Successful Maine event

THE street of Ballymena were lined by large crowds for local band Pride Of The Maine's 35th anniversary parade and competition on Saturday night, June 5, which attracted a large number of marching bands from all over the province.
By The Newsroom
Published 9th Jun 2010, 13:07 BST
Updated 11th Jun 2010, 17:07 BST

The event moved off at 8pm from Castle Street led by Everton Road Protestant Boys from Liverpool who received a great welcome from everyone and they reciprocated with a very entertaining performance on the night.

They were followed along the route by bands from as far away as Newry, Omagh and Londonderry and at the end of the long walk around Ballymena, Omagh Protestant Boys walked away with the coveted best overall award.

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This, according to the organisers, was quite an achievement considering the quality of bands who attended with All Ireland Champions the William King Mem., Ballymacarret,The Regimental Band both from East Belfast and Dunloy Accordion who have won this award a record seven times .

The spokesman added: “A total of 53 bands took part in what has been heralded as one of the best competition events held in the Ballymena area for many years and bodes well for the future of such events.

“We are delighted with the turnout of so many fantastic bands at our event, we would particularly like to thank Everton Road for travelling from Liverpool to lead our parade and we hope that after the warm welcome from the people of Ballymena that they will want to return soon”.

The band also thanked the general public for the 2756 that they received from their street collection and to everyone who helped in any way with organising their event including the Marshalls from both the Ballymena Parade and Bands Forum and those from the North and West Belfast Parades Forum and the PSNI.

Related topics:BallymenaLiverpool