The tenth international brass-band festival is to open today, involving more than 2,000 musicians.

The first part of this festival is devoted to the 60-th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.

German, Italian, Finnish, Norwegian, Estonian, Austrian, Swiss, US, British, French, Ukrainian and Belarus musicians, as well as leading Russian brass bands, will arrive in St. Petersburg.

On May 7-8 brass bands will perform out in the open, that is, near the Peter and Paul cathedral, in the Summer Garden and in the Admiralty Garden, too.

A gala brass-band concert will take place May 9 on the city's Palace Square. Traditional marches and war-time songs will be performed.

The festival's second part devoted to the 300-th anniversary of Peterhof and St. Petersburg's 302-nd anniversary will take place in late May. Brass bands will hold open-air performances, also marching down Nevsky avenue. Another concert will be organized on Palace Square. Moreover, a gala concert will take place at the Yubileiny (Anniversary) sports palace. Brass bands will play during the fountain-opening ceremony in Peterhof.

The 1867 Paris world expo hosted the first-ever international brass-band contest. Russia was represented there by the imperial guard's Preobrazhensky regimental brass band. Incidentally, that first Russian brass band was established by a decree of Emperor Pavel I.

Regular brass-band festivals take place in Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Finland, France, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and other countries.

St. Petersburg hosted the first international brass-band festival in 1996.

News source: www.en.rian.ru
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