Festival History

Voerde Carnival Girls – Germany (1980)

ALNWICK’S International Music Festival celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2006.
It now attracts performers from across the globe, but it has very humble roots.
The idea for the festival was born when the then president of Alnwick Lions Club, Adrian Ions, was offered the Whalley Legion Junior Band, from British Columbia, Canada, to play in the town. A concert evening at the White Swan Hotel and a number of displays through the town were arranged.
The Whalley Band was to return in 1977 to feature in that year’s festival, which included others such as the Bryne Band, Chinese Lions Dancers, from Newcastle’s Chinatown, and the Haugesund Dance Troupe, from Norway.
There was a hint of big things to come in the Northumberland Gazette report on August 5, 1977: “A Canadian band’s four-day visit to Alnwick may herald the start of an annual international music and dance festival. The Whalley legion junior band returned to Northumberland this week to take part in a local display of music and dance organised by the Alnwick Lions Club.”
Mr Ions, who helped organise the event, told the Gazette: “I would hope that with the backing of more clubs we could do this again in future years.”
The following year, the music festival was blessed with truly British weather!
The wash-out was covered by the Gazette on August 11, 1978: “A festival of music, song and dance has been held in anything but festival weather. It’s just been a case of singing and dancing in endless rain.”
The festival saw the addition of the Stord Group from Norway, a Dutch dancing set, as well as an Irish accordion band from Newry.
In 1979, Alnwick’s German twin town Voerde brought a marching band and the Attical Accordian Band from County Down joined the festivities.
1980 was a turning point for the festival – it was to be the last organised by Alnwick Lions before a new, independent committee was set up. The Whalley Legion Junior Band and the Voerde marching band made welcome returns.
Since then the festival has gone from strength to strength with bands and groups visiting from all over the world.
In 2004, event organisers broke with recent tradition of not inviting groups to successive festivals to bring Svitanok back from Ukraine.
They performed a specially penned song, Alnwick: The Festival Song, which was written, composed and sung by festival guest Lessia Horova and backed by Svitanok.
The song can be heard by logging on the opening page of this website, click here.

Whalley Legion Junior Band (dressed for rain) – Canada (1980)

Come to Alnwick International Music Festival ... and let the world come to you.