Booklet records the highs and lows of an anniversary year dominated by the Coronavirus

2020 was to be a year of celebration for the brass banding community throughout Scotland. It was the year when the Scottish Brass Band Association had prepared a full calendar of events to mark its 125th anniversary, consolidating its role as a significant force in the country’s musical heritage.

However, it was not to be. Instead it was the year of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. When the pandemic struck, brass banding in particular was affected in a way which none of us could have imagined.

2020 was a year of viral infection, lockdown and social restrictions. But it also turned out to be a year of creativity, invention and innovation as bands learned to connect with their own members and each other through technology.

SBBA has produced a booklet which records the highs and lows of this milestone year and over the past few weeks, a copy has been posted out to the secretaries of registered bands, sponsors and supporters in Scotland.

The booklet, which is entitled That was 2020, that was!, is a compilation of articles and news items that were published on the SBBA website during 2020. It also includes contributions from various bands and individuals.

During the pandemic, SBBA has endeavoured to keep bands connected, not just with its own members but also with fellow brass musicians up and down the country. This booklet is a diary of how that was achieved during an extraordinary year.

If your band has not yet received the booklet, please let Nigel Martin know at sbbapr@gmail.com with details of your band and contact address and he will arrange to have a copy sent to you.

If you are a private individual who would like a personal copy for yourself or a friend (it would make a memorable Easter gift), the booklets are priced at £6.50 each which includes postage and packing. Again, just send your details to sbbapr@gmail.com

In any event, you can access a low-resolution PDF of the booklet here from which you can judge whether you would like to receive your own printed version as a souvenir of a year many of us would wish had never happened.