Thousands of musicians from all over the world have participated in the contest
Throughout the more than thirty years that the festival has been part of the Magdalena festivities program, thousands of musicians of all ages have transported the festive spirit of their land to the streets of Castellón. Majorettes, sabandiatori, ceremonial bands, groups with dance corps, humorous groups … countless formulas with the common denominator of the universal language of
music and the spirit, also universal, of the party. It is very difficult to make a selection of the best or the best received or those that have come the most times or … whatever selection is made it will be unfair, but that does not mean that we are going to give up remembering some of the groups that have passed through Castellón, starting with the host band: Castellón Municipal Band
The Castellón Municipal Band is a professional group that has achieved a recognized prestige at national and international level. Among its missions are those of providing solemnity to the most important events in municipal life, among which are, naturally, the festivities. It must also – and achieves – share with the inhabitants of Castellón its extensive musical knowledge through an intense program of concerts. The Municipal Band has never missed its appointment with the International Festival of Music of Festa.
Precisely because it is international, it is not very frequent to have Spanish groups, although one of the groups that had the most impact was the presence of the Ceremonial Band of the Royal Guard, at that time directed by the remembered Francisco Grau. The presence at the Festival was the germ for later collaborations. Thus, maestro Grau composed the march in honor of the 750th Anniversary of the City and in Castellón a stay of the band took place years later.
The groups from Europe are those that most frequently visit Castellón to participate in the festival. This is due to a simple question of proximity. The Netherlands, Croatia, Hungary, France, Italy, Germany … The list of countries represented over the years covers practically the entire continent. One of the last great groups that visited Castellón was the Geneva Police Band (Switzerland) which left a pleasant memory (2019).
If we talk about the continent – or continents – America we must distinguish between Latin America, with which our country shares historical and cultural ties and North America, but both have been represented at some point in festival, as evidenced by presence of THE U.S. NAVY SIXTH FLEET BAND (USA)
On different occasions we have had presence of Brazilian bands and representing Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries visited Castellón STATE BAND OF PUERTO RICO and BALLET AREYTO.
The Asian continent has been present thanks to Japanese formations (KUGENUMA HIHT SCHOOL MARCHING BAND) or from Malaysia (CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL BAND)
Other bands that have participated in different editions
- ROYAL BRITISH MARCHING BAND (Reino Unido / UK)
- THE SCOTTISH PIPES, DRUMS & HIGHLAND DANCERS OF NORTHUMBRIA (Escocia / Scotland).
- LES ASTIAUS (Francia / France).
WIK SHOWKORPS (Bélgica / Belgium). - BARVYNOK (Ucrania / Ukraine).
- MOSTAR MAZORETKY KLUB (Eslovaquia / Slovakia).
- ORKIESTRA GRANDIOSO RADOM (Polonia / Poland).
- SBANDIERATORI CANVENSI (Italia / Italy).
- MUSIQUE DE LA POLICE DE GENÈVE (Suiza / Sweden).
- SHOWFANFARE ADVENDO (Holanda / Holland).
- MUSIKKAPELLE WEERBERG (Austria / Austria).
- RHINEGUARDS (Alemania / Germany).
- CINCSOUTH BAND, Banda de ceremonias de la O.T.A.N. (N.A.T.O.) en el sur de Europa.
- THE U.S. NAVY SIXTH FLEET BAND (EE.UU / USA).
- BRASS & SASS, University of Missouri Marching Band. (EE.UU / USA).
- BUENA HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND (Ventura, California, EE.UU / USA)
- BANDA ESTATAL DE PUERTO RICO y BALLET AREYTO (Puerto Rico / Puerto Rico).
- ESCOLA DO SAMBA SALGUEIRO (Rio de Janeiro, Brasil / Brazil )
- ESCOLA DO SAMBA G.R.E.S BEIJA FLOR (Nilópolis-Rio Janeiro, Brasil / Brazil)
- KUGENUMA HIHT SCHOOL MARCHING BAND (Japón / Japan)
- CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL BAND (Malasia / Malaysia)
- KEAT HWA SECONDARY SCHOOL BAND (Alor Setar- Kedah, Malasia / Malaysia)
- METHODISIAN D’QUANTANZ (METHODIST GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL, MGSSB), (Kuantan, Pahang, Malasia / Malaysia)