Making brass band music in Suffolk since 1859
The Band of the Royal British Legion, Leiston is, we think, the most easterly brass band in the UK; based in a small town just two miles off the coast of Suffolk within sight of the Sizewell power station and Minsmere Nature Reserve.
We are a social, non-contesting band and we perform locally throughout the year. We are available for hire for all sorts of functions from civic parades, to Remembrance Day services and garden parties. In the summer months we can be heard along the sea front in Aldeburgh and Southwold and in the December are quite likely to be found in the foyer of a local supermarket playing Christmas carols to entertain the shoppers. A few times a year we hire a local venue and put on a full concert and these are always well attended by locals and tourists alike.
We are unusual in that we are also a marching band and appear regularly at the Poppy Day races in Newmarket as well as a few times a year at Ipswich’s Foxhall Stadium where our circuit of the track is accompanied by banger racing cars (and some impressive pyrotechnics).
We have an active Training Band for those in the earlier stages of banding as well as our Main Band and new members are always welcome. New for 2020 will be our Drum School, an exciting new project to encourage people to learn or improve their drumming and become a part of our marching engagements.
As of the start of 2021, Covid-19 restrictions mean we are currently unable to meet as a band to rehearse but the Government roadmap is steering us towards getting together again in some form or another on 17th May and we are hoping to resume our full calendar of rehearsals and performances when the restrictions are further lifted in June