France 2009

 by Rob Easton

Wareham Town Band had the good fortune to be invited to take part in the 50^th Celebration of the twining arrangement between the town of Conche – En-Ouche and their German partner’s from the town of Aulendorf.

So on Friday 11^th September 2009 the band set sail from Poole to travel to France and take part in an event which proved to be a great opportunity to make friendships with delegations from Germany, Poland and our hosts in Conche –En-Ouche.

No sooner had we arrived at our destination then we were whisked off to the opening event, a banquet which gave us our initial chance to get to know both our hosts and the delegations that had like us been invited to take part in a weekend of fun and entertainment.

On the Saturday the band took part in an open air concert in the square, which involved a variety of various types of music from all of the participating European countries, which include traditional town band music from both Wareham and Germany, Gugge bands, rock and pop groups, folk singers and dancers.  A full evening of entertainment, which was very well supported by the residents of Conche-en – Ouche, meant music was heard in the historical town well into the warm September evening.

Sunday was the day of the annual carnival, but before the band took part in what turned out to an amazingly well supported event, we got permission to do some busking on the Sunday morning in the town square, which thankfully got a good reception from the locals.

In the afternoon the carnival procession took to the streets, with thousands pouring into the small town of Conche-En–Ouche from the surrounding areas and from many parts of France.  The band felt very privileged to be part of this event, which was quite an experience for all of us who took part.

The day ended with a massive firework display, lighting up the sky just outside the town.

After a very busy weekend , a rather tired but happy Wareham Town Band , bade a farewell to our hosts on the Monday morning and headed back to the port of Cherbourg to make our way home. We would like to take the opportunity to thank our hosts from Conche-En -Ouche for the wonderful welcome they gave us and the hard work that took place to arrange the weekend.

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