After 110 years of ‘music, mirth and mayhem’, Ventnor Comic Jazz Band have been chosen by organisers of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee to represent the South of England in the Platinum Jubilee Pageant, which will take place on Sunday 5th June 2022.
Over 5,000 people from across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth will celebrate the Queen’s reign against the backdrop of Buckingham Palace and the surrounding streets, combining street arts, theatre, music, circus, carnival and costume.
Ventnor Comic Jazz Band first appeared in the 1894 Ventnor Carnival as a ‘Mop Brigade’. Members of the local Isle of Wight Rifle Volunteers, dressed in weird costumes, performed comic drill displays using mops instead of rifles. In 1911, a core section of the Mop Brigade formed a comic band, which (apart from interruptions for the 2 World Wars) has appeared in successive Ventnor Carnivals up to the present day.
Nowadays, the unique and highly popular band appears annually in most of the Isle of Wight Carnivals, as well as other major Island events.
The fun-loving band members still wear outlandish costumes and play well-known tunes on a variety of instruments, some homemade. Since 1911, successive generations of the same families have provided continuity and carried on the tradition of music, mirth and mayhem.
It is believed that The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant will be the first time in its long history that the band will perform off the Island.
Mike Kullander, a senior member, says:
“We are honoured and thrilled to be chosen for this prestigious event. It promises to be a lot of fun, which is very much our style”.
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