THE man who ran one of the biggest festivals in the world is taking over Durham’s annual brass event with plans of giving it an international reputation.

Paul Gudgin, who ran the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for eight years, will be taking over the Durham festival after this year’s event and is hoping to make it a launch pad for the world’s best street bands.

Mr Gudgin, himself a trombone player, will be attending this year’s event, which will be its 10th anniversary, to get a feel for the festival.

He said: “Brass playing and festivals are two things which have dominated my life.

“From pit bands to northern soul, brass is very much in the DNA of Durham. I want to throw brass into as many diverse worlds as we can, whether that’s street dance or singing or whatever form of creativity.

“I really want to make sure Durham is full of musicians and bands so people are left in no doubt that something special is going on."

The Brass festival, which celebrates brass music from across the world, started in 2006 and last year had around 250 musicians and performers from 13 countries taking part in shows across the county.

Mr Gudgin will be the festival’s first artistic director. He has more than 20 years of experience in organising festivals and established the Fringe’s famous street festival on the Royal Mile.

During his time at the Fringe, the festival doubled in size - attracting 1.6 million ticket sales in his final year.

He said: “There are a lot of towns and cities internationally which have been doing street theatre or circus but there’s nowhere which is doing it for street bands.

“It’s a really interesting opportunity for Durham to develop a reputation for having the best street bands. That’s the long term project.

"Festivals are a long term process. If you look at the Fringe it’s now one of the biggest festivals but it started with eight theatre companies. I’m ambitious for Brass but all the best events are ones which grow organically and ones which develop out of the place.

“I want people to look at the dates and put them in their diaries six months ahead because they know there’s going to be something good."