By Executive Director Bob Bone.                                   

At precisely 2.30pm on the last day of 2005 Deputy Mayors Charpentier and Spencer deftly sliced the Tricolour ribbon to mark the start of the 12th Grande Parade de Chantilly.

Two years of absence had in no way diminished the appetite of the people of the Region of the Oise for their own very special parade. Tens of thousands squeezed on to the pavements, pressed up against shop windows, and hung from balconies to see the fabulous cavalcade of international musicians, clowns, exotic vehicles and historical tableaux pass by.

Such was the size and enthusiasm of the crowds that the international musical groups had to stop and perform a tune every few yards just to be able to pass easily along the Parade route.

Chantilly is one of the most beautiful and picturesque towns in the whole of Northern France, and even though Parade Day was cold, a watery sunshine made sure that Chantilly looked near its best as a backdrop for the festivities.

The pictures in this brochure will tell their own story of all of the tremendous performers and entertainers in the Parade. Mention must be made however of the excellent Four Corners Ambassadors Band from New Mexico who set the pace and the musical standard for the acts that followed them.

The majorettes, accompanied by their bands from Czechoslovakia and Poland, turned many a head of the young, and not so young men, who lined the route. The Revolution Show Band from the United Kingdom performed an impressively extensive repertoire quite brilliantly. The Flanders Dixie Men – Les Bonhommes de Neige (Snowmen) – amused and beguiled. Il Gran Concerto Bandistico from Ordona in Italy looked terrific, and performed delightfully. The clowns with the somewhat bizarre Pitchoune extendable car act kept everybody amused, and the sparklingly explosive fireworks from Le Maître de Feu added an exuberant touch near the head of the Parade.

The finale act was the splendid Kamiak Showband from Washington State. This 160-strong marching unit looked sensational in their black and white uniforms with quite magnificent silver plumes. They played wonderfully, and their colourguard was quite simply the best that Chantilly has ever seen. There are not many parades that once they have passed you think you would just love to see it all over again. But that was just how it was with La Grande Parade de Chantilly on December 31, 2005.

New Year’s Day in Paris dawned somewhat less than auspiciously with torrential rain and unbroken grey sky. Throughout the morning and into the early afternoon it simply bucketed down, and there were fears that the inaugural event at the Trocadero, scheduled to begin at 2.30pm, might have to be cancelled. Miraculously, just before the event began, the rain stopped and the sky began to clear. For the next near two hours it remained dry with just the occasional shower bringing out the umbrellas as a total of 11 international musical acts performed at The Trocadero – a stunning venue which has as its backdrop the most iconic of Paris landmarks, The Eiffel Tower.

The performances by all the marching bands, jazz bands, showbands, and brass bands were excellent. The crowds enjoyed them enormously, some to the extent that the eight-minute performances were extended to something rather longer! As well as the bands, the ladies of the Red Hat Society brought their own particular warmth, humour, and vitality to the event with a generous distribution of bonbons to the crowds, and the collection of first class Mini cars and Lotuses gave an added and fascinating dimension to the displays.

All in all the two days of music-making and festivity in Chantilly and Paris were hugely successful – enjoyed in equal measure by participants, performers, and spectators. We should thank all of those who took part for the huge amounts of pleasure that they have given so many people. What a way to end one year and start the next one. Long may these international fiestas of music continue in France to give an added meaning to the simple sentiment Bonne Année.