DIDSBURY - A marching band from the Netherlands, Showband Marum, was at the Didsbury Memorial Complex on July 3 to practise and perform a concert before heading off to perform and compete at the world championships at the Calgary Stampede.
The band performed the concert in the arena in front of a few hundred people including several local residents with roots in the Netherlands. One of the many highlights was the playing of both countries' anthems.
Matthigs Van Houten is one of the senior members of the band and he said they've been very welcomed by the community.
"Most of the members of our band live in Marum but we also have members from other towns in the region," said Van Houten, who plays the euphonium, a brass instrument, and is a teacher with the band as well. "During the Stampede, there is also the world championships of show bands. There are two days of preliminaries and the big finale on Monday (July 8)."
The show band was also scheduled to perform at the Stampede parade.
The band members ranged from 16 years old to 57 years old, with most being in their early 20s, said Van Houten.
"We have a lot of young people," he said. "We have brass instruments, a drum line, a front ensemble with some xylophones and marimba, and dancers, which we call guards. They use flags and also wooden rifles or sabers. We have 31 members on the field."
The band made its way to Didsbury thanks to the efforts of a pair of Didsburians, Martien Huyzer and Jan Broekman.
"Martien Huyzer is the uncle of one of our members, Tom," said Van Houten. "His uncle has a farm near. When they found out we were playing in Calgary they arranged for us to come here. We had the performance and as well, there is such a big Dutch enclave here, so we got to meet a lot of Dutch people. It was nice to perform and talk to them after."
Van Houten said everyone they've met here has been very nice.
"It's been really cool," he said. "They arranged a lot for us, which is really nice. In Canada, we got welcomed very well. Everyone is helping us out. We needed some instruments. Everything went well."
