News

May 2010: Liberation Parade Apeldoorn
On May 9, 2010 the last liberation parade was held in Apeldoorn. In a long parade with veterans, vehicles and several bands we marched together with almost the complete Massed Pipes & Drums of the Voorthuizen Tattoo.



As final piece a performance followed at Omnisport in Apeldoorn. In the presence of Princess Margriet and Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven the veterans were welcomed



Mei 2010: The Voorthuizen Military Tattoo
On May 6, 7 and 8, 2010 The Voorthuizen Military Tattoo was held. A wonderful show, with many international participants from amongst others Poland, France, England, Scotland, Oman and Trinidad & Tobego. The Massed Pipes & Drums were directed by our Drum Major George Alblas.


Mei 2010: Parade Wageningen
In Wageningen the annual parade took place on May 5, 2010. Together with the majority of the Massed Pipes & Drums who also perfomed at Tattoo Voorthuizen, we walked ahead of the Standards of The Royal British Legion and many veterans.

May 2010 : Tattoo Nijverdal
On May 1st, 2010 a Tattoo was held in Nijverdal, organised by Stichting "Thank you Canada". We were very honoured to perfom together with members of The Royal Oman Army Pipes & drums from Oman.

A section of the finale, where our piper Emile Baanders plays Amazing Grace:

November 2009: Service of Remembrance
On November 8, 2009 at the cemetery Westduin in The Hague the Service of Remembrance was held.

September 2009: Airborne Commemoration
In the weekend of 18, 19 and 20 September the 65th Airborne commemoration took place in Arnhem, Ede and Oosterbeek. Click for a full report with pictures and clips.

August 2009: Basel Tattoo 2009
This year the Basel Tattoo was held for the fourth time. We were extremely honoured to receive once again an invitation.

Together with a few members of the Red Hackle Pipe band from Antwerp, we travelled towards this grant spectacle. The massed Pipes & Drums consisted of about 200 musicians from different countries among which the Royal Army of Oman Pipes & Drums from Oman, see group picture.

It was a great surprise to see that the organisation of the Basel Tatto had spread large posters througout Basel with a picture of our Drum Major George Alblas.

It was another fantastic experience, which we will remember with great pleasure. On youtube several videos of the tattoo can be found, but also from the street parade which this year was held in combination with Pipefest.



August 2009: Basel Tattoo 2009

This year the Basel Tattoo was held for the fourth time. We were extremely honoured to receive once again an invitation.

Together with a few members of the Red Hackle Pipe band from Antwerp, we travelled towards this grant spectacle. The massed Pipes & Drums consisted of about 200 musicians from different countries among which the Royal Army of Oman Pipes & Drums from Oman, see group picture.

It was another fantastic experience, which we will remember with great pleasure. On youtube several videos of the tattoo can be found, but also from the street parade which this year was held in combination with Pipefest.

July 2009: Regional Veterans day Harderwijk
At the Regional Veterans day in Harderwijk, held on July 4th, we performed in a street parade together with the The Seaforth Highlanders of Holland. In the evening a concert was held at the Market Town in Harderwijk, where we combined a few tunes with The Band of Liberation.

June 2009: Veterans day The Hague
On June 27, 2009 the fifth Veterans day in The Hague was held. In a massed band with The Seaforth Highlanders of Holland and The Drums & Pipes Police Maastricht we took of for a street parade through The Hague. On the Malieveld we had a short break after which we returned by using a different route to the starting point. In the evening we participated in a Tattoo that was held near the town hall.

June 2009: Street parade Renkum
On June 20, 2009 Excelsior Renkum celebrated her 75th anniversary with a Street Parade through Renkum.
Departing from sports centre "De Rijnkom" several regional bands began the parade to finally arrive, through different routes, at the Don Bosco school.
From there the march past began, ending on the “Europaplein”. On the Europaplein the combined finale took place, where amongst others, Highland Cathedral was performed. It was a pleasant day that was well cared for by the organisation.

June 2009: "Flag day"
On June 13, 2009 "Vlaggetjesdag" ("flag day") took place in Scheveningen (Holland). On "Vlaggetjesdag" the arrival of the first herring (Hollandse Nieuwe) is celebrated. The dock area in Scheveningen and several fishing boats are decorated with flags. The first barrel of herring is sold at an auction and the proceeds go to charity. This year the event attracted 300.000 visitors.

At the dock area in Scheveningen we participated in a Tattoo, with amongst others The Band of Liberation, Show- and brass band M.E.T.R.O. and musical society St. Jeanne d' Arc.
Click for photo's.

June 2009: Normandy
On June 6, 2009 it was exactly 65 years ago that the invasion in Normandy marked the beginning of the liberation of West Europe. This year, this important D-Day was grand remembered. Together with members of the Band of Liberation and members of The Royal Artillery and The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) we were amongst others in Ranville at the Pegasus Bridge. Click here for a photo report.

June 2009: 25th anniversary The Royal Brititsh Legion, Amsterdam Branch
On May 30th, The Royal British Legion, Amsterdam Branch celebrated her 25th anniversary in the English Church in Amsterdam. Time for a little party. After bringing in the Standard, a small delegation of our Pipe band held a short performance. After listening to some speeches, the guests took a boat trip through the canals of Amsterdam . Back on shore an organ recital was given in the English Church. The successful day was ended with a social drink.

May 2009: Wageningen
On May 5th 2009 the annual March Past in Wageningen (The Netherlands) was held. We escorted the Standards of The Royal British Legion.



