SBBA Scottish Youth Championships

The SBBA Scottish Youth Championships take over the Gannochy Trust Auditorium at Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 29 November, and it's a big one. It's billed as the largest festival of brass music in the UK, bringing together around 1,500 musicians from senior and youth bands across Scotland and beyond. If you've never been, the scale is the first thing that hits you: hundreds of players, from the youngest starters to the more seasoned senior bands, all performing in the same space over the course of the day.

It's not a standalone thing, either. The youth championships are part of the wider SBBA Scottish Brass Band Championships, which also include the Scottish Open and the Scottish Challenge. So while the focus here is on the youth bands, it's one piece of a much larger brass band season that runs across the country. The day is built around the bands competing, so you'll hear a whole range of brass arrangements back-to-back, with the youth bands taking centre stage.

If you're thinking of heading along, it's a full day's affair. The music starts at 09:30, so it's an early one—come prepared for a long morning and afternoon of brass. Tickets are £17, with concessions at £13 and under-16s for £5, and those prices include a £2.50 booking fee. The venue is the Gannochy Trust Auditorium inside Perth Concert Hall on Mill Street, PH1 5HZ, right in the heart of Perth.