Regent’s Park Music Festival on the Bandstand
From June 22nd until September 8th 2019
Welcome…
The Regent’s Park Music Festival will bring alive the Bandstand with music on Saturday June 22nd and Sunday afternoon and Bank Holiday Monday from June 23rd until September 8th.
This year, The Regent’s Park Music Festival has joined forces with the Marylebone Music Festival and the Jewish Music Institute. On Saturday 22nd June the MMF will open the season with one of London’s finest Barbershop quartets and on September 8th the JMI will close the season with their 10th anniversary “KLEZMER IN THE PARK: The London Mix”
These free concerts were very popular in 2018, drawing audiences of up to 500 people for the Regent’s Park Music Festival concerts and more than 4000 for the KLEZMER IN THE PARK:The London Mix day. This year the Regent’s Park Music Festival will be bigger and better with performances lasting all afternoon from 12.30 to 17.30. 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 from the comfort of a deck chair (available to hire) or on a blanket with your picnic.
Bandstand festival organiser Mark Elliott said, “it is a joy to see the pleasure these concerts give to residents and visitors who hear the Bandstand 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.”
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 soldiers were killed and 24 others were injured during a concert by the Royal Green Jackets. Sometimes the bandstand is called the “Memorial Bandstand” in memory of the dead soldiers and their mounts. A plaque that commemorates the dead soldiers is located on the base of the bandstand.
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.
