Co Armagh band parades in London Lord Mayor's Show
Celebrating the 90th anniversary of a band’s formation would seem like a big enough year for most – but for one Co Armagh outfit, they’re taking it a step further by marching in one of the biggest parades the UK has to offer.
Next weekend, the Edgarstown Accordion Band jets over to London to demonstrate their stuff in the Lord Mayor’s Show – an annual event dating back to the 13th century.
It means they’ll be making their marks in the history books, as the 2025 show is the first time in its 800-year tradition that the show is headed by a Lady Mayor, Dame Susan Langley.
Saturday’s event has over 7,000 participants from all over the world in a procession more than three miles long, and among them will be the pride of Portadown – the Edgarstown band, which first formed in a barber’s shop in 1935.
As the band’s chair, Gary Henderson, told the News Letter, they’ve been beavering away in rehearsals preparing a few old favourites and some new tunes they hope will delight the London crowd with a taste of good old Northern Irish culture.
“We’ve been practising since around April, every Monday night without fail,” he said. “Everybody’s doing their best, and our bandmaster Brian Davidson has picked out 15 tunes for us to play, six of them new for us.
“We’re doing quite a few marches; if all goes to plan, we’re hoping to play a tune called ‘Orangefield’ as we pass the Lady Mayor. Brian’s put together a few military favourites into something we call the Victoria March – it’s ‘Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit bag’, things like that.”
The day came about as Edgarstown was looking into making their 90th anniversary on the road a big year, checking into performing in big events such as the Belfast International Tattoo. When Gary’s wife floated the idea of the Lord Mayor’s Show, they decided to shoot for the moon.
“We reached out to our MP, Carla Lockhart, and she was able to pass on our details to the people who handle applications to the show,” he said.
“We must’ve put the right words down, because here we are – though with the history of the band, our anniversary, we thought we might be in with a chance, plus that we do a lot of community work too.”
Although the band are used to the pageantry of regular parades in Ulster, especially the big day of the Twelfth, Gary admits the London show will be a whole new ballgame – one with the nation’s attention on it, not least as it’s televised live.
“There have been so many rules and regulations,” he said. “We’ve had someone, I suppose you could call him a drill sergeant, who was telling us we have to stick to 120 paces a minute; we should be fine, we mostly play marches so we’re a quick-walking band anyway.”
Edgarstown are quick to thank the Arts Council for helping out with a travel grant, which they say was invaluable.
Said Gary: “As far as we know, we’re the only band from Northern Ireland going. We’re proud to be able to represent ourselves, our town and our culture.”