound of Magheramorne Silver to a new audience.

In 1949, the Magheramorne Band changed from a brass and reed band, and the Gathering organisers have invited Camlough Brass and Reed Band to perform at this year’s event.

The Camlough band will be playing in concert during the event on September 2, bringing the unique brass and reed sound to the area for the first time in almost 70 years.