10-07-2025
The Twelfth: Little drummer boys practice all year for parades
The Twelfth of July is the biggest day of the year for marching bands and their spectators in Northern Saturday, Orange Order parades are taking place to memorialise King William III's victory over King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in July the majority of those taking part in the parades are adults, the future of such events, and the bands' memberships, rely on new, younger, members coming through, like two-year-old Teddy and eight-year-old caught the drumming bug early.
"He gets up in the morning and he starts to drum, and he drums all day, and that's just it," Teddy's mum Claire told BBC News toddler from Portadown, County Armagh, got his first drum on his first birthday."He'd be sitting in his high chair with his spoons in his hand and he was always drumming, always banging," Claire credits Teddy's father's family and Rectory Community Action Group for nurturing Teddy's love for drumming through group sessions with local bands."We would attend quite a few band parades throughout the year and it's just something that he really, really loves," she said."He's in awe every time he sees them going past, and he loves the Lambeg drum as well, it's not just the side drum, he's obsessed with drums in general."They hope that one day Teddy will drum for Portadown Defenders Flute Band, which Teddy calls "the red band".After sharing videos of the young drummer on social media, Claire says the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive."They are just completely baffled by how someone so small can play the way he does," she added.
Meanwhile Ronnie, joined the Robert Memorial Flute Band in Crawfordsburn, County Down, last year and practises his drumming every two favourite things are building Lego and playing his the help of his mum and dad, he has been sharing his passions on TikTok, amassing more than 300,000 views on clips of him playing the drum and cymbals."What I'm most looking forward to about the Twelfth is parading with my band," he told BBC News NI."It's good to see all different bands all parade together with lots of people and all my family coming to watch."Like many others marching across Northern Ireland, Ronnie will be marching alongside a member of his cousin, Jamie, "is the main drummer" and brings him along to practice and to parades.
Band captain Adam Griffith, from Robert Memorial, says "it's a really proud moment when you're walking alongside your children or other family members"."It's tradition for a lot of families and it's brilliant to see the young ones coming through, enjoying themselves.
"We have kids with additional needs and learning difficulties who struggle in a lot of other situations and they come to us and go through the ranks and they thrive."It's amazing watching them all develop."
