In 2006, Manu Mellaerts was appointed artistic director and brought the band back to the European top. On 30 November 2008, the band became national champions and were given the honour of representing Belgium at the 2009 European Brass Band Championships in Ostend. Their interpretation of Kenneth Dowie's 'The Promised Land' was so appreciated that it was given a place on the EBBC Highlights compilation CD. 

In 2010, the band celebrated its 10th anniversary in the Leuven Lemmensinstituut in cooperation with Belgian Brass. An absolute highlight in the existence of Festival Brassband is the concert trip to New York with concerts in Long Island and Manhattan together with Johan de Meij and David Ramael. 

Later that year, the band became National Vice-Champions. Unfortunately, Manu Mellaerts chose to resign from his position as MD due to an increasingly busy schedule. Dirk De Caluwé took over the leadership together with Erwin Pallemans. For the 2014 championship, Benny Wiame, the former conductor of Brass Band Midden-Brabant, was appointed as conductor.

2015: Milestone

Steven Verhaert became Musical Director in 2015 and worked hard with the band which had undergone several changes in its formation. The hard work paid off and was awarded the title of National Vice Champion in 2018 & 2019. The band won a title for the first time in 2019 under the leadership of Steven Verhaert. At the Dutch Open Brass Band Championships in Drachten (NL), Festival Brass Band played their way to first place on the podium in the champion's division.

2022 marks the year that Festival Brass Band retained their national title, fourteen years after the previous victory. Therefore they represented Belgium during the EBBC 2023 in Malmö, Sweden which resulted in an overall 6th place.

Results