Hotels near the National Brass Band Championships

With polished cornets and buffed brass bells, scores of British brass players descend on the Centaur stage at Cheltenham Racecourse compete in the National Brass Band Championships finals. Tense but enthralling, it's an absolute must on the brass-band calendar.

The 'National', as it is often referred to, is brass banding's equivalent of the football league - a first-past-the-post Championship involving some 600 bands in eight 'Regional' qualifying heats staged up and down the UK.

With such a huge swell of competitors the competition is divided into five separate sections, with four of the sections' finals held in Cheltenham, the other in London's Royal Albert Hall.

Always hotly contested, this year's Cheltenham event again showcases the best brass-band talent from across the nation.