The final 2026 grading tables have now been published. We did not receive any appeals, and so they are unchanged from the provisional tables emailed to the band secretaries after the contest.

Please note that the Civic Hall doors will not be opened until 9:45 a.m. in time for the first draw, which will take place in the Contest Control Room at 10:00 a.m.

Please let Lesley Bentley know if your band intends using the water gong provided by GI Percussion.

The water gong will be placed centrally at the back of the stage. This is a compromise for bands who may have rehearsed with it on either side. Although the stand is on wheels and could be moved, to avoid issues with the water spillage, at the request of the Civic Hall, this will stay in one place.

There will be 10 minute slot between 10:30 – 10:40 a.m. (for first half percussionists) and a 10 minute slot between approximately 12:45 – 12:55 p.m. (for second half percussionist), to try out the water gong.

Final Information To Bands: All the information you should need for the Contest is included here.

The percussion we are providing for the contest is listed here.

For the first section, the list of timpani should be 32”, 30”, 28” & 25”. (Not 2x 25”). A corrected list will be published later today.

Errata have been issued for the second section test piece: this may be viewed here.