Marching Bands Europe now reaches 38 Countries 

The British Federation is a founding member of Marching Bands Europe, which has in the past few months been in discussion with the long established International Confederation of Music Societies (CISM). CISM is a democratic organisation representing all types of internatonal music and which organises competitions, festivals, exchanges and training opportunities throughout Europe.

The Federation was represented at the recent MBE Board meeting held during the Danish National Championships in Copenhagen. Subject to a formal written agreement, it has been agreed that MBE will be CISM's sole body working towards developing and representing the marching band activity in Europe. Since forming two years ago, MBE had gradually increased its representation to eight countries. This major new agreement means that MBE will now be working with marching band organisations in 38 countries that represent thousands of bands of all performance styles.

Federation Director Jim Vaughan stated that this is a very significant development " By helping to create Marching Bands Europe, in just two years we have created a major force for good amongst marching band organisations in Europe, which can only have a positive influence on the UK activity, especially as we work towards involvement in the 2008 - 2012 Cultural Olympiad"

The next meeting of MBE is in Milan November 24th/25th when more details of this development will be discussed. The first major event under the new MBE/CISM alliance will be a symposium of band leaders in The Hague during October 2008.