Fanfare Ciocarlia

On 7 October 2026 at Band on the Wall in Manchester, Fanfare Ciocărlia brings its fierce brass tradition from Zece Prăjini, a Romani village in north‑eastern Romania where the musicians learned their craft within the family. Shaped by a place long off the main roads, their sound keeps alive Ottoman‑era brass practices while pushing them with modern bite: rapid tempos, tight counterlines, muscular percussion, and those sweet‑and‑sour horns that snap into dance rhythms.

On stage, the band blends Moldavian wedding tunes, Romani melodies and Turkish‑tinged dances with blazing runs and collective arrangements built for precision and impact. Expect quick gear shifts, call‑and‑response lines, and the kind of groove they’ve carried from village squares to clubs and festivals worldwide. Their ten‑album journey, from Radio Pascani to Onwards to Mars! and It Wasn’t Hard To Love You, has fed a set that moves between tradition and reinvention, with the occasional left‑turn cover they’ve made their own, including Born To Be Wild, as heard on the Borat soundtracks.

Thousands of concerts in, Fanfare Ciocărlia plays with the stamina of a road‑tested ensemble and the finesse of a group raised in the brass band lineage. This date is a rare chance to catch that engine in full flight, trumpets, sax, clarinets, tubas and drums locked into an eastern funk pulse that hits hard and keeps moving.