Ballymena Showgrounds 2003


Friday 23rd May saw the Pride of Ballinran take part in a military Tattoo in Ballymena Showgrounds. The event was organised by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland as a cancer fundraiser. The occasion kicked off at 7.30pm with a group of Scottish Dancers, who were then followed by a massed accordion band, Lambeg Drummers and Ulster Scots cultural groups and soloists. Local band Brunswick took part in the ensemble, and proved that they are still top of their class when it comes to showing off their tradition. Then came the melody massed band. Emerging from the tunnel came the Pride of Ballinran drummers, who were proudly led by the leaders of the four top melody bands. The band was made up of players from William King Memorial, Londonderry, Pride of Ballinran, Lisburn Young Defenders and Sir George White Memorial Broughshane, producing a total of 26 drummers and 72 flautists (you could add more to this as some of our lads could count as two people judging by the size of them), along with four bass drummers, three cymbal and triangle players and one hockey player. Apparently the drummers were in a different time-zone than the back row of fluters which made it a bit confusing for Alec who thought he should have been home an hour earlier. The band recieved a spectacular welcome as they paraded around the grounds filling the air with the melodic sound of military marches and Ulster-Scot traditionals. The performance by these bands was magnificant, showing that when bands of such caliber come together as one they are truly some of the best in the land. As the grand finale came to an end all the participants marched out onto the field where they took part in a short service held by the Rev. Martin Smyth M.P. Dignitaries present included those from England, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Leitrim Hill. The current World Champion Pipe Band Drum Major dismissed the Military Tattoo. Alot of fun and games was had on the way home on the bus which included a suprise performance from the Ballinran Male Voice Choir who serenaded Ray on his very special 67th Birthday (see the guestbok for more details). This was in spite of some of the lads being boring and sitting quietly with to their girlfriends, Scotland this year could prove to be alot of fun.