Members of the Lismarka/Mesnali Band from Norway have informed 4BR that they had a great time at the recent Whit Friday contests.

Only Norwegians

As the only Norwegian band making the trip this year the band received a warm welcome at each of the eight venues they played.

Conductor Morten Fagerjord told 4BR: "It was a great experience. We made sure everyone knew where we were from by bringing a large Norwegian flag to wave as we marched, and the reception we got each time was wonderful."

We would like to express our deepest gratefulness to all the people in the Tameside, the officials and especially our terrific coach driver Walter and the town of Ashton-under-Lyne for giving us an experience of a lifetimeMD, Morten Fagerjord

Feedback

He added: "We got plenty of positive feedback playing our march 'Blaze Away' as well as our Norwegian anthem march, 'Norge i rødt hvitt og blått'. We even won a few prizes too — including a deportment prize at Droylsden."

Experience of a life time

The band hopes to return once more, especially as everyone made them so welcome.

Morten concluded: "We would like to express our deepest gratefulness to all the people in the Tameside, the officials and especially our terrific coach driver Walter and the town of Ashton-under-Lyne for giving us an experience of a lifetime".