RELEASED: June 9, 2005

DANVILLE, KY—This week 40,000 fun- and music-lovers will converge on Danville and the Centre College campus for The Great American Brass Band Festival. This vibrant festival, now in its 16th year, unites top national and international performers for a weekend of concerts and celebration. The fun starts Thursday afternoon, June 9, with the annual Chautauqua Tea at Two Roads Cafe, and the music won't stop until Sunday night.

This year's festival features many of the popular activities and opportunities that draw spectators back to Danville year after year. Registered guests can attend The Brass History Conference during the day on Friday. At 6 p.m. the gates open for everyone at the Great American Balloon race at the Stuart Powell field. Click here for more information about the Great American Brass Band Festival.

Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, music will spread throughout the town, keeping festival-goers occupied over the course of fourteen hours and across four locations, and including a New Orleans-style parade through downtown at eleven. The Great American Picnic is also scheduled for Saturday evening, and the night will conclude with a bang, quite literally, with a fireworks display on the college campus.

Festival participants can't let this event-filled day wear them out. The brass will be back in action at 9:15 on Sunday, accompanying an ecumenical church service. After the service, music continues for hours on the Centre College main stage.

Some familiar musicians will be making appearances. The host, Advocate Brass Band, will perform under the direction of director of the College's Norton Center for the Arts, George Foreman, and will feature Centre music professor Vince DiMartino as soloist. The crowd-pleasing clown band, City Sidewalk Stompers, and ragtime pianist Scott Kirby are also among the anticipated returnees.

This year's festival is also bringing some new musicians to the area. Athena is a brass group composed of women from across the U.S. BrassRoots is traveling all the way from Ontario to spread their music, and Ted Guillium and his organ grinder will be adding to the spectacle of street performance.

Also unique to this year's festival will be Friday night's Gallery Hop Stop from 5:30-9 p.m. The Hop will span 20 downtown locations and will feature more than 40 artists. Centre art professor Sheldon Tapley has donated use of his painting, "Festival Picnic," which has been reproduced for this year's commemorative posters. Tapley will sign the first 50 sold copies of the poster and his original painting will be on display at the Community Arts Center during the gallery hop.

Other weekend highlights include the Danville Bike and Fitness-sponsored Brass Band Festival 5K, which will take place at 8 o'clock on Saturday at Millennium Park. Also on Saturday, there will be a pancake breakfast from 6 to 10 at S.S. Peter and Paul Catholic church. Festival participants can get some exercise, refuel at this hearty pancake breakfast, and then head over to the near-by parade and begin to groove the weekend away.

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

Back to News and Events Home Page