The Upton Youth Bands are a non profit making independant youth organisation, currently consisting of approximately 30 young people from in and around Upton-Upon-Seven in Worcestershire, and we now have our very own Young Cadet Band consisting of members aged 8 to 15 due to a very sucessful recruitment drive.
We are a show band consisting of Brass, Percussion - Drums and Tuned Percussion and a small group of woodwind for concerts only. We also now have our own DANCE ACADEMY which teaches young people to dance & provide colour to enhance the marching show on the arena
We are members of the British Youth Band Association (BYBA) in whose approved National Competitions we compete against similar organisations, gaining recognition for our performance, parades, concerts and competitions throughout the year.
In August 2000, we took 2 coach loads to 'Disneyland Paris' where we marched and played along 'Main Street USA'. This was a fablous experience for one and all, hopefully soon to be repeated.
Highlights of each year are varied but recently, we celebrated with a reunion of the 'Aged Out' members which culminated in a one day festival of fun in June 2002 which included guest performances by other bands.
One of most coveted achievement was to be awarded a Gold Award and be 'Crowned' the Intermediate European Showband Champions in July 2003 at Midsomer Norton, and then to attain 3rd place at the BYBA National Finals at Birmingham in October of that year.
We recently attended the 'World Showband Championships' at Bournemouth in July 2004 to compete against Bands from all over the World. From as far afield as Hong Kong, Thailand, America and Australia and were priveleged to be awarded with a 'Gold Award' for our performance on stage and a 'Bronze Award' for our performance on the arena.
We compete in and around the Counties during the rest of the year against other marching bands of a similar standard and look forward to competing in: Birmingham, Essex and Bristol where we achieved places for 2nd, 2nd and 3rd and recieved trophies for the best wind section and best marching last year. Although the Band have worked hard to achieve what they do and win trophies at competitions, it isn't all work because we often have social events like Disco's, trips ie:Cadbury World, Bingo Sessions, and BBQ's where the youngsters often challenge the adults to a game of rounders and invariably win! The Bands do not only work as a team but they play as a team too, and all enjoy what they do!
We are looking forward to repeating our 'new' venture again this year. We are running our own Competition on Saturday 7th June 2008, supported by BYBA, in our own small Town of Upton-upon-Severn. We are hoping to recieve as many entries from bands from all over the Country as we did last year and look forward to hosting them all on the day. There are many events happening during the day and the many Bands Shows will provide a whole days entertainment for everyone. Entrance to the venue is £4 per adult and £3 for concessions, where there will be lots of stalls and food outlets available for everyone.
