Student brass band players and friends will gather in Manchester on Saturday (19th December) to spread festive cheer in a massed caroling concert in the city's Piccadilly Gardens.
Support
The UniBrass Foundation, formed last year to support university brass bands and the UniBrass Contest, will host the event which aims to bring together university brass players from all over the country. It will start at 1.00pm and will last about 1 hour.
UniBrass Foundation Chair of Trustees Ian Poole told 4BR: "We are all looking forward to it, as I'd imagine people will be able to hear us from all over Manchester!
It's the first big event we'll be hosting outside the annual UniBrass Championship in February, so it's a great opportunity for students and friends from different bands to chat about their plans and start getting excited about the contest."
He added: "Hopefully if it's a success we can look into organising more events in 2016, and it's also a great opportunity for us to listen to the opinions of the students to see what they want and how we can provide that."
Out and about
The UniBrass Foundation trustees will also be out and about at Manchester's Christmas markets to raise much needed funds, with collecting buckets also being jangled at Norton Canes services on the M6 toll every day until the 20th December.
It also seems that the student sense of Christmas spirit has been shown around the country with the players doing their bit with their bands from Keele University, Bangor University and Durham Brass out and about.
Meanwhile, the University of York has been announced as the hosts of the third University Brass Band Championship of Great Britain.
New UniBrass venue
The university will host the showpiece student event in 2017 and 2018 following their successful bid.
Ian Poole added: "We see the move to York as a big opportunity for further advancements. "York has participated in every contest since it was founded, and has the advantage of being in a popular region for brass banding.
Lancaster and Warwick have both added so much to the contest, so I'm really excited to see what York can now do."
the University of York has been announced as the hosts of the third University Brass Band Championship of Great Britain4BR
Draw
The draw for the 2016 contest on 20th February has now been made:
1. Bristol
2. Southampton
3. Cambridge
4. Leeds
5. Birmingham Conservatoire
6. Cardiff
7. Warwick
8. Nottingham
9. Keele
(After band 9 there will be a lunch break)
10. Bangor
11. Huddersfield
12. Durham
13. Lancaster
14. University of Birmingham
15. Manchester
16. Sheffield
17. York
18. Oxford
19. Queen's University Belfast
Dyke concert
The final contest of the University of Warwick's hosting term will be on Saturday 20th February 2016 at Warwick Arts Centre, with Black Dyke performing a special Gala Concert after the contest.
Tickets are available now at unib.co.uk/tickets the perfect Christmas stocking filler!
