Department of Tourism
Brass Band Festival to Serenade Danville in June

DANVILLE, Ky. – An estimated 40,000 visitors are expected to converge on  the 2008 Great American Brass Band Festival, set for June 12-15 on the campus of Centre College and in the streets and parks of Danville, Ky.

The celebration, which has been termed the country’s “most unique music festival,” gets underway Thursday June 12 with an afternoon tea and traditional Chautauqua presentation featuring Saxton’s Cornet Band and Angela Bartley as Mary Todd Lincoln. Enjoy Beer, Bourbon and Brass, a special fund-raising event, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg.
 
Festivities continue all day Friday June 13 with a band history conference, a gallery hop, a hot-air balloon race and free concerts to top off the evening.

Free concerts begin at 9 a.m. Saturday June 14 in various locations on Danville’s historic Main Street. At 11 a.m., a New Orleans-style parade marches down Main Street to the main stage at Centre College, where the music continues all day Saturday and Sunday.

Armed with a blanket or chair and sun screen (and possibly some rain gear just in case), spectators can enjoy the free band concerts featuring marches, Civil War era tunes, ragtime favorites and swinging jazz melodies.

Other events include the Great American Picnic Saturday evening, an instrument “petting zoo”, a 5K race and an ecumenical outdoor worship service on Sunday morning.

For those who want to explore American band music in greater depth, the festival features an all-day conference Friday focusing on Abraham Lincoln and the history of band music. Conference participants will have opportunities to interact with famous performers and presenters. A reenactment of a concert President and Mrs. Lincoln attended will be the highlight of the conference, which will be held at the Norton Center for the Arts in Danville. Admission is $50 per person.

For more information about the Great American Brass Band Festival, please call 800-755-0076 or 859-236-7794 or visit www.gabbf.com.
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The Kentucky Department of Tourism, an agency of the Kentucky Commerce Cabinet, exists to promote The Commonwealth as a travel destination, generate revenue and create jobs for Kentucky’s economy.