BRASS BANDS’ NEXT N.Z. CONTEST

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 90, Issue 116, 21 May 1946, Page 4

BRASS BANDS’ NEXT N.Z. CONTEST

WANGANUI OR AUCKLAND? UNLESS THIS CITY CAN FIND ACCOMMODATION IT WILL GO ELSEWHERE Whether or not the New Zealand Brass Band Contest of 1947 will be held in Wanganui will depend on Hie availability of accommodation for the thousand or more bandsmen who will participate, and to determine this the chairman (Mr. P. J. Skoglund) and’the secretary (Mr. A. J. Osborne), of the New Zealand Brass Band Association, will be visiting Wanganui on Friday. A fully-attended meeting of the association executive was held in Wellington last Friday, under the chairmanship of Mr. Skoglund. to discuss the choice of cites for the next contest, Wanganui or Auckland. Representing the North Island at this conference was Mr. E. W. F. Gohns, of Wanganui. The matter was gone into very fully, a whole day being occupied in the discussions, Mr. Gohns told the “Chronicle" last night. The matter. < had come up first at the contest in I Christchurch during March, when the matter oT the contest was referred to the executive. Applications had come in from Wanganui and Auckland. Both were most keen that the contest should be held in their respective centres, and it had been decided on Friday that the president and secretary should make inquiries at Auckland and Wanganui to see what each could offer in the line of accommodation for the 1000 or so bandsmen. That included what halls, or practice rooms were available, what grounds were available for drill and general outdoor practice, and the cost of the hire of the building and grounds for the actual competitions, which would last one week. The contest at Christchurch had been a huge success, with a profit of about £2OOO. The Christchurch City Council had loaned the Civic Theatre to the association free of cost, and this had helped considerably. If the Wanganui (Sty Council could do likewise it would be a great help in Wanganui being favoured, said Mr. Gohns. When Messrs. Skoglund and Osborne visit here on Friday, Mr. Gohns is to present them with the facts of Wanganui’s capabilities to meet the : requirements stipulated. “What it ♦ really hinges on is accommodation,” he commented, “and in this we want the full co-operation of the city."