GREENFIELD is gearing up for one of Saddleworth’s most cherished traditions as preparations ramp up for this year’s Whit Friday Brass Band Contests – now in its 104th year.
But alongside the famous marches and music, a new generation is once again leaving its mark on the historic event.
For the third year running, local primary school pupils have been invited to design the official contest logo, with entries from Greenfield Primary School and Greenfield St Mary’s CE Primary School.
The competition, first introduced in 2024 by organising committee member Liz Mooney, aims to bring the wider community into the heart of the event – and once again, judges were faced with a tough decision.
This year’s winning design comes from 10-year-old Isabelle Hardy, whose artwork will feature as the official logo for the 2026 contest.
Second place was awarded to Isabella Mooney, 11, while Esme Hudson, 11, and Sophie Harrison, eight, both received highly commended recognition.
The chosen design will also appear on merchandise sold to raise funds in support of the village’s brass band.
Chairperson Jamie Curley praised both the creativity of the entrants and the growing importance of the competition to the event itself.
He said: “The results are in! In the third year of our logo competition, organised by our own Liz Mooney, we have had so many excellent entries that this year we have decided to award Highly Commended to two of the entrants, as well as a first and second place.
“The standard of entries from our talented primary school artists meant we had a difficult job choosing the winners. But we have a winner and the design by Isabelle Hardy will be the recognisable logo of the Greenfield Whit Friday Band Contest for 2026.
“It’s one of the unique facets of our family friendly contest and Liz does an amazing job every year and our talented artists in the Greenfield primary schools provide us with a fantastic opportunity every year to have a unique identifier for the contest. Thank you to all those who took part and well done Isabelle!”
Often dubbed ‘the greatest free show on earth’, the Whit Friday Brass Band Contests will return on Friday, May 29, with Greenfield once again playing host alongside 10 other Saddleworth villages.
Each year, dozens of brass bands from across the UK and beyond descend on the area, marching through village streets and competing late into the night – drawing crowds of thousands and keeping a long-standing musical tradition alive.
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