We are preparing for a huge performance at Lancaster Music Festival on Sunday 13 October, when we’ll be celebrating our 20th birthday by “storming the Castle”
A 60-strong Lancaster band will be joined by 40 Batala drummers from sister bands Batala Manchester, Batala Mersey, Batala Bangor, Batala London, Batala Portsmouth, Batala Boom and Batala Brasil. This 100-strong band will perform at 12:30 and 2:30pm in Lancaster Castle grounds, headlining the festival’s World Music Day.
The weekend will mark the end of a fantastic season of gigs for Batala Lancaster, including Lancaster Pride, Kendal Calling, Lancaster Chinese New Year and Preston Carribean Carnival. Lancaster drummers have also played at Cork St Patrick’s Day Parade, Debrecen Flower Festival in Hungary, and Badajoz Carnival in Spain as part of the worldwide Batala Mundo project this year. A further highlight was our annual visit to Notting Hill Carnival, where Batala was placed first in Brazilian Bands for the third year running.
Manda Johnson-Holme, a member of Batala Lancaster since 2006 and one of the anniversary event organising team, said: “We always enjoy playing at Lancaster Music Festival. It has an amazing atmosphere and is a brilliant event to be part of, but to be able to perform at the Castle and headline World Music Day on our anniversary year promises to be something really special. We’d like to thank the Duchy and Lancaster Music Festival for allowing us to make this happen.”
Manda has also designed the logo for our fantastic limited-edition anniversary t-shirts, which we will be wearing at the gig. The design features arms, making the calling sight for Buzio – one of our newer tunes, alongside graphics of the castle and Batala symbols. In particular, the shells are cowrie or buzio shells, which can be used by shell-throwers for fortune-telling, which feels appropriate as we celebrate 20 years and look forward to future adventures.
Find out more about the Castle gig on our gigs listing: Batala Lancaster at Lancaster Music Festival.