April 2009: Batavieren race
Friday night the 24th of April in Nijmegen at 00.00 hours the 37th Batavierenrace, the world's largest relay, went ahead. We were there to "warm up" the runners for the race.

April 2009: Newspaper article Normandy
Newspaper article (in Dutch) about our participation in Normandy.

April 2009: Rehearsal for Normandy
In the weekend of 5-7th of June, we will be present at the commemorations of D-day in Normandy, together with the Band of Liberation. To gear our performances to each other we had a joint rehearsal on April 4th with some of our members.



April 2009: Magazine article
In the magazine "Witwedding" there is a coverage (in Dutch) of the wedding of Ester and Hermen. We took great pleasure in taking care of the musical escort at the church and from the church to the banquet.

February 2009: BZT show
The Highland bagpipe is a difficult instrument to play and it takes a lot of effort and perseverance to play the bagpipe well. Bram has brought forward a wish at the BZT show to make his father Henk play the bagpipe within just one hour. We were invited to fulfil Bram's wish. An impossible task?, see for yourself (in Dutch).

December 2008: Christmas booth
On 13 December past, we had a booth at the Christmas fair in Renkum. We were guests of one of our members who manages Piri Gifts. The shoppers were several times surprised with a performance. Despite the cold, it was a very pleasant afternoon which ended with traditional pea soup and rye bread with bacon.

October 2008: "450" remembrance Nijmegen
Every year The Royal British Legion has a "450" remembrance. There are 450 cemeteries in Holland were allied soldiers from WW-1 and WW 2 are buried. This time the 450 remembrance was organised by the Arnhem/Nijmegen Branch of The Royal British Legion. At cemetery Rustoord, were there are 4 graves from WW-1, we performed together with The Highland Regiment Pipes & Drums. Click for a small photo shoot.

September 2008: Royal Golf and Country Club Wassenaar
On the occasion of the closing of the season, we were guests at the Royal Golf and Country club at Wassenaar, where we performed together with musical society M.E.T.R.O. from Scheveningen.


August 2008: Voorthuizen opens
On August 30 it was finally time for Voorthuizen. She opened her new shopping street with a huge party. They placed long tables at the Hoofdstraat so everyone could enjoy a lunch.

Beside our merchandise booth, where we sold a lot of articles, we also performed in the afternoon with the Seaforth Highlanders


July 2008: Basel Tattoo
This year we were pleased to be guests at the Tattoo Basel.

July 2008: Passing away Jacob Schoenmakers
It is with sadness that we have to inform, that our esteemed member Jacob Schoenmakers has passed away on July, 26, 2008.

Since the foundation of the Band Jacob was actively involved with the construction and expansion. The Band was his ruling passion. He was also fond of everything regarding music, but especially bagpipe music.

In spite of his slowly declining health Jacob was always in on it. When performing was no longer physically possible he took care of all kinds of business and made sure the Band and its members didn’t lack a thing.

He was always willing to help and thought along how things could be better and more efficient. Every rehearsal evening Jacob was consistently present. We will miss his striking personality very much.

Jacob was only 57years old. “We will remember him”.

June 2008: donation
On June 10, we received a cheque presented by Edwin Donkervoort from Van den Hul & Luigjes. We are very pleased that Van den Hul & Luigjes has chosen our Band to sponsor. The cheque was accepted "in full regalia" by a few of our members.


April 2008: Tattoo Luxembourg
We received an invitation to participate in the 2nd Military Tattoo in Luxembourg where we performed for two days. See this little movie on Youtube

December 2007: BMMS Münster
After a successful year with many musical events we closed the year with a grand finale in Münster (BMMS).

October 2007: Tattoo Fulda
In de series of Tattoos we were in Fulda ( Germany ). A very successful Tattoo, where the party continued after the show.

September 2007: Airborne Memorial
As every year, we performed after the Airborne memorial service at the cemetery in Oosterbeek, together with the Parachute Regiment. Fortunately it was a bright day causing no disruption to the memorial service. Together with the members of the Parachute Band we also performed the night before at Oosterbeek, this time for a memorial service at Hartestein.

August 2007: Tattoo Ystad
This year was truly a tattoo year. In august we were guests a the International Military Tattoo in Ystad ( Sweden ).

July 2007: Tattoo Basel
We were very honoured that we were invited again to the Tattoo in Basel ( Switzerland ). A week of hard work but an experience not to forget. See this youtube movie.

July 2007: New Drum Set
We had to look for a new drum set for our drummers. After having listened to quite a few brands, we finally decided to go for the “Ultimate Pipe band series“ brought on the market by Vancore Percussion Instruments B.V. in 2007. After much deliberation we had the kettle made in brushed bronze. It was an exiting moment when we first saw our drums on July 11,2007 , but every one was very enthusiastic, both about the colour and sound. Our drum set now consists of a bas drum, two tenor drums and three snare drums. We are the first Pipe band in The Netherlands to perform with these kind of drums.

June 2007: Voorthuizen Military Tattoo
Also on the on June 23, 2007 held Voorthuizen Military Tattoo, we were present. Click for some photos and click here for a shooting by TV Gelderland.

May 2007: Report in the newspaper
Our Band is constantly looking for enthusiastic people who want to be a part of our Band. Drummers, Bagpipe players, any one is welcome. To introduce us to the audience Ede Post interviewed a few of our members (in Dutch).