AS I WRITE, the drums and whistles of the groups waiting to move into the Children’s Parade marking the opening of the Brighton Festival are currently filling the air around my house in North Laine.

It strikes me as sad that none of the schools seems able offer anything more than a repetitive and tuneless monotonous percussion to accompany the occasion.

Do none encourage the playing of real music? It would be more pleasing to hear, say, a traditional marching band.

Anne Powell, Cheltenham Place, Brighton