A total of 22 youngsters from the Sandhurst & District Corps of Drums took part in the Aldershot Regional Festival at the Connaught School on Sunday, March 22 – their first engagement of the year and, for some of the younger members of the band, their first performance.

The band was join by more than 20 others performing at the regional festival, including the Oku Nojo Daiko Taiko Japanese drummers.

Tony Harris, one of the music mentors attending the festival, said: “The band had a superb entry on to the stage, with almost military precision. The whole performance was underpinned by the discipline, which is what this music is all about, but it was also very musical. They were a great group and we really enjoyed it, there was a real strength of character about them.

“The collective ensemble sound was fantastic and this balance between the discipline, music and how it looked visually was just right.” The regional festival was one of 50 in the series to be held on the weekend across the country and saw youngsters play a large range of music including jazz, classical, urban and electronic.