There has been an excellent response to the news of a brand new entertainment contest to be held in Yorkshire later this year.

Following the announcement made on 4BR, The Venue23 series in Wakefield quickly attracted 10 entries, although the organisers have told 4BR that they would be particularly delighted to hear from bands from the local area that would like to take part.

Heats

The series of four heats and Grand Final will take place at one of Yorkshire's largest live music venues and aims to help reinvigorate the local brass banding scene.

Held on consecutive Wednesday evenings, two bands from each heat will qualify for the Grand Final, with over £2,500 in prize money on offer.

Three of the heats will be 'Open' categories, with one (Heat 3) for Third and Fourth Section bands only.

Local bands

Speaking about the response, contest organiser Mark Wildie said: "It's got off to a great start with the interest and confirmation of 10 bands so quickly. What we would love though is for bands close to the heart of Wakefield and its immediate surrounds to take part.

We have sent out information and would love to hear from them. This is a contest that aims to help reinvigorate local banding and with the generous prize money on offer sponsored by local brewers HB Clarke Breweries it shows that the business and entertainment communities are behind the initiative too."

What we would love though is for bands close to the heart of Wakefield and its immediate surrounds to take partcontest organiser Mark Wildie

Schedule:

Heat 1: Wednesday 9th November
Heat 2: Wednesday 16th November
Heat 3 (Third & Fourth Section bands only): Wednesday 23rd November
Heat 4: Wednesday 30th November

Grand Final: Wednesday 14th December

Want to take part?

If you are interested in taking part, please email Mark at: mark@venue23.co.uk