Christmas and brass bands are a match made in heaven and Keswick locals certainly got their money’s worth when a local brass band performed at St John’s church.

Keswick based North Lakes Brass, conducted by Gareth Sykes, brought festive cheer to crowd of more than 200 with their exciting programme of Christmas classics.

The audience were dazzled by the talented soloists, Jon Sanderson, Andy Cannon and Alison Richardson and the whole programme was compered by conductor, Gareth Sykes.

Times and Star: Conductor, Gareth SykesConductor, Gareth Sykes (Image: NLB)Founded in the aftermath of the pandemic in 2021, North Lakes Brass is made up of brass players from across Cumbria interested in competing in the various competitions in the brass band world.

READ MORE: Lucky camper captures northern lights while camping at Blencathra

North Lakes Brass, under the baton of new conductor Gareth Sykes, won the fourth section competition at the Northern England brass band contest at the Gala Theatre in Durham to win a place at the national finals where they finished a highly commendable 5th place.

Plans for the band have now turned to next year’s area contest where they will compete in the 3rd section for the first time with hopes of returning to Cheltenham for the third year in a row.