SPECIAL preparations are being made in Bugle for the 100th staging of the West of England Bandmen’s Festival on Saturday, June 20.

The organisers of the festival based at Molinnis Park, known locally as the Bugle Contest, are expecting a full day of activity from the morning march at 8.30am through to the playing of music in the village centre by the top brass band in the late evening.

In the spring, the organisers announced that because of an “incredible response to our 100th contest” entries for bands were closing early.

Members of the community in Bugle have subsequently been working together to make sure the village is looking its best, with Cornwall councillor Steve Trevelyan saying: “This prestigious event is the highlight of the year and even more special in 2026 as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.”

Contest press secretary Lia Teague said: “The Bugle Contest is the only open-air contest still in existence from the early days of brass band contesting. It is a contest steeped in history, with bands having attended from all across the world over the years. It never ceases to be an amazing thing – seeing bands flock to a little clay mining village in the middle of Cornwall!

“The atmosphere at the contest is like no other. Hundreds of people in a field, listening to brass band music, chatting to people they haven't seen for a year, eating pasties, drinking tea in the famous ‘tea tent’, children running around and having fun – and the occasional train horn during a quiet passage of music.”

The adjudicators for the 100th contest are Stephen Cobb, Stephanie Binns and Chris Binns.

Wheal Martyn Clay Works, near St Austell, is hosting a collaborative exhibition, More Cornish Than May Day, celebrating the 100th contest. The festival started in 1912 but missed years because of the world wars.