Watch: NI brass band see lighter side of lockdown by holding onto their hats

The video by Tempo Silver Band shows members of the band throw the hat from one location in the village to the next to the tune of Hold On To Your Hat by Derek Ryan.

Victoria Haslett came up with the idea having seen funny lockdown videos of people throwing toilet roll from one household to another.

She asked band members to film a clip of themselves with their hat so they could be edited together to give the illusion that the hat was being passed from one person to the next.

She said: “I wanted to think of something different for the band to do, something fun and light-hearted, something that nobody else has done.

“I thought, let’s throw our hats, it’s something that every band member has.

“I phoned everybody on Saturday morning and said, ‘if you get a chance today do a quick video and we’ll work it all out’.

“The video really represents all the different age groups and families that make up our band. We’d have about 28 members, there’s only three who didn’t do it, they were a wee bit camera shy.

“The youngest one taking part was eight, the oldest was 87.

“It’s so hard, especially for older ones who can’t go out anywhere. Giving them anything to do is brilliant.”

Victoria has been in the band she was seven, she’s now 27 and recently married.

The video begins with Jackie Haslett, Victoria’s father-in-law trying to locate his hat.

She said: “It gives him a chance to show off a vintage tractor that he has just done up.”

The video also features Victoria’s mum Sharon, her brother Matthew and grandfather Stewart (all Breen).

You can see the video on Facebook at

https://www.facebook.com/705675186134026/videos/168138017811741/

During the lockdown, the band has been having weekly Zoom band practises and chats, with some players having availed of one-to-one tuition with the band conductor.

Victoria said: “We do roughly about 14 parades a year. We do concerts, and go to nursing homes and do carol services, and other fundraisers.

“We’ll miss the Twelfth this year for the first time ever. It’s going to be strange.”

She added: “If it all clears up we’ve been talking about going down to our local village, and spreading out, taking all the precautions and playing something respectful for the NHS.”

The band has also donated money to the district nurses in Tempo and to the two local nursing homes.

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