
Christmas time is a busy seasond for many of South Australian bands as they can provide wholesome entertainment for appreciative crowds and earn some extra money. Christmas Pageants are a long standing tradition in South Australia and the Credit Union Christmas Pageant has a healthy representation from many of our brass and concert bands and although it is only a couple of hours on a Saturday there are a few tips to remember when participating:
- Bands are there to provide fun music and demonstrate precision marching, dressing up and clowning around is taken care of by the Credit Union Volunteers and designers.
- Smile, wave and enjoy the thousands of people that have come to see and hear you (on the street and on the television).
- Keep hydrated, its long walk.
- Be sensible with your music choices, be entertaining and remember it's a long non-stop blow down North Terrace past the cameras.
There are many other Pageants around the state that bands are involved in every year. Many of them welcome dressing up and any other enertaining flair you can bring to the street. Mount Gambier Pageant sports a healthy contigency of Victorian and South Australian Bands because they have partenered up with the Blue Lake Brass Band Festival and offer cash prizes to the best dressed and most entertaining bands. Mount Barker Pageant winds its way through the suburban landscape with all sorts of musical entertainment and cleverly constructed floats. Glenelg and Onkaparinga Pageant tempt you towards the cool ocean where you hope your lyre can handle the sea breeze. Norwood is gently up hill the whole way - fortunately there are enough watering holes at the end.
This is a busy time of year for many bands - have fun and give South Australia a good representation of what the band community has to offer.