The world's premier dog show, Crufts 1999, which took place at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, on the 11th to 14th of March, welcomed an international audience to the largest celebration of dogs on earth.

Innocence Abroad: Our First Crufts
By H. Cavanaugh

Gleaming Brass Horns

Before and between groups, Crufts visitors were serenaded each evening by a different military band in full dress uniform. The band platform, raised above spectator level and surrounded by shrubbery, was lit so that only the shiny brass horns and the bandmaster could be seen, as they filled the hall with stirring martial music. On the final night, the green-carpeted floor was set up with signs to indicate where the seven group representatives would stand; then seven spotlights appeared with a bandsman standing in each, playing a brass trumpet to herald the arrival of the finalists. Swirling stencils of lights played the name Crufts across the floor. When the band members withdrew, the seven group winners and their handlers entered the ring and took their places in the spotlights. It was a dramatic and fitting ceremony to introduce the grand finale, BIS judging.

More from "Innocence Abroad" ...

Judging
The Exhibitors
Spays and Neuters
Facilities and Amenities
Discover Dogs
Additional Events
Spectators
Cell Phones
Gleaming Brass Horns
Photographers
Final Thoughts
History of Crufts