BMG Festival & Rally 2010

 5^th - 7^th   March 2010

Congratulations to Midlands Fretted Orchestra for Hosting such a Successful Rally

Anyone who wasn’t at the BMG Federation Rally weekend in March missed a fantastic treat, starting with Friday evening’s concert with Gordon Giltrap ‘finger-picking’ on his beautiful array of guitars and ably supported by ‘Malfunction’, through Saturday’s numerous workshops, meal, open-stage and ceilidh dancing to the tireless ‘Witchazel Family Band’, and ending with Sunday’s busy schedule of contests featuring no less than 8 senior orchestras and a huge range of individuals and groups of all ages and sizes! Workshops had more than 350 places filled and there were twice as many contest entries as in 2008.

What people said about the Rally

“Just wanted to say my thanks and congratulations - didn't know what to expect but was impressed” Shep.

“It was definitely worth the trip to Birmingham. The Rally was inspiring, motivating, and of course entertaining. Kudos to the MFO for perfect organisation” Hans (Germany). “Thank you for this nice Rally. It was very well organised and I will come for sure to the next one!” Claude (Belgium)

Review of Workshops

A total of 21 workshops were on offer and most were filled to capacity.

Click on the links below to see full reviews and pictures

Banjo related workshops

Mandolin related workshops

Guitar related workshops

General workshops

Review of Open Stage

This was fantastic entertainment with a variety of musical styles from all age groups providing a feast of rock, pop, rhythm, classical, Celtic, vocals and fun music. 

Ceilidh

Witchhazel Family Band played some lively music and Alan Jones called the dances for what proved to be a hugely successful ending to the Saturday evening. This is now a regular part of the rally weekends.

Competitions

There were about 121 entries for the competitions. Participants came from far and wide and the 8 competing orchestras were Bristol Mandolin Ensemble, Midlands Fretted Orchestra, Edinburgh Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra, Fretful Federation (Brighton), Da Capo Alba (Lanarkshire) Worcester Classical Guitar Orchestra and Bristol Fingers & Frets. The standard was particularly high and it was good to see so many young people winning senior competitions. Other areas represented at the rally included Cheshire, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Nottingham, North London and Cambridge

Click here for the results

Rally Photos Paul Tombs did an excellent job taking photographs throughout the weekend; some of which are included with these reviews; there are many more to see on his website: www.ptgraphics.co.uk