The popular drum festival is set to return on Saturday June 5
A POPULAR Darlington festival is set to return this weekend.
The free Darlo Drum Festival is set to return on Saturday June 5 and will see a mixture of sounds in the town centre with drumming from around the world.
Seven acts will roam around the town entertaining visitors and the sights and sounds of Rio will come to the streets between 10pm and 4pm.
Stilt Batteristas are set to perform on stilts with bespoke drum kits beating out street music and The Bangshees, an all-female drumming band from Newcastle, will also be performing.
Baque de Ogum, a maracatu band, will celebrate the history and heritage of "Maracatu Nacao", an Afro-Brazilian performance genre from North East Brazil.
One of the UK's top steel bands, Pantasy Steel Pand, are also set to perform with their mix of traditional Caribbean music and more well-known songs.
Drum Nation, a samba drumming collection and Samba Flash Squad are to play authentic Brazilian carnival rhythms accompanied by fully costumed, traditional dancers.
Other performers will include Simon Wood playing the Hang drum to offer a more mellow feel to the day.
Councillor Alan Marshall, Darlington Borough Council's cabinet member for economy, said: "There is something for everyone at this festival from quirky stilt drummers through to the unique sounds of the hang drum and of course, the fantastic rhythms of samba and the steel drums.
“Bit by bit our town is coming back to life and, for one day only, this event will be at the beating heart of our centre.
"There’s lots more in store from our events team and I am delighted to also see more and more new town centre businesses who are calling Darlington their home.”
The full timetable for the event can be found at enjoydarlington.com.
The last time Darlo Drum Festival came to the time was in 2019 and saw a police officer enjoy it so much that he started dancing to the rhythm.
Amy Emerton, a festival visitor who captured the incident said: "I loved the fact he joined in as you see so many police or PCSOs on duty that are so serious and don't even smile."
Replies
What does a drum festival have to do with a steelband playing a music instrument called pan? Just asking for a friend.