The sound of 600 musicians in marching bands from the US, Britain and Ireland livened up Dublin city centre on a usually quiet day at the first Lord Mayor's New Year's Day parade yesterday.
The 1,000-strong crowd withstood the cold for an hour and a half on Westmoreland Street to be entertained and, for a change, it stayed dry. Many of the onlookers were visitors.
Organisers hope the parade will be even bigger next year and develop into a festival with bands taking part in New Year's Eve events as well as the New Year's Day parade.
The Lord Mayor, Mr Royston Brady, was accompanied by his new wife, Michele. They were married in Dublin last weekend and broke their honeymoon in Co Kerry to return for the event.
Mr Brady said it was well worth interrupting his honeymoon to return to Dublin.
The bands setting off from three locations, assembling in the city centre. Each band played individually and the display ended with the 600 musicians giving a massed performance for the finale. The James Madison University band from Virginia is one of best known collegiate bands in the US and was on its first visit to Ireland.
In blue-and-white uniforms and with white plumes on their hats, the 250-strong band performed on every sort of instrument, including xylophones.
The band played at the inaugural balls of President Clinton and President Bush. When this was announced, there were cheers at the mention of Mr Clinton but a less than seasonal response to the name of President Bush from the crowd.
From Britain, the Royal British Legion Band and Corps of Drums from Romford in Essex, got a cheer on their return to the capital. Mr Brian Millbank, the assistant director, said the band was in Dublin in 2000 for the St Patrick's Day Parade and it had won the overall band prize.
Other bands taking part were the Garda Band, the Artane Boys Band, introduced as "the biggest little band in the world", the Belturbet Youth Band, with members as young as five years of age performing as majorettes, the Boyle Marching Band, the Tallaght Youth Band and the Crumlin Community Band.
The event was organised by Bandfest, a company established by Abbey Tours and Atlantic Group Tours, a US-based specialist in marching bands and musical groups.
It was financially assisted by Fáilte Ireland, with support from Dublin Tourism, Dublin City Council and the Irish Hotels Federation.
Ms Marina Flynn of Abbey Tours said: "We hope to make the parade into an annual event and to create a festival which will attract overseas visitors to Ireland in late December and early January."