The Band meet for practice at the Chop Gate Village Hall every Tuesday at 7.30pm. For information about the band please visit Bilsdale Silver Band on Facebook or contact Alison MacKay, the band secretary, on 07882 561974, email bilsdaleband@gmail.com.
The Band plays for general public enjoyment, mainly on Sunday afternoons, and often outdoors in some of the most beautiful places in Yorkshire, including stately homes, abbeys, and seaside resorts.
The busiest schedule of playing is from the Spring through to Autumn. At home the Band supports the local community playing at occasional church services, and at the traditional village shows and fetes, giving an annual Christmas Concert in Chop Gate village.
The band is neither a ‘competition band’ nor a ‘marching band’, but has occasionally attempted both, just for fun, coming fourth in the Lofthouse Grand Village Band Contest back in 1859, (as ably described by Charles Dickens), and winning class ‘C’ for unregistered bands at Malton Brass 2002. In 2006, the Band came second in this competition.
There is a weekly practice in Chop Gate Village Hall, and everyone plays just for the love of it, nearly all income going towards new music and repairing and replacing the instruments.
