Bands In The Park – Leighton Buzzard
VENUE : Parsons Close Recreation Ground, Leighton Buzzard
LOCATION : Right in the very centre of the town
TIME : 3pm to 5pm, Sunday (In 2009, there is one event 7pm to 9.30pm)
TRANSPORT LINKS : Trains run regularly from Euston to Leighton Buzzard.
COMMENTS : This small town of 33,000 people keeps setting the standard for Bands In The Park seasons, which no other Council is coming close to matching. All events organized and on the website by the end of January, posters prominently displayed all over the town, and, most importantly, the highest standard of band music in any town between London and Birmingham.
Chairs are provided for the fans, and refreshments are available courtesy of the Scouts or charity groups. This is a very well run band season.
The park is no beauty spot, certainly nothing like Leamington Spa, but is perfectly decent. As a side trip, I can recommend a visit to the “Buzzrail”, the steam railway which runs from the town’s other park, Pages Park, to Stonehenge Works, out in the countryside.
Leighton Buzzard and its surrounding area is green. There is not the riot of colour you will find in the Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa, but the park is green and pleasant, and the trip on the Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway goes through some very aesthetic Bedfordshire countryside.
Very Strongly Recommended for at least one trip in the summer.
MARK : 9/10 – VERY STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
WHAT LEIGHTON BUZZARD COULD DO TO IMPROVE : Very little! This is not the best band season in the region for nothing. The only serious drawback is the lack of bad weather facilities which plagues just about every season.
As with most of the other seasons, a 2.30 – 5 playing time would be much better. It would give us more music, and a more leisurely break between the two halves. As it is, when you get a really popular show such as the 2008 RAF Halton Voluntary Band event, the twenty minute break is not enough to get everyone through the refreshment hut quickly enough for the band to start the second half on time. Everything is just too rushed.
It would obviously be fantastic if Leighton-Linslade ran May bands, so that we had more choice in that wonderful month. Given that this is a small town of less than 35,000 people, and that they are already running the best season anywhere between London and Birmingham, we are probably being a little unreasonable asking for this!
THE 2010 SEASON
Leighton Buzzard has maintained its excellent band season, and the standard of its organization, for 2010. The fixtures were organized and listed on the council website before the end of February.
For a fixture list, CLICK HERE