Welcome…

The Regent’s Park Music Festival will bring alive the Bandstand with music every Sunday afternoon and Bank Holiday Monday from 27 June to 19 September. In addition this year we are going to have Saturday Concerts from the Broadwalk Bandstand across from the Park’s Broadwalk Cafe starting on 26 June.

These free concerts were very popular in 2019, drawing audiences of up to 900 people for each performance of the Regent’s Park Music Festival concerts. This year the Regent’s Park Music Festival will be bigger and better with performances lasting all afternoon from 12.30 to 17.30 on Sundays and Bank Holiday Monday and 14:00 to 16:00 on Saturdays.  Programmes will be varied and include local Concert Bands, Jazz Big Bands, small groups, and Choirs – entertainment perfect for your summer picnics and outings.  Enjoy music from the Park’s bandstand or Broadwalk Bandstand across from the Broadwalk Cafe from the comfort of a deck chair (available to hire) or on a blanket with your picnic. 

Also Regent’s Park will be home to other entertainment activities over the Summer of 2021,i.e. The Open Air Theatre will put on performances

Regent’s Park Music Festival organiser Mark Elliott said, “it is a joy to see the pleasure these concerts give to residents and visitors who hear the Bandstand and Gazebo come to life again after several years of occasional events.  We are very grateful to the Park Management and to our many sponsors who enable us to bring music to the Park every summer weekend.”

SUNDAY 18^th JULY – BANDSTAND MEMORIAL DAY

On this day the Bandstand concerts will be dedicated to the memory of the 7 Bandsmen of the Royal Green Jackets who died and the many who were wounded on July 20^th, 1982.

There will also be a display staffed by members of the Rifles Regiment (successor regiment to the Royal Green Jackets) in which they will feature the history and current operations of the regiment

Like all our bandstand concerts the event will be free but there will be charity collecting boxes around the bandstand if you wish to donate.

History of the Regents Park Bandstand

The Bandstand was originally located in Richmond Park and was moved to Regent’s Park in the 1970’s. There was an earlier bandstand which stood near the south-east corner of the boundary of London Zoo.

The bandstand was the target of a IRA terrorist attack on 20 July 1982. Seven bandsmen were killed and 24 others were injured during a concert by the Royal Green Jackets. Eight members of the public, watching the performance were also injured and taken to hospital. 

Sometimes the bandstand is called the “Memorial Bandstand” in memory of the dead bandsmen. A plaque that commemorates the seven bandsman who were killed is located on the base of the bandstand. Each year the attack’s survivors, and the families of those who were killed, gather at the Bandstand for a memorial service,

The composer George Lloyd wrote Royal Parks For Brass two years after the bombing. The second movement of which, In Memoriam is dedicated to the bandsmen who died. Many bands feature this piece in their playing selections.

The Regent’s Park Music Festival is funded by donations.