After 12 years of performing at the uber-hip Meredith Music Festival, Ballarat’s Municipal Brass Band has officially become an event institution.
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Thousands of music lovers expected to converge on the small township south-east of Ballarat this weekend, with tickets sold out months in advance.
World-famous musicians will take to the stage over the course of the weekend, including alternative music queen and provocateur Peaches, and Prince’s former collaborator and singer of The Glamorous Life, Sheila E.
But it is the City of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band that will bring back the warm glow to campers in a wake-up call, early-ish on Saturday morning.
“I think they wanted it as a a gimmick initially, to have a band marching around the camping grounds to get everyone up in the morning,” band secretary Chris Ducardus said.
“We took the job on but it was too rough to march around because we were dodging cow patties and tripping into holes.
“We ended up playing the front of the stage and then on the stage.
“Our following has increased from a few hundred to the point where we now get about 1000.”
Mr Ducardus said the band liked to surprise the Meredith music goers with some unexpected tunes.
“We play a variety of everything, we even play kids songs like The Wiggles and things like that, they love it. It’s a combination of blues and jazz and poupar items, we might do one or two feature pieces,” he said.
“We might hit out a bit of a funny song, Mamma Mia from ABBA, which is a bit of a crowd-pleaser. We tend to go for things that are more upbeat, even stuff with a bit of movement in it, we’ve even done YMCA, with people doing the movements.”
The 26th annual Meredith Music Festival will be held December 9 to 11 at the Meredith Supernatural Ampitheatre.
Attendees have been urged to prepare carefully, with sensible shoes, any medication they may need, sunblock and photo ID.
The City of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band will perform from 10am to 10.40am on Saturday morning, followed by The Goon Sax and Archie Roach.