The Eastbourne Bandstand is a
bandstand
A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an orname ...
on the seafront of the
East Sussex coastal town of
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, with an attached colonnade and viewing decks. Built in 1935 to the designs of the Borough Council Engineer, Leslie Rosevere.
Neo-Grec
Néo-Grec was a Neoclassical Revival style of the mid-to-late 19th century that was popularized in architecture, the decorative arts, and in painting during France's Second Empire, or the reign of Napoleon III (1852–1870). The Néo-Grec v ...
style, constructed of cream faience with some decorative blue, green and black faience, with its unique semi-circular design and blue domed roof; there is no other in the United Kingdom. It has a main arena, middle and upper balconies for seating and originally seated 3,500 but with current
health and safety
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wo ...
laws this has been reduced to 1,600.
The building of the bandstand formed part of the main seafront improvements, the bandstand itself cost £28,000 and was surmounted with a
stainless steel spire. The project engineer was Leslie Rosevere. The first concerts were given on the 28 July 1935 with a total of 10,400 attending all three concerts and paying 3
d each. With an audience of 8,000, the bandstand was officially opened on the 5 August 1935 by the Lord Lieutenant of the county, Lord Leconfield.
For many years the bandstand played host to a full programme of military bands. On a daily basis the bands would play from
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
until the end of October. Over the years this was reduced, mainly because audience number was dropping and in 2001 action had to be taken as the costs of the military bands were far out weighing the audience receipts. The local civilian bands were attracting similar audiences to those of military. It was therefore decided that the military band be cut further. If the bandstand were to survive as a musical entertainment venue, new audiences and entertainments had to be found. The introduction of
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
nights,
rock 'n' roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
,
Last Night of the Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...
and 1812 Firework Night was a significant component of the filling of the financial gap. In 2006, these actions saw the introduction of tribute concerts, which were hugely successful, resulting in the attraction of a significantly larger audience, reviving the bandstand.
![Eastbourne Bandstand](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Eastbourne_Bandstand.jpg)
The bandstand to this day plays an important part in the musical entertainment on the south coast offering around 150 concerts per year.
There is a commemorative plaque opposite the bandstand in memory of Eastbourne bandsman John Wesley Woodward, who was one of those playing on the
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
when it sank on 15 April 1912.
In recent years the bandstand has featured in numerous television programmes such as
Foyle's War
''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...
, and is shown in the opening sequence of
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.