Durham Brass Festival 2019 started off with a bang as Artistas Del Gremio got the party going. Watch our video of their launch show below.
Festival regulars Artistas Del Gremio, a Spanish street band, launched Durham Brass Festival 2019 with a high-paced energetic show, beginning with a rendition of the Pink Panther theme tune.
The performance by the nine-piece brass band quickly drew a crowd to launch the 10-day Durham Brass Festival.
You can watch some of their high-energy fun performance in our video below as well as hearing from councillor Joy Allen, cabinet member for transformation, culture and tourism at Durham County Council, who talked about some of the new features brought in for Durham Brass Festival 2019.
Also in Durham Marketplace was Brass on the Bus, which will be touring villages and towns around County Durham to play a variety of concerts.
Read next: Durham Brass Festival ticket information and booking
The Brass on the Bus concerts take place from Tuesday to Friday July 16-19. A mobile part of Durham Brass Festival, the Big Brass Bus will be taking bands to several locations.
On Tuesday July 16 the Big Brass Bus is at the Apollo Pavilion, Peterlee at 11am, then at the Lanchester Street Ceilidh from 6-8pm. On Wednesday July 17 it's at Chester-le-Street Marketplace from 6-8pm.
On Thursday July 18 it'll be joining the Full Moon Market in Bishop Auckland Marketplace from 6-8pm. And then on Friday July 19 the Big Brass Bus is at Steam Machine, Newton Aycliffe from 7-9pm.
No Durham Brass Festival tickets are needed: all the Big Brass Bus events are free, so people can just turn up. Meanwhile, in the centre of Durham the free Wharton Park brass bands are returning for 2019.
The Durham Brass Festival 2019 theme is brass and health; they'll be taking music into care homes and hosting a 'Healthy Brass' day which will feature talks and workshops on how brass players can maintain good mental and physical health.
Read next: Looking for the Durham Brass Festival free events? We've got the full list